Hate Crime

A hate crime is any standard criminal offense—such as assault, harassment, or property damage—that is perceived or proven to be motivated by hostility or prejudice toward a person’s actual or perceived protected characteristic.

Protected Characteristics:

In the UK, the five centrally monitored strands of hate crime recognized by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service are:

• Race or ethnicity
• Religion or beliefs
• Sexual orientation
• DisabilityTransgender identity

Hate Crimes vs. Hate Incidents

Hate Crime: Involves an actual criminal offense (like physical violence, criminal damage, or threatening behavior) driven by bias.

Hate Incident: Involves behavior, speech, or actions that feel hostile or prejudiced but do not cross the threshold of a specific criminal offense (such as certain non-crime verbal arguments or offensive online remarks).

How it is Handled

Perception-Based Recording: An incident is often flagged as having a hate element if it is perceived to be motivated by prejudice by the victim, a witness, or a police officer.

Sentencing: Courts can impose harsher or increased sentences for standard offenses if hostility or prejudice related to a protected characteristic is proven during the prosecution.

You can learn more about prosecution guidelines and legal distinctions through the Crown Prosecution Service Hate Crime Guidance.

How to report hate crime

If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999.

If it isn’t an emergency, you can report hate crime by calling the police on 101 or by filling in an online form at report-it.org.uk