Hate crime

Overview

A Hate Crime is a crime or incident committed because of who you are or who someone thinks you are.

It could be because of your age, disability, sexuality, race, religion/belief, ethnicity, gender (including gender identity) or someone or a group of people targets you, commits a crime against you, bullies you or harasses you, then this is a hate crime or hate incident.

This may include:

  • Verbal abuse or insults
  • Offensive graffiti
  • Threatening behaviour - including offensive letters, abusive or obscene calls, emails or texts
  • Damage to property
  • Assault
  • Cyber bullying
  • Taking money from you
  • Physical attack
  • Offensive leaflets and posters, hate mail, abusive gestures, dumping of rubbish outside homes
  • Harassment, bullying or victimisation
  • Arson or attempted arson
  • Noise nuisance

Hate incidents can happen anywhere:

  • At home
  • At work
  • At school, college or university
  • In the pub
  • At the shops
  • On the street