See also:
> Racism - some facts and figures
> Discrimination faced by lesbian, gay and bisexual people, some facts and figures
> Disability Hate Crime
> Religious/Faith Hate Crime

Hate Crime and Harassment

Hate crime is crime where the person's prejudice against any identifiable group of people is a factor in their choice of victim. Consequently a victim of hate crime does not have to be a member of a minority community, or someone who is generally considered to be a vulnerable person - IN FACT ANYONE can be a victim of hate crime. Harassment can take many forms:

• Physical attacks
• Threats
• Arson
• Neighbour disputes
• Swearing or abusive remarks
• Insulting messages scrawled on property, or printed leaflets and/or posters
• People doing things that frighten, intimidate or distress
• Bullying at school or college
• Harassment by phone or text

What is Racist Hate Crime:

Racist hate crime is carried out on the basis of visible differences between groups of people. Under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (section 28) an offence is terms to be racially aggravated if:

• At the time of committing the offence, immediately before or after doing so, the offender demonstrated towards the victim hostility based on the victim's membership (or presumed) membership of a racial group, OR
• The offence is motivated (wholly or partly) by hostility towards members of a racial group based on their membership of that group.

Recommendation 12 of the McPherson Inquiry Report introduced a much simpler definition:

"A racist incident is any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person".

What is Homophobic Crime:

Homophobic crime is motivated by prejudice against lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered people.

The victims of racist crime are visibly identifiable. This is no less the case with victims of homophobic crime as these victims are often equally identifiable by virtue, for example, of same-gender partnerships.

However, victims of homophobic crime do not have to be lesbian, gay or bisexual; they just have to be perceived as gay or lesbian and/or the crime perceived as containing or being influenced by homophobia.

The key in dealing with such crimes is for sensitivity to the circumstances of the victim. Response towards homophobic crime should be vigorous and sympathetic.

"A homophobic incident is any incident which is perceived to be homophobic by the victim or any other persons"

What is Religious/Belief Crime?:

Religiously motivated hate crime is where a person is attacked or threatened because of their religion or belief and/or non belief.

Religious hate crime is not currently recognised as a criminal offence in the same way as other forms of hate crime. However, if a crime is committed against someone because of their religion, it may be interpreted as an attack on their race as well. This means it can be treated as a racially aggravated or motivated attack. For example, criminal courts have decided that attacks on Sikhs and Jewish people are racial incidents. If it is proven that the offender’s main motivation was based on prejudice or their hatred of another race, then the sentence can be more severe than for the same offence without a racial motivation. If, in the case of a crime committed against a Muslim, be it physical violence or harassment, then this could be deemed as Islamaphobic, or Anti-Semitic if Jewish.

“A religious hate incident is any crime which is perceived by the victim, or any one else, to have taken place because of their religious beliefs or lack of beliefs”

What is Disability Hate Crime?:

Disability hate crime is where a person is attacked or threatened because of their disability. Since April 2005 courts are required to consider hostility related to disability as an aggravating factor when deciding on a sentence for such an event.

Prejudice against disabled people is common and the tackling of extremes of behaviour, such as hate crime, is essential and will not be tolerated. In fact research has shown that 9 out of 10 people with learning disabilities report harassment as a feature of every day life.

“A disability hate incident is any crime which is perceived by the victim, or any one else, to have taken place because of their disability”

See also:
> Racism - some facts and figures
> Discrimination faced by lesbian, gay and bisexual people, some facts and figures
> Disability Hate Crime
> Religious/Faith Hate Crime