Paul is pleased to be supporting Hate Crime Awareness Week which runs from 14th - 21st October and is in place to help increase awareness of hate crime, the fact you are not alone, and how and why you should always report it.
Hate crime is when a person is targeted due to their disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity and can fall into one of three main types:
- Physical assault
- Verbal abuse
- Incitement to hatred.
Physical assault
Physical assault of any kind is an offence. If you’ve been a victim of physical assault you should report it. Depending on the level of the violence used, a perpetrator may be charged with common assault, actual bodily harm or grievous bodily harm.
Verbal abuse
Verbal abuse can be anything from name-calling to threats, victims of verbal abuse are often unclear whether an offence has been committed or believe there is little they can do. However, there are laws in place to protect you from verbal abuse. Even if you don’t know who verbally abused you, the information could still help the police to improve how they patrol the area where the abuse took place.
Incitement to hatred
The offence of incitement to hatred occurs when someone acts in a way that is threatening and intended to stir up hatred. That could be in words, pictures, videos, music, and includes information posted on websites.
Hate content may include:
- messages calling for violence against a specific person or group
- web pages that show pictures, videos or descriptions of violence against anyone due to their perceived differences
- chat forums where people ask other people to commit hate crimes against a specific person or group
Hate crime should never be tolerated.
It's not just offensive, it's an offence. The government is committed to tackling hate crime and raise awareness of what a hate crime is and help people understand that it is not right to target individuals based on their identity.
Our local police teams work tirelessly to protect us from crimes including these and will be out and about at various community events this week, talking about what constitutes a hate crime, the impact it can have on victims and the wider community, and how people can report it.
If you’re a victim or witness a hate crime, please do not hesitate to report it either online or via the 101 non-emergency number or 999 if it is an emergency.
Every report made helps the police to better protect our communities and catch criminals. Nothing is too small to report. Do not hesitate.
