What is a Hate Crime and Hate Incident?
Whether you are a student or a staff member, hate crimes and hate incidents are never okay and they are not tolerated at the University of Cumbria, report your concerns by clicking the report here image.
What is considered a Hate Crime and/or Hate Incident?
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There is a difference between a hate crime and a hate incident.
What is a Hate Crime?
A hate crime is a criminal act that is motivated by bias or prejudice against a person or group based on characteristics such as:
In essence, it's not just the crime itself (like assault, vandalism, or threats), but the motive behind it - specifically, targeting someone because of who they are or are perceived to be - that defines it as a hate crime.
Assaults "A person is physically or verbally attacked as a result of a protected characteristic" |
Hate Mail (Malicious Communication) "A physical or digital message that expresses hostility, prejudice or threats towards an individual or group based on the protected characteristics" |
Vandalism (Criminal Damage) "Defacing and/or damaging physical property with the intention of targeting a persons protected characteristic" |
Harassment "Repeatedly following or contacting someone with the intent to intimidate them because a protected characteristics" |
Verbal Abuse "Name-calling and/or offensive jokes" |
Offensive Social Media Posts "Derogatory memes or comments about a protected characteristic without directly targeting someone" |
Refusal of Service "A shop assistant refuses to serve a customer because of a protected characteristic" |
Malicious complaints "Over parking, smells, or noise" |
Offensive Propaganda "Displaying or circulating discriminatory literature or posters about a protected characteristic" |
Mocking or Imitating Accents "Imitating of mocking a person's speech of movements" |
This means that if the victim believe something is a hate incident, it should be recorded as such by the person it is being reported to. Hate incidents can escalate into hate crimes.