Hate crime

What is hate crime?

Hate crime is any criminal offence committed against a person or property that is motivated, in whole or in part, by an offender's hatred of someone because of their:

  • race/ethnic origin
  • religion
  • gender identity
  • sexual orientation
  • disability

Hate crime can take many forms including:

  • physical attacks - such as physical assault, damage to property, offensive graffiti, neighbour disputes and arson
  • threat of attack - including offensive letters, abusive or obscene telephone calls, groups hanging around to intimidate and unfounded, malicious complaints
  • verbal abuse or insults - offensive leaflets and posters, abusive gestures, dumping of rubbish outside homes or through letterboxes, and bullying at school or in the workplace

Challenging and reducing hate crime

The impact on a range of services (health, housing, education, social services etc.) and the social and economic cost of hate crimes show that the overall impact of these crimes far exceeds that of other high volume crimes such as burglary or vehicle crime. This is one of the many reasons that hate crime receives a different approach than other non hate motivated requests.

High levels of violence and harassment take place as part of hate crimes, often over sustained and prolonged periods of time with long term physical and psychological effects on victims, children and families. For many this abuse may be verbal abuse received on a daily basis, intervention is required at this level before abuse escalates.

We believe that everyone has the right to live without fear of abuse whether verbal, physical or sexual. Individuals are also entitled to live in their homes without fearing damage to their property. We will support victims to report incidents to enable us to gather evidence of abuse and ultimately to allow the courts to prosecute the people responsible.

Underreporting

Underreporting is a major issue in relation to all hate crimes. Research has established that much higher levels of hate crimes take place than are currently reported. Nationally, the police recorded almost 50,000 hate crimes last year. The British Crime Survey, which is based on interviews with a wide sample of people and picks up crimes that are not reported to police, indicated that there were 260,000 such offences last year. It is estimated that as much as 90% of homophobic crimes are not reported. Patterns of offending clearly identify that young people are the main perpetrators for race and homophobic crime.

Homophobic Crime has very low reporting rates which are linked to broader social issues. Cheshire Police will work to address these issues around reporting with relevant agencies, voluntary and partner organisations. Last year 61 crimes were recorded by the Cheshire Police that were motivated by homophobia.

Please come forward and report any hate crime you are being subjected to. Without your assistance we cannot stop the hate crime that is happening to you or begin to tackle the problem long term.

Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES)

The primary purpose of Tcrime (Transphobic Hate Crime) is to gather and collate valuable nationwide data (that may otherwise go unreported) for the Home Office, the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service about where trans related crime is occurring and the type of crimes that are being committed.

As a secondary aim, the reporting system will also offer the opportunity, should the respondent wish, for GIRES to pass the information (anonymously or not) to the police. GIRES will also, where appropriate, offer contact details for local support agencies.