Hate Crime

It’s a sad fact, but the world we live in isn’t always a nice place. Sometimes we come up against abuse and discrimination just for being who we are. When that happens, it is classified as a ‘hate crime’. This is because being LGBT+ is what’s known as a ‘protected characteristic’. Other protected characteristics are race, religion and disability. This means it is wrong to discriminate or commit a crime against someone because they are of a different race, religion, sexuality, gender identity, or have a disability.

 

Even though we live in more enlightened times than previously, it is also a sad fact that LGBT+ people do sometimes face bullying and discrimination. It’s an awful experience to go through, but there is help available if you become a victim of a hate crime or incident. Before detailing the support available and giving you some handy advice, let’s first go through the various terms and their meanings.

 

Hate Incident: Any non-crime incident which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice, based on a person’s actual or perceived protected characteristic (race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or gender identity).

 

Hate Crime: A criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice, based on a person’s actual or perceived protected characteristic (race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or gender identity).

 

Hate Motivation: Hate crimes and incidents are taken to mean any crime or incident where the perpetrator’s hostility or prejudice against an identifiable group of people is a factor in determining who is victimised.

 

If you find yourself being victimised because you are LGBT+ it is important that you report it. The people who commit an offence against you can be punished and the Police will take you seriously.

 

There are a number of ways of reporting a hate crime or incident.

 

In An Emergency

 

Call 999 immediately

 

If you are unable to make voice calls, you can use the emergency SMS text service, but only if you have registered with the service first (www.emergencysms.org.uk).

 

In A Non-Emergency

 

If it is not an emergency but you would still like to report the incident, you can do so in the following ways.

 

By Telephone:

 

Non-emergency Police Number - 101

 

Leamington Spa Police Station - 01926 415000

 

Hate Crime Helpline - 0845 129 2221

 

Victim Support - 01926 682689

 

Crimestoppers - 0800 555111

 

Online Reporting:

 

Report It - www.report-it.org.uk/report-a-hate-crime

 

Crimestoppers - www.crimestoppers-uk.org

 

In Person:

 

By going to your local Police station and reporting the crime or incident

 

Or you can talk to us. We will listen to your concerns, take you seriously and can help you to report the hate crime or incident.

 

We believe that hate crime can become a thing of the past. The only way that will happen is if people are brave and come forward to report the crimes. At Proud Youth we are here to support you all the way. You don’t need to suffer in silence and you never need to feel that you are alone.

 

Below is a video from Warwickshire Police about combating hate crime. It's an interesting video worth watching if you have a few minutes. The Police DO take hate crime seriously and there is support available if you find yourself becoming a victim of it.