Section 5

Reporting a hate crime

Reasons to report hate crime

Hate crime can have a devastating psychological effect on the victim. Hate crime often consists of a series of crimes, and the cumulative effect of such incidents and crimes can destroy lives through emotional damage and long-term trauma. For victims of hate crime, the fear of attack may be constant.

Reporting a hate crime 

A hate crime is “any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a personal characteristic, specifically: actual or perceived race, religion/faith, sexual orientation, disability and transgender identity”. 

The five protected characteristics of hate crime:

• Race (e.g. skin colour, ethnicity, citizenship)

• Religion (e.g. faith, atheists, targeting religious premises)

• Sexual orientation (e.g. gay, bisexual, pansexual)

• Gender identity (e.g. transgender, agender, demi-gender)

• Disability (e.g. learning needs, mental health, physical impairment)

• Transgender identity

If you are a victim of violence and abuse in a retail setting and believe it was motivated by any of the protected characteristics listed above, please state this when reporting to the police. This will help the police to assess the appropriate response.