How to report a hate crime or hate incident

This week (6-12th February) is Greater Manchester Hate Crime Awareness Week, which sees local organisations coming together to raise awareness of hate crime and celebrate diversity in our communities, with the message ‘no place for hate’. 

At Citizens Advice Manchester we’re here for anyone who has experienced hate crime. As a registered Hate Crime Reporting Centre, you can report incidents to us in confidence. Our team can provide advice and tell you where you can get more information and support. 

What is a hate crime? 

A hate crime is a criminal offence motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person’s disability, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation and transgender identity. 

Hate crimes can take many forms from physical attacks to threats of attack and damage to property. The penalty for a crime is more serious if it’s a hate crime. 

It’s important to know, it is still a hate crime if someone has made a mistake about your identity, for example they attacked you because they thought you were a Muslim, even if you’re not. 

Hate crimes include: 

  • Physical assault 

  • Damage to property 

  • Offensive graffiti 

  • Arson 

What is a hate incident? 

If you experienced something that wasn’t a crime, but you think it was motivated by prejudice against you, this is classed as a hate incident. If you’ve experienced abuse and you think it’s because of your age, the police may also treat this as a hate incident. 

Hate incidents include: 

  • Verbal abuse, insults or taunting 

  • Offensive leaflets and posters

  • Abusive gestures

Bullying at school or in the workplace

If you experience more than one hate incident by the same person or group of people, this  is classed as harassment. Harassment can be a crime. For example, someone on your street repeatedly shouts abuse at you when you walk past. 

What to do if you’ve experienced a hate crime or incident? 

You can report it to the police if you’ve:

  • Experienced a hate crime or incident 

  • Seen a hate crime or incident happen to someone else 

It’s often worth reporting it to the police even if you don’t think it’s very serious. Sometimes small hate incidents can lead to more serious ones. 

We can give you advice if you’re not sure whether you want to report a hate crime to the police, or if you’re not sure what evidence to include in your report. If you don’t want to go to the police, as a hate crime reporting centre we can refer hate crime to the police on your behalf, keeping your details anonymous if you wish.

If you need advice or want to report a hate crime or hate incident, you can find more information on our hate crime reporting page.

Danny Brown