What is a hate crime?
The UK government defines a hate crime as follows:
A hate crime is any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice based on:
- a person's race or perceived race, or any racial group or ethnic background including countries including Gypsy and Traveller groups and acts of xenophobia targeted at migrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers
- a person's religion or perceived religion, or any religious group including those who have no faith or belief
- a person's sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation
- a person's disability or perceived disability, or any disability including physical disability, learning disability and mental health or developmental disorders
- a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender, including people who are transsexual, transgender, cross dressers and those who hold a Gender Recognition Certificate.
Further details can be found here: Hate crime, England and Wales, year ending March 2024 - GOV.UK
What is a hate incident?
A hate incident is a non-crime incident which is perceived by the victim, or any other person to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or transgender identity.
We will also respond to reports of misogyny and treat it as a hate incident. While misogyny is not a recognised strand of hate crime under national legislation, 75% of respondents in a LBHF survey in 2023 believed that misogyny should be considered as part of our hate crime strategy and our accompanying action plan.
While the term 'misogyny' has no legal definition, misogyny has been previously defined as 'incidents against women that are motivated by an attitude of a man towards a woman, and includes behaviour targeted towards a woman by men simply because they are a woman.'
Examples of a hate incident can include incidents such as shouting abuse or insults, online abuse, dumping rubbish outside homes or through letterboxes. ASB can be motivated by hate and in such circumstances the case will be treated as a hate incident and treated as a Priority One Case as explained below in section 'H&F Response to hate crime and hate incidents'.
While misogyny is not currently recognised as a hate crime by central government, this strategy also considers crimes against women a hate crime and makes clear that harassment of any kind is not acceptable within our borough.
As is the case with hate crimes someone can be a victim of more than one type of hate incident.
It is important to report hate incidents, they can escalate to hate crimes, or build up a picture of a pattern of behaviour that can be charged as a criminal offence.
Anyone affected by hate crime or hate incident can access support in LBHF. More information about where you can access support can be found on our website here: Hate crime