There is no place for hate, and Neighbourhood Watch stands against hate crimes. A hate crime is any incident, which is a criminal offence, that the victim or anyone else thinks is motivated by someone’s hostility or prejudice towards them or another person because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or because they are transgender. Hate crimes include posting abusive or offensive messages online about a person or group of people.
Hate incidents are not criminal offences, but can still have a negative impact on the victim. A hate incident is any incident that the victim or anyone else thinks is motivated by someone’s hostility or prejudice towards them or another person because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or because they are transgender. Typically, hate incidents include litter in the garden, dirty stares, or noise nuisance.
Incidents motivated by hate have a devastating impact on the victim and their family. Some hate crimes start as minor incidents, which can escalate into serious and frequent offences. Where victims suffer a series of such incidents, the cumulative effect can destroy their lives through emotional damage and long term trauma.
All hate incidents should be reported to ensure the police and other agencies know the extent of the problem and can take steps to combat it, support victims and bring perpetrators to justice. Victims of hate crimes may worry about the police contacting them at home, particularly if they have been repeatedly targeted near their home. If this is the case, they can ask the police to contact them through someone they trust and agree to provide their details, such as their local Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator.
Our NO PLACE FOR HATE campaign
We are leading a campaign to raise awareness of hate crimes and the role bystanders have in reporting them, and supporting victims. The campaign will run throughout October 2023 on our social media channels, and we welcome support in sharing the message far and wide. The campaign encourages all people who witness hate crimes to report them, and where possible, to show support for the victims of hate crimes.
Our goal is to raise understanding of what hate crimes are, raise awareness around different communities affected by hate crimes, and to increase understanding for what support is available to victims of hate crimes.
Support our campaign
Our campaign directs people to our hate crimes pages to learn more about the crime and how everyone can actively play a part in addressing it. From there, people can access information on reporting hate crimes, support services available to victims of hate crimes, and information on specific hate crimes such as racist, religious, homophobic and transphobic hate crimes.