National Hate Crime Awareness Week

14 – 21 October marks National Hate Crime Awareness Week, a week dedicated to raising awareness of hate crimes and encouraging reporting.

What is a hate crime and a hate incident?

A hate crime is any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person’s race or perceived race; religion or perceived religion; sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation; disability or perceived disability and any crime motivated by hostility or prejudice against a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender.

A hate incident is any incident which the victim, or anyone else, thinks is based on someone’s prejudice towards them because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or because they are transgender.

Types of hate crime and hate incident and how to report:

Physical assault could be a form of hate crime and physical assault of any kind is deemed a criminal offence. If you’ve been a victim of physical assault you should report it to the police.
Verbal abuse could be a form of hate crime or hate incident. This includes name calling or being threatened. There are laws in place to protect people from verbal abuse, If you’ve been the victim of verbal abuse, you can talk to the police or one of their partner organisations about what has happened – you’ll find a list of them via the police How to report hate crime page.
Incitement to hatred is a form of hate crime that occurs when someone acts in a way that is threatening and intended to stir up hatred. That could be in words, pictures, videos, music, and includes information posted on websites. You can find details of how to report something to the police that you have seen online.

University online disclosure tool

As a university we are committed to upholding a safe, inclusive and respectful environment for everyone in our community, and we are all collectively responsible for this aim. We believe that any form of harassment, abuse or discrimination is #NeverOK.

If you’re affected by harassment of any kind, we are here to support you. You can use the Disclosure Tool, to inform us of an incident, either with your name or anonymously. It can be difficult to do so, but if you provide your name, we can talk to you about your safety, options for reporting, and support available. You can also use the tool to disclose an incident you’ve witnessed; everyone should feel able to speak out against harassment and hate. Contacting the Disclosure Response Team does not start a formal report or complaint to the university authorities or to the police. We will take you through your options so that you can make an informed decision.

Solidarity Vigil – Jubilee Square, Brighton

As part of National Hate Crime Awareness Week, local charities – Possability People, the Racial Harassment Forum and the Rainbow Hub are holding a solidarity vigil against hate crime from 6pm on Wednesday 18 October in Jubilee Square, Brighton, BN1 1 GE.

Charities that can offer support relating to hate crimes:

Local charities:

Possability People – report a disability hate crime
Rainbow Hub – report LGBTQ+ hate crime
Racial Harassment Forum – report race and religion hate crime

National charities:

TELL MAMA – report anti-Muslim hate and Islamophobia
CST – Protecting Our Jewish Community – report antisemitism, antisemitic incidents and hate crimes
Galop – the LGBT+ anti-abuse charity – offering support for LGBTQ+ victims of abuse and violence
Disability Rights UK – report a disability hate crime
Stand Against Racism & Inequality – SARI provides free and confidential support for anyone who is a victim of hate crime