Hate crime

The definition of a hate crime is any incident, which constitutes a criminal offence, which is perceived by the victim or any other person as being motivated by prejudice or hate.

A Hate Crime or Incident is a criminal offence and is any behaviour committed against a person, or property, and that someone thinks was caused by the offender's hostility, prejudice or hatred of:

race, skin colour, ethnicity, nationality or heritage
disability (including physical hearing, visual impairment, mental health problems and learning disability)
religion, faith or belief (includes people without a belief)
gender identity (people who are transgender, transsexual or transvestite)
sexual orientation (people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or heterosexual)

Anyone can be the victim of a Hate Crime.

Hate crime can take many forms including:

physical attacks - such as physical assault, damage to property, offensive graffiti, neighbour disputes and arson
threat of attack - including offensive letters, abusive or obscene telephone calls, groups hanging around to intimidate and unfounded, malicious complaints
verbal abuse or insults - offensive leaflets and posters, abusive gestures, dumping of rubbish outside homes or through letterboxes, and bullying at school or in the workplace, including calling people names, shouting at them or spreading nasty gossip
exclusion - making a person feel lonely

The law

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 created a number of new racially and religiously aggravated offences.

The Criminal Justice Act 2003 introduced tougher sentences for offences motivated by hatred of the victim's sexual orientation (this must now be taken into account by the sentencing court as an aggravating factor, in addition to race or religious hate motivation).

The Home Office site sets out how they plan to tackle hate crime and improve support for victims and much more information can be found here on the Home Office Hate Crime page. You can also view the The Cross-Government Action Plan which states what the government are doing about Hate Crime.

The Lincolnshire Hate Crime Strategy

You can use this link to view the Lincolnshire Police Hate Crime Policy.

This strategy is Lincolnshire's first multi-agency strategy to tackle Hate Crime and hate motivated harassment and incidents in the county. It marks the first steps to organisations and communities across Lincolnshire working together to challenge hate crimes and incidents in Lincolnshire. Due to the nature of hate incidents no one agency alone is able to deal with them in isolation and therefore partnership working is central to the approach of this strategy. If you require this in another language please contact the police on telephone number 101, but all the details are contained within the document.

Racial and Religious Hatred Act

This law, which came into effect in 2007, makes it a criminal offence to use threatening words or behaviour with the intention of stirring up hatred against any group of people because of their religious beliefs or their lack of religious beliefs.

Reporting a crime

If you are, or have been subjected to a Hate Crime, or know of someone who is, or has had problems, please contact the Police and tell them you are reporting a Hate Crime. If it is an emergency call the Police on 999. If you've been the victim of a crime it's really important to report it.

We know that sometimes it's not easy to decide to come forward. But we also know that if no one reports a crime, it's as if it never happened. Stop Hate UK is a charity that provides independent and confidential support to people affected by Hate Crime. You can also telephone them on the 24 hour helpline on 0800 138 1625. Alternatively you can contact us for confidential help and support.

LGB&T Survey in Lincolnshire

Consultation about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGB&T) in Lincolnshire.

Kaleidoscope and JUST Lincolnshire have joined forces to circulate a confidential Lincolnshire wide survey looking into the needs of the LGB&T community.

This survey is also supported by partners including the County Council and all district councils in Lincolnshire.

The totally anonymous information you provide in this survey will help us to identify any issues or needs surrounding service provision to the LGB&T community. This will influence decision making by service providers in the local area and have a positive impact on service delivery.

This is your opportunity to make a real difference to the way services are provided and truly influence decision at a local level. We hope that you will take the time to have your say and encourage others to do the same.

Either visit Just Lincolnshire and follow the LGB&T link - or go to direct to the survey and complete it. It won't take more than a couple of minutes, but could make a lasting difference. If you would prefer to complete a paper copy of the survey please call JUST Lincolnshire on 01522 836159.

What you can do

If you are experiencing problems with anti-social behaviour, or have any concerns about it, or other community safety issues, please do not hesitate to contact us or the Police.

Feel free to use the diary sheet below to record your incident and then, please contact us. You may find the guidance leaflet useful or you could visit the Incident Diary page for more information.