What is a hate crime or incident?

This refers to hostility or prejudice directed at someone because of their racial or ethnic identity. It includes discrimination based on skin colour, cultural heritage, language, or perceived national background.

Hate crimes based on race or ethnicity often involve:

• Racial slurs or abuse shouted in public or online.
• Physical attacks targeting someone because of their skin colour or accent.
• Graffiti or vandalism with racist messages on homes, places of worship, or community centres.
• Refusal of service or exclusion from spaces due to perceived nationality.

These acts aim to isolate and intimidate individuals or groups based on their racial or ethnic identity.

Religious hate crime involves targeting someone because of their faith, beliefs, or religious practices. It can affect people of any religion or belief system.

Religious hate crimes may include:

• Verbal abuse targeting someone’s faith, such as mocking religious dress or practices.
• Attacks on places of worship, like mosques, churches, synagogues, or temples.
• Threats or harassment during religious holidays or events.
• Spreading false narratives that incite fear or hostility toward a religious group.

These crimes seek to undermine freedom of belief and often attempt to isolate or intimidate individuals or communities based on their spiritual identity.

This relates to prejudice against someone because of their gender identity – including transgender, non-binary, or gender non-conforming individuals.

Hate crimes against gender identity can involve:

• Mocking someone’s identity in public or online.
• Physical assaults targeting someone because of their gender identity.
• Threats of intimidation for expressing their gender identity.

Sexual orientation-based hate crime targets individuals because of who they are attracted to.
Examples include:

• Homophobic slurs or threats directed at LGBTQ+ individuals.
• Assaults or harassment in public spaces.
• Vandalism of LGBTQ+ community spaces of symbols (eg Pride flags).

These crimes are rooted in homophobia or intolerance and aim to shame, silence, or harm people based on their personal relationships and identity.

Disability hate crime involves hostility towards individuals with physical, sensory, learning, or mental health disabilities.

Disability-related hate crimes may involve:

• Mocking or belittling someone’s physical or mental condition.
• Physical abuse or neglect.
• Exclusion from services or public spaces.
• Online abuse targeting people with disabilities.

These crimes deny disabled people their dignity and equal rights.

This refers to prejudice against people who identify with distinct cultural or lifestyle groups, such as goth, punk, emo, or other.

Examples are:

• Bullying or harassment.
• Assaults based on clothing, music taste, or lifestyle.
• Online abuse targeting sub-cultural communities.
• Vandalism of venues or events associated with these groups.

Hate crimes often reflect intolerance toward non-mainstream expressions of self.