A racist hate incident is any incident where you or someone else has been targeted because of your membership or presumed membership of an ethnic group.
Race crime doesn't just mean when someone becomes a victim because of the colour of their skin. It also includes nationality, culture and language.
No two hate incidents are the same but they may include the following:
If you see someone getting hassled, and you think it is because their race, ethnicity, nationality, culture or language you can report it as an incident, even if the victim has not done so.
In April 2009, the Ministry of Justice produced ‘Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System 2007/8’. Within this publication the latest British Crime Survey estimates that there were around 207,000 racially motivated hate incidents in 2007/8. This compares with a total of 184,000 incidents reported by the 2006/07 British Crime Survey.
These incidents don’t just affect the lives of those involved but affect their friends, their families, and every part of the local community.
If hate incidents are not reported, the bullies, bigots and thugs will feel their behaviour is totally acceptable and that they can continue to abuse people whenever they feel like it.
