Why it's important to report all hate crimes

It is very important to report it every time you feel unsafe or you have been caused harm. This is important for a number of reasons:

1. The police need to know what is happening in the community.
2. The police need to understand how your life is being affected and how often it happens.
3. It can help the police investigate your case.
4. It can help with national numbers about hate crime and help make sure it’s being taken seriously.

Sometimes what happens is a hate crime, and sometimes it is a hate incident. This means it is not serious enough to be a crime, but should still be taken seriously.

The criminal law is very complex and you should not worry whether something is a crime or a non-crime hate incident, the police must listen to the circumstances and apply their guidance.

Remember if something feels wrong or causes harm then it can be reported.

Online hate crime

The police have a specialist Online Hate Crime Hub that responds to hate crimes and incidents online.

In this instance they could ask Facebook to consider whether the material contravenes their terms of use and community standards. The Hub team can directly communicate with the page hosts and ask them to remove the material and can refer to a charity partner with trained volunteers who challenge such harmful material by supporting victims and providing counter narratives.

What the law says

• The Human Rights Act 1998 says that the police and other public authorities must take steps to protect people and to investigate if there is evidence that their safety and security is at risk. Failure to do so could mean that they are in breach of Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

• It is against the Equality Act 2010 for any business or public body to discriminate on the grounds of disability.

• The Care Act 2014 says that Local Authorities must take specific steps to protect any person who has care and support needs, is experiencing or at risk of, abuse or neglect, and, as a result of their needs, cannot protect themselves.

• The Criminal Justice Act 2003 says that where it is proven that:
1. an offender was motivated by hostility towards disability or
2. an offender demonstrated hostility towards (perceived) disability at the time, immediately before or after the offence, the court must treat this as an aggravating factor at sentencing and must state this in open court.

Warning signs

It is important that those with a legal or moral duty to protect can recognise the symptoms of such abuse and are willing to act on them, whether that is reporting a concern or seeking more information.

The following ‘signs and symptoms’ can indicate that someone is at risk of serious harm:

• escalation of ‘anti-social’ behaviour, or ‘people being mean’ carried out by known individuals,
• being called a paedophile or a ‘grass’ by people in the neighbourhood or people they know,
• new people (possibly also known to services) moving into their home,
• repeated attempts to remove people they initially told you were friends but now the person you support wants to end the friendship,
• increased drinking or taking drugs, losing weight,
• abnormal anxiety, aggressiveness or becoming unusually withdrawn,
• cancelling support services and appointments,
• unexplained injuries,
• refusing medical treatment for injuries,
• signs of fear, not wanting to go home,
• having no money/ losing money/ buying expensive presents, cigarettes, play stations, etc. for ‘friends’,
• increased, unexplained hospital attendance.

These factors indicate that the person might be at heightened risk.

It is recommended that you inform the police and other services about these risk factors, telling them that they indicate increased risk and that action should be taken.