What Is Hate Crime - Derbyshire Neighbourhood Watch

What is a hate crime?

A hate crime is any criminal offence that is perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on any of the following:

– a person’s race or perceived race;

-religion or perceived religion; –

-sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation;

-disability or perceived disability;

– and any crime motivated by a hostility or prejudice against a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender.

Derbyshire Police monitor alternative subculture as a strand of hate as well as gender. This has been introduced to Derbyshire this year.

Gender hate is included under the definition of hate incidents and crime in Derbyshire. The definition for gender hate is a “hate incident or any non-crime incident, which is perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person’s gender or perceived gender”.

What is a hate incident?

A hate incident is “any incident which the victim, or anyone else, thinks is based on someone’s prejudice towards them because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or because they are transgender.

Not all hate incidents will amount to criminal offences, but it is equally vital that these are reported and recorded by the police.”

This means that if someone believes something is a hate incident, it should be recorded by the person they are reporting it to. All police forces record hate crimes and incidents based on these personal characteristics.

What are protected characteristics?

These strands are also known as protected characteristics.

In the UK, everyone has the right to defence from various prejudices, and the law is specific that businesses maintain diversity and good moral conduct. According to the Equality Act 2010, protected characteristics are aspects of a person’s identity that make them who they are.

This collection requires offences aggravated by hate or prejudice (for the five strands outlined below as defined in the HOCR) flagged on police information system extracts provided to the Home Office.

Derbyshire Constabulary monitor five of the protected characteristics listed here:

1. Disability- can be visible, e.g. someone who uses a wheelchair, but there are also hidden disabilities such as mental health, a learning disability or autism.

2. Race – a person’s country of origin, ethnic background or skin colour.

3. Religion – a person’s faith which can sometimes be identified by a person’s clothing or a symbolic dress.

4. Sexual orientation- An example of this can be someone who is in a same-sex relationship.

5. Transgender status- sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex or someone who identifies as trans and may have gone through or is in the process of transitioning gender.

In addition to these, Derbyshire Constabulary has added the following two hate or prejudice strands:

6. Alternative subculture – people who have a strong sense of collective identity and typically a distinctive appearance, e.g. goths, emos and punks.

7. Other (including gender hate).

Examples of hate crimes and incidents

· Verbal abuse such as name-calling and offensive jokes.

· Harassment.

· Bullying or intimidation by children, adults, neighbours or strangers.

· Physical attacks such as hitting, punching, pushing, spitting.

· Threats of violence.

· Hoax calls, abusive phone or text messages, hate mail.

· Online abuse, for example, on Facebook or Twitter.

· Displaying or circulating discriminatory literature or posters.