Race & Hate Crime

What is Hate and Race Crime?
A hate crime is a serious criminal offence committed against a person or property due to hatred of that person's gender, race, religion, colour, ethnicity, disability or sexual orientation.

Hate Crime Hurts
Harassment does not only harm the victim or damage their property; it can affect the whole family, friends and the wider community. It can do serious harm as many victims do not report incidents but endure harassment for a long time - sometimes for years.

You do not have to be a member of a minority to be a victim of hate crime or someone who is generally considered to be 'vulnerable'. For example, the friends of a visible minority ethnic person, lesbian or refugee may be victimised because of their association.

Hate Crime can Take Many Forms

Physical Attacks	The Threat of Attack	Verbal Abuse or Insults
Damage to property	Offensive letters	Offensive leaflets and posters
Offensive graffiti	Abusive or obscene telephone calls	Abusive gestures
Neighbour disputes	Groups hanging around to intimidate	Dumping of rubbish outside homes or through letterboxes
Arson	Unfounded, malicious complaints	Bullying at school or in the workplace

Victims can take Action Against their Attackers
People who do these sorts of things can be prosecuted in the courts. Those who attack others because of their gender, disability, sexuality, race or religion can be evicted from their homes, fined, be subject to Anti-Social Behaviour Orders or put in prison.

Hate crime is under reported as a crime. If more victims and witnesses report incidents it can prevent other people becoming victims of hate crime.

How you can report Hate Crime?

• Call the Police In an emergency call 999. Ask for an officer to attend your home.
• Call into any Police Station Speak to the member of staff on duty who will take the details.
• Report via the Internet
• Self Report
• Pick up a pack with forms enclosed from the Police or other agencies.
• Report via Another Agency
• Victim Support
• Call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. You do not have to give your name

Who can help you?
Authorities such as the police, local authorities and schools have a duty to protect you. There are practical steps that agencies can take to help challenge harassment and support the victims.

The Police
If you are attacked - contact the police immediately. Dial 999.

Tell the police that the attack was a hate crime. Always tell the police about hate crime, even if you do not think anything can be done. The Police may be able to gain evidence against offenders by putting together information given by a number of victims. People who carry out these crimes may be harming other people.
If you believe the incident (whether a crime or not) is racist, homophobic or motivated by hatred based on religion, gender or disability, Thames Valley Police will record it as such. This means that if you tell the police about something that you think is a hate crime then the police will believe you and they will record what you are saying as a hate crime without question.

Community & Race Relations Officer's are local points of contact in the Police for hate crime and community relations:

• Community & Race Relations Officer

If you do not want to give your name or address, you can still report an incident without providing your details.

You can get advice from the following organisations:
Citizens Advice Bureau
Victim Support www.victimsupport.org (Opens new window to external site)

What is a racial incident?
Racial harassment is verbal or physical aggression towards individuals or groups because of their colour, race, nationality or ethnic or national origin and includes attacks on property as well as people.

• Any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person"

Examples of Racial incidents are:

• Assault, ranging from pushing through to physical attacks, grievous bodily harm to murder
• Verbal racist abuse ranging from jokes to offensive remarks and comments 
• Racist graffiti in any form 
• Objects being thrown at people or their property 
• Offensive mail
• Racist literature 
• Intimidation at work on grounds of race or colour 
• Racist nuisance or disturbance including obscene telephone calls and dumping of rubbish 
• Arson (setting fire to property)

(note: this is not a complete list but only a list of examples of racist incidents).
These incidents are almost always against the law; and they can happen anywhere - at home, at work, at school or on the streets. If you are a victim of a racial attack or abuse, or witness an incident, report it immediately to the police before it gets any worse. You can phone on either 0845 8505 505 or 999.

At home
If you are threatened in your home or see anything suspicious nearby - dial 999 and ask for the police. If you are a council tenant also report the incident to the local authority housing department.
Make sure your home is secure. If you feel particularly at risk you can:

• Replace broken windows with reinforced plastic or shatter proof glass
• Consider fitting a fireproof ridded container to your letterbox.

If you have been attacked ring the police immediately. Any details you remember will help with the investigation of your complaint.
Remember - you can help the police by:

• Taking the name and address of any witness
• Trying to remember exactly what the attacker looked like in detail
• If a car was involved try to note the colour, model and registration number