Hate crime

A Hate Crime or Incident is any behaviour that you or someone else thinks was caused by hostility, prejudice or hatred of:

• Disability (including physical, hearing and visual impairments, mental health problems and learning disabilities)
• Gender identity (people who are transgender, transsexual or transvestite)
• Race, skin colour, nationality, ethnicity or heritage
• Religion, faith or belief (including people without a religious belief)
• Sexual orientation (people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or heterosexual)

Hate crimes include things like:

• Name calling and verbal abuse
• Bullying, threats, intimidation and harassment
• Spitting, hitting, kicking, physical attacks, violence and murder
• Damage to your property (e.g. to your home or car). The damage could be permanent or temporary. It could include setting fire to things (arson)
• Graffiti and writing (e.g. notes, emails, text messages, comments on websites)

Thames Valley Police defines a hate incident as "any incident which is perceived to be a hate incident by the victim or any other person". Anyone can be a victim of hate crime.

Report a hate crime

It is important that all hate crimes are reported, Reports help us support victims and witnesses, and make sure action is taken against perpetrators. Anyone can be the victim of a hate crime.

For help and advice or to report a crime, phone the police:

• Emergencies: 999
• Non-emergencies: 101

Reporting hate crime to Stop Hate UK

Stop Hate UK is a charity that provides independent and confidential support. They can take the details of what has happened, and arrange for ongoing support if required. If you feel unable to report hate crime directly to the police, you can contact Stop Hate UK:

• On the phone: 0800 138 1625
• With Text Relay, for deaf and hearing or speech impaired callers: 18001 0800 138 1625
• In a text: 07717 989 025
• In an email: talk@stophate.org
• Chat on the web: www.stophate.org/talk
• With a form: www.stophate.org/tell
• In the post: Stop Hate UK, PO Box 484, Leeds, LS7 9BZ

You can also report a hate crime:

• by phoning Victim Support: 0845 38 99 528
• anonymously by phoning Crimestoppers: 0800 555 111

See below for useful information on the support available if you have been the victim of a hate crime.