This week Hampshire Constabulary are supporting National Hate Crime Awareness Week.
They say a few people had been wondering about what happens when a hate crime is reported to them, so they shared this detail below on social media.
A spokesperson for Hampshire Constabulary said,
“If the victim believes a crime to be motivated by hate then we will record this as a hate crime.
“However, the call handler will still ask lots of questions.”
They went on to explain,
“Sometimes victims find this upsetting and feel no one believes them, but just as with any other crime it’s important to establish the circumstances and facts and obtain evidence where possible so that the right decisions can be made.”
If you need to report a hate crime, you can do it over on the Hampshire Constabulary Website.
Types of hate crime
Hate crime can fall into one of three main types: physical assault, verbal abuse and incitement to hatred. Hampshire Constabulary define these as:
Physical assault
Physical assault of any kind is an offence. If you’ve been a victim of physical assault you should report it. Depending on the level of the violence used, a perpetrator may be charged with common assault, actual bodily harm or grievous bodily harm.
Verbal abuse
Verbal abuse, threats or name-calling can be a common and extremely unpleasant experience for minority groups.
Victims of verbal abuse are often unclear whether an offence has been committed or believe there is little they can do. However, there are laws in place to protect you from verbal abuse.
If you’ve been the victim of verbal abuse, talk to the police or one of our partner organisations about what has happened. You’ll find a list of them on our How to report hate crime page.
Even if you don’t know who verbally abused you, the information could still help us to improve how we police the area where the abuse took place.
Incitement to hatred
The offence of incitement to hatred 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.
Hate content may include:
- messages calling for violence against a specific person or group
- web pages that show pictures, videos or descriptions of violence against anyone due to their perceived differences
- chat forums where people ask other people to commit hate crimes against a specific person or group
For more information about how to report, check out the Website.
