BRIEFING PAPER Number 8537 , 10 December 2020

By Grahame Allen, Yago Statistics Zayed, Rebecca Lees

Contents: 1. & Wales 2. Crime by Strand 3. Prosecutions and Convictions in England 4. Scotland 5. Northern Ireland

www.parliament.uk/commons-library | intranet.parliament.uk/commons-library | [email protected] | @commonslibrary 2 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

Contents

1. England & Wales 4 1.1 Background 4 1.2 Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW) 5 1.3 Police Recorded Hate Crime 7 1.4 Hate Crime by Offence Type and Outcomes 8 1.5 Hate Crime Since 2015 11 1.6 Covid-19 Pandemic 12 1.7 Online Hate Crime 14 1.8 Police Force Area Data 16 2. Crime By Strand 19 2.1 Race 19 2.2 Religion 20 2.3 Sexual Orientation and Transgender Identity 26 2.4 27 3. Prosecutions and Convictions 29 3.1 Prosecutions by Offence Category 30 3.2 Offenders by ethnicity 32 4. Scotland 34 4.1 Police recorded figures 36 5. Northern Ireland 38

Attribution: – Licenced under CCO public domain, no copyright required Hate Crime Summary

Police Recorded Crime Police recorded crime figures in 2019/20 show that there were 105,090 offences where one or more of the centrally monitored hate crime strands were deemed 105,090 to be a motivating factor. This represented a 8% increase on figures for 2018/19. Figures from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) were not included in this year's release due to the implementation of new IT systems affecting 39,130 data supply.

The increase in police recorded hate crime over the years has partly been attributed to 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 better recording methods used and greater awareness in reporting hate crimes.

Covid -19 Pandemic In October 2020, the Home Office published provisional trends in racially or religiously aggravated offences under Covid-19 8,000 2019 restrictions in England and Wales, up until 2020

July 2020. 6,000

Data from the GMP was excluded and 4,000 provisionally shows that in March, April and May 2020 the levels of racially or religiously aggravated offences recorded by the police 2,000 were lower than the same period in 2019,

but that in June and July 2020 they were 0 higher – in June by as much as one third. January February March April May June July

Police Force Area Data All Hate Crime Offences 2019/20 The highest rate of hate crimes for all offences recorded by the police per 100,000 population in 2019/20 (excluding the GMP whose figures were not included this year) was in the West Yorkshire Police Force Area (359).The lowest rate was found in North Yorkshire (78). The rate for England and Wales including the British Transport Police was 177.

West Yorksire was the only police force to appear amongst the 10 highest rates recorded for each hate crime strand. 4 Hate Crime Statistics

1. England & Wales

1.1 Background Definitions The definition of what constitutes hate crime in England & Wales was agreed in 2007 by the Police Service, Crown Prosecution Service, Prison Service and other agencies.1 Hate crime in England and Wales is defined as, ‘any criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or towards someone based on a personal characteristic’. 2 There are five centrally monitored strands of hate crime: • race or ethnicity; • religion or beliefs; • sexual orientation; • disability; • transgender identity. related to gender and age, though recorded by the police, is not included in the Home Office definition of hate crime as centrally monitored strands, and are excluded from the hate crime statistics.3 As part of a review into hate crime legislation, (hatred directed towards women), (hatred directed towards men), hate based on age and hatred towards gothic subculture could all be included in future as hate crimes.4 These are not currently recorded in the official statistics and are not looked at here. Statistics There is no single reliable source of hate crime statistics in England and Wales. The two main sources used to record crimes in England and Wales are the Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW) and the Police Recorded Crimes series. Both are problematic in that the CSEW does not cover all crimes which may have a hate crime component such as homicides and public order offences.5 Nor does it record crimes directed against those aged under 16. Police recorded figures do not

1 Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2017/18 , p.8 2 ibid. 3 Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2016/17, p.2. For further information as to how the Police record hate crime please see the College of Policing’s Hate Crime Operational guidance 4 The Guardian, Review of UK hate crime law to consider misogyny and ageism, 16 October 2018 5 Public order offences are defined as the use of violence and/or intimidation by individuals or groups including verbal and written . The principal public order offences are contained in Part I of the Public Order Act 1986 (‘the Act’). 5 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

have National Statistics status like the CSEW and are likely to underreport the true extent of hate crime as many people do not report it to the police.6 The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Hate Crime in its report, How Do We Build Community Cohesion When Hate Crime Is On the Rise published in February 2019, also noted that: Hate Crime is often intersectional in nature (e.g. many victims are women as well as being black, LGBT++, Muslim etc.). However, the current legislation does not allow for this to be recorded so the picture that authorities have lacks depth and subtlety.7 By looking at the two official sets of data, along with statistics from other sources, this briefing paper summarises figures concerning hate crime in England and Wales. It also looks at the types of hate crime offences and outcomes for these offences. Additionally, it looks at how the EU referendum and terrorist attacks in 2017 impacted on hate crime figures. The paper also presents data on hate crime rates per 100,000 population in each police force area and for each hate crime strand. It looks at equivalent hate crime figures in Scotland and Northern Ireland. 1.2 Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW)

CSEW figures are considered too unreliable to present figures for a single year due to the small samples involved. Three annual survey datasets are combined into a single dataset. Source: Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2017/18

The Number of annuala CSEW incidents for all hate The 2019/20 Hate Crime in England and crime has decreased by 38% from 2007/08 to Wales statistical bulletin included data on 2019/20

hate crime incidents from the CSEW. Number (000s)b 2007/08 2009/10 2012/13 2015/16 2017/18 Hate Crime figures from the CSEW were and to to to to due to be published in 2020/21. Due to Hate crime Strand 2008/09 2011/12 2014/15 2017/18 2019/20 Race 151 149 106 101 104 the Covid-19 pandemic however, face- Religion 38 51 38 39 42 Sexual orientation 69 42 29 30 23 to-face interviewing was suspended in Disability 81 63 70 52 50 March 2020 resulting in the publication Gender identityb n/a n/a * * 7 Total hate crimec 307 266 222 184 190 of figures being brought forward Notes : combining the latest annual data with a) Annual estimates are for each year in the combined year sets 8 b) The numbers are derived by multiplying incidence rates by the that from 2017/18. The CSEW is population estimates for England and Wales. considered to be a more reliable c) CSEW data from 2007/08 excludes Gender-identity as questions on this strand were not included until 2011/12. A reliable estimate from 2012/13 for indicator of long-term crime trends than gender-identity cannot be produced due to small numbers in the survey and figures are indicated by a "*". d) Totals for hate crime might not be equal to the sum of incidents in the related equality strands as the victim may have said the crime was motivated by more than one strand.

Source: Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2019 to 2020: data tables, Table 3.1, 13 October 2020

6 Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2017/18 , p.25 7 APPG on Hate Crime, How Do We Build Community Cohesion When Hate Crime Is On the Rise, 5 February 2019, p.7 8 Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2019/20, p.19 6 Hate Crime Statistics

the police recorded crime series, particularly for the more Percentage of hate crime common types of crimes experienced by the public. The CSEW incidents, by type of records household crimes and excludes those committed offence, 2017/18 to against businesses and crimes defined as victimless such as 2019/20 public order offences. Public order offences however constitute All over 50% of police recorded hate crime. Another major Hate CSEW difference between the CSEW and police reported hate crime Type of incident crime crime Personal Crime figures is that the CSEW only covers people aged 16 and over; Violence without injury 28% 9% while the police recorded crime data records hate crimes Violence with injury 17% 9% 9 Robbery 5% 3% against people of all ages. Theft from person 7% 7% Other theft of personal According to the CSEW, combined figures for the 2017/18 to property 2% 11% 2019/20 surveys showed there were estimated 190,000 hate Total Personal Crime 59% 39% crime incidents each year. This represented around 3% of all Household Crime crime recorded by the CSEW compared with 2% of all police Criminal damage 20% 18% 10 recorded crime. Over the combined surveys 2017/18 to Burglary 10% 11% 2019/20, 47% of hate crime incidents recorded by the CSEW Vehicle-related theft 5% 15% Bicycle theft 1% 5% were reported to the police. This compares with 38% of all Other household theft 5% 13% 11 crimes. Total Household Crime 41% 61% CSEW data shows that the victim of a hate crime is more likely Note: Percentages may not add up due to to have suffered personal crime than household crime rounding compared to a victim of any crime. Personal crimes are those Source: Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2019 to 2020: data tables, Table aimed at the individual and relate to the individual’s own 3.1, 13 October 2020 experience not others in the household. Household crimes involve damage to or theft from a property and involve anyone else currently residing in the household.12 59% of hate crime Emotional impact of hate victims were victims of offences that fell under personal crime crime incidents, 2017/18 to compared with 39% of all CSEW crime victims. 41% of hate 2019/20 crime victims were victims of offences that fell under household crime compared with 61% of all CSEW crime % % all Emotional response hate CSEW victims. Victims of household hate crime were 7 percentage experienceda crime crime points more likely to be victimised more than once in the Annoyance 48% 67% previous year than those for all crimes combined including Anger 51% 53% hate crime (27% vs 20%). 16% of victims of hate crimes that Shock 47% 33% were termed personal compared with victims of all crimes have Loss of confidence or feeling vulnerable 42% 19% been victimised more than once in the previous year (16% vs Fear 45% 17% 13 18%). Difficulty sleeping 29% 13% According to the surveys, victims of hate crime were more Crying/tears 23% 11% Anxiety or panic attacks 34% 14% likely to be impacted emotionally and psychologically following Depression 18% 9% a crime than victims of all crime. For instance, 42% of victims Other 4% 3% of hate crime felt a loss of confidence or vulnerable following Note: the crime compared with 19% of those for all crimes; 29% of a) Figures add to more than 100 as more hate crime victims had difficulty sleeping following the crime in than one response possible. Source: Home Office, Hate Crime, England comparison to 13% for all crimes; while 34% of hate crime and Wales, 2019 to 2020: data tables, Table victims suffered from anxiety or panic attacks compared with 3.4, 13 October 2020

9 Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2017/18 ; p.10 10 Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2019/20; p.19 11 ibid; p.19 12 ibid; p.21 13 ibid;p.24 7 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

14% for all crimes. Concerning feelings of depression, 18% of hate crime victims felt this way after the attack compared with 9% of victims of all crimes. 1.3 Police Recorded Hate Crime Police recorded hate crime data can be obtained from the Home Office’s Hate Crime Statistics publication. Figures for Police recorded hate crime for all strands is available from 2011/12. From 2009/10 to 2010/11, the Home Office only published statistics on police recorded racist incidents. Police recorded hate crime statistics differ from the CSEW figures in that they are available annually. They also differ in that they cover all ages of the population as opposed to just those aged over 16 in the CSEW. The CSEW is a survey in which public order offences are not well covered as they do not often involve an identifiable victim. By contrast police recorded figures cover public order offences which make up the majority of hate crime offences recorded. The rise in police recorded hate crimes is partially attributable to an improvement in the recording of these crimes. As such the police recorded figures are not suitable for examining long term trends on hate crime. However there have been short-term increases in hate crime following the EU referendum in June 2016 and the terrorist attacks of 2017 as well as a greater awareness in identifying hate crime.14

Police recorded hate crimes by monitored strand England & Wales, year ending 31 March

Change Change 2019 to 2012 to 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017c 2018c 2019d 2020e 2020 2020 Race 32,969 33,116 34,874 39,666 45,440 58,294 64,829 72,041 76,070 +6% +131% Religion 1,438 1,421 2,067 3,006 3,962 5,184 7,103 7,203 6,822 -5% +374% Sexual orientation 4,044 3,960 4,278 5,168 6,700 8,569 10,670 13,314 15,835 +19% +292% Disability 1,676 1,844 1,953 2,354 3,393 5,254 6,787 7,786 8,469 +9% +405% Transgender 296 352 538 572 820 1,195 1,615 2,183 2,540 +16% +758%

Total number of motivating factorsa 40,423 40,693 43,710 50,766 60,315 78,496 91,004 102,527 109,736 +7% +171%

Total number of offences N/A 39,130 41,406 48,567 57,676 74,967 86,254 97,446 105,090 +8% 145%b

Notes: a) It is possible for a crime to have more than one motivating factor. The police also collect data on the number of motivating factors and for this reason the sum of the 5 motivating factors exceeds the number offences. b) The percentage change for the total number of offences are calculated from 2012/13 as figures for 2011/12 are not available c) Figures for the Metropolitan Police have been revised for 2016/17 and 2017/18 d) Figures for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Metropolitan police have been revised figures for 2018/19 e) Data for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have not been included in this release because of issues with their data supply following the implementation of new force IT systems.

Source: Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2019 to 2020: data tables, Table 2.1, 13 October 2020 In 2019/20, there were 105,090 offences recorded by the police where one or more of the centrally monitored strands were deemed to be a

14 ibid; p.6 8 Hate Crime Statistics

motivating factor. This represents an 8% increase on the figure for 2018/19. This was the lowest percentage increase since 2013/14.15

The most common type of hate crime offences are related to a victim's race

1% 1% 2% 2% 2% 2%

5% 6% 7% 8% 8% 6% 8% 7% 7% 8% 7% 11% 12% 15% 11% 12% 14% 6%

82% 79% 78% 75% 74% 72%

2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 Race Sexual orientation Religion Dis ability Transgender

Notes: It is possible for a crime to have more than one motivating factor. For this reason the sum of the percentages of the 5 motivating factors exceeds a 100%.

Data for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have not been included for 2019/20 because of issues with their data supply following the implementation of new force IT systems.

Source: Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2019 to 2020: data tables, Table 2.1, 13 October 2020

1.4 Hate Crime by Offence Type and Outcomes The majority of hate crimes by offence type cw orere publi der offences – 53% of all hate crimes. This compares with public order offences accounting for 7% of overall recorded crime. Violence against the

Percentage breakdown of hate crime by selected offence types and monitored stranda England & Wales 2019/20

Monitored Hate Crime Strand Total Sexual hate Race Religion Orientation Disability Transgender crime

Public order offences 57% 48% 48% 35% 38% 53% Violence against the person with injury 6% 4% 9% 7% 9% 7% Violence against the person without injury 14% 13% 14% 12% 12% 14% Stalking and 14% 19% 23% 32% 32% 18% Criminal damage and arson 5% 12% 3% 5% 4% 5% Other notifiable offencesb 3% 3% 4% 7% 5% 3%

Notes: a) Data for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have not been included in this release because of issues with their data supply b) The other notifiable offences included crimes such as theft, burglary and sexual offences for example. For more information on notifiable offences see the User Guide.

Source: Home Office, Hate Crime England and Wales Data Tables, Figure 2.5, 13 October 2020

15 ibid; p.7 9 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

person represented 38% of hate crime offences compared with 29% of overall recorded crime. 16 Data for 2019/20 from 31 police force areas concerning the outcome of hate crime flagged offences show that 9% of such offences ended with a charge or summons; 78% of cases did not result in further action due to a lack of evidence, the victim did not want to pursue further action or a suspect was not identified; 7% of cases were either settled out of court; further investigation or action was deemed to not be in the public interest or action was taken by another body or agency; 7% of offences were waiting to be assigned an outcome.17

Hate crime offences are more likely to lead to a charge or summons 2019/20

Hate crime Non-hate crime

10 % 9 % 7 % 7 % 7 % 5 %

Public order offences Violence against the person Criminal Damage and Arson

Note: Figures are for 31 Police force areas

Source: Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2019 to 2020: data tables, Figure 2.7, 13 October 2020

Comparable figures for non-hate crime offences suggest that hate crime offences are more likely to lead to a charge or summons. The chart below shows the percentage of hate crime and non-hate crime flagged offences by type resulting in a charge or summons.

16 Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2019 to 2020: data tables, Figure 2.4, 13 October 2020 17 Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2019 to 2020: appendix tables, Table 4, 13 October 2020 10 Hate Crime Statistics

Racially/religiously aggravated offences are more likely to result in a charge or summons 2019/20

Racially or Religously aggravated Non-aggravated

11 % 10 % 9%

6% 5% 5%

Public fear, alarm or distress Assault with/without injury Criminal damage offences and harassment

Note: Data for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have not been included in this release because of issues with their data supply following the implementation of new force IT systems.

Source: Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2019 to 2020 data tables , Figure 2.6, 13 October 2020 The gap between racially and religiously aggravated offences and non- aggravated offences ending in a charge or summons is 6 percentage points greater for offences related to causing public fear, alarm or distress. It was 4 percentage points greater for offences involving assault with or without an injury and for offences concerning criminal damage. Hate crime offences by strand and type ending in a charge or summons in 2019/20

Criminal Damage and Arson Public order offences

15% Violence against the person

12%

11%

9% 9% 9% 7% 7% 6% 6%

5% 5% 5%

4% 3%

2% 2% 2%

Race Religion Sexual orientation Disability Transgender Non-hate crime

Note: Figures are for 26 Police force areas

Source: Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2018 to 2019 data tables, Figure.8, 15 October 2019 When looking at outcomes by hate crime strand and offence type, disability and transgender hate crimes are less likely than other hate crime strands and non-hate crimes to end in a charge or summons. Race 11 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

hate crimes are more likely than non-hate crimes and other hate crime strands, for all offence types, to result in a charge or summons.

1.5 Hate Crime Since 2015 The chart below shows the number of monthly racially or religiously motivated hate crimes recorded by the police between April 2015 and July 2020.

Racially and religously motivated hate crime in England & Wales spiked following specific events

8,000

Covid-19 Start of EU Lockdown referendum 6,000

4,000

Terrorist attacks in order: Westminster Bridge EU 2,000 Manchester Arena referendum London Bridge result Finsbury Park Parsons Green 0 Apr-15 Oct-15 Apr-16 Oct-16 Apr-17 Oct-17 Apr-18 Oct-18 Apr-19 Oct-19 Apr-20

Source: Home Office, Hate crime, England and Wales, 2019 to 2020: appendix tables, Table 6 and Data Tables, Table A2, 13 October 2020

The figures show an increase for the two strands around the July 2016 Referendum and 2017 Terrorist attacks. In July 2016, following the EU referendum, the number of religiously and racially motivated hate crimes was 46% higher than in July 2015. Likewise, in June 2017, following attacks at the Manchester Arena, London Bridge and Finsbury Park mosque there was also a 42% increase in these hate crimes compared to June the previous year. These figures were not matched by those for non-aggravated offences. The figures also seem to indicate that there is a trough in such crimes around Christmas and the New Year and spikes in the summer. 12 Hate Crime Statistics

Indexed number of racially or religiously aggravated offences recorded by police April 2015 to March 2020, Indexed trend, April 2015 = 100

200 Non-aggravated offences Aggravated offences

150

100

50

0 Apr-15 Apr-16 Apr-17 Apr-18 Apr-19

Note: Data for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have not been included in this release because of issues with their data supply following the implementation of new force IT systems.

Source: Home Office, Hate crime, England and Wales, 2019 to 2020: data tables, Figure 2.2, 13

The chart above provides an indexed comparison of racial or religiously aggravated offences with their non-aggravated equivalent from April 2015 to March 2020. The chart shows a spike for racial or religiously aggravated offences not matched by their non-aggravated equivalent at the time of the EU referendum and 2017 terrorist attacks. Though there were similar spikes in the following summers, the trends were similar for the two types of offences.

1.6 Covid-19 Pandemic The Home Office published provisional data on racially or religiously aggravated offences under the Covid-19 restrictions in England and Wales in October 2020.18 The data excluded Greater Manchester Police (GMP) as they were unable to provide figures following the implementation of a new IT system in July 2019. The data may be subject to change as the police receive more information. The data provisionally shows that in March, April and May 2020 the levels of racially or religiously aggravated offences recorded by the police were lower than the same period in 2019. However, in June and July 2020 they were higher – in June by as much as one third.

18 Home Office, Annex to Hate Crime, England and Wales 2019/20, 13 October 2020 13 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

Racially or religiously aggravated offences recorded by the police January to July, 2019 and 2020

8,000 2019 2020 6,000

4,000

2,000

0 January February March April May June July

Source: Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2019 to 2020, data tables Figure A1, 13 October 2020 The Home Office reports that the increases in June and July are likely to be related to the Black Lives Matter protests and far-right groups counter-protests following the killing of George Floyd in the of America on 25 May 2020.19 When observing trends in public alarm, fear or distress offences, there were increases both in racially and religiously aggravated and in non-aggravated offences of this nature in May, June and July 2020. The Home Office states that such increases are common when there are protests, but that there may also be other factors behind the increase. Limited data is available relating to the ethnicity of the victims of racially aggravated offences, particularly those of East Asian origin, during this period. A Freedom of Information request was made to the Metropolitan Police on racist crimes faced by those of a Chinese or East Asian background from January to March in the years from 2018 to 2020. Figures were provided for those who self-identified as ‘Chinese’ and those whose ethnic appearance was recorded as ‘Oriental’. Victims identified as ‘Oriental’ experienced a five-fold increase in racist crimes from 20 recorded crimes in January 2020 to 101 in March 2020. A total of 186 offences were recorded against people in this group in the period between January to March 2020. This was almost double the figure recorded in the same period in the previous year. There was also a trebling of cases where the victim self-identified as ‘Chinese’ from January to March 2018 to January to March 2020. This is likely to be an undercount as only 27.2% of victims of racist crimes had a self-classified ethnicity recorded.

19 Home Office, Annex to Hate Crime, England and Wales 2019/20 p.4 14 Hate Crime Statistics

Victims of racist offences recorded by the Metropolitan Police January - March, 2018 to 2020

Victim self-identified as 'Chinese' 186 Victim's ethnic appearance recorded as 'Oriental'

94 82

63

23 20

Jan-Mar 18 Jan-Mar 19 Jan-Mar 20

Source: Metropolitan police, Freedom of Information request reference no. 01.FOI.20.014027 Baroness Williams, Home Office minister for countering extremism, in an evidence session for the Home Affairs Committee on 13 May 2020, referred to a 21% uptick in hate incidents against East Asian and South Asian communities during the lockdown period (precise dates were not given).20 The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Hate Crime October 2020 newsletter also noted that, “East Asian communities have been disproportionately targeted during this period”.21 Research by the consultancy Pearn Kandola into Covid-19 and anti- Chinese prejudice, published in early May 2020, received wide press coverage. Its survey of 412 participants found that half had experienced an increase in racial since the outbreak of Covid-19.22 Experiences reported by the participants included verbal and physical abuse, being spat and coughed at, and children being ridiculed and excluded by their peers.

1.7 Online Hate Crime From April 2015 it was mandatory to apply an online flag for offences committed in full or in part through a computer, computer network or other computer enabled device. The online flag is underused by police forces and, due to the likelihood of data quality issues, the statistics are experimental and should be viewed with extreme caution. 23 As a result of the uncertainty over the quality of these statistics, an analysis of them was not repeated in the Hate Crime in England

20 Home Affairs Committee, Oral evidence: Home Office preparedness for Covid-19 (Coronavirus), HC 232 21 CPS, Hate Crime Newsletter, Issue 26, 8 October 2020 22 Pearn Kandola, Covid-19 and the anti-Chinese prejudice 23 Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2017/18, p.30 15 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

and Wales 2018 to 2019 statistical bulletin and the figures that follow are for 2017/18 only.24 Statistics related to online hate crime collected by the Home Office for 2017/18 used data provided by 30 police forces. The statistics suggest that the proportion of hate crimes that were online in 2017/18 was 2%. By strand, the proportion of online hate crimes as a proportion of all hate crimes ranged from 2% for racist online hate crime to 6% for transgender crime in 2017/18.

A comparison of online hate cime with overall hate crimea in 2017/18

Online hate crime

Overall hate crime

80%

56%

33%

6% 6% 4% 14% 0%

Violence against the Public order Criminal damage and Other notifiable person arson offences

Note: a) Figures are based on data from 30 police forces

Source: Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2017 to 2018: data tables, Figures A2 & A3, 16 October 2018

The data on online hate crime by type of offence shows that the majority of online hate crimes involve violence against the person (80%) which mainly involves the sending of malicious communications.25 In comparison offences related to violence against the person accounted for 33% of overall hate where the majority of overall hate crimes were related to public order offences (56%).

24 Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2018/19, p.3 25 Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2017/18, p.32 16 Hate Crime Statistics

Number and proportion of online hate crimes recorded by the policea, by monitored strand and offence type England and Wales, 2017/18

All Sexual monitored Race Religion orientation Disability Transgender strands Numbers Violence against the person 739 152 279 181 57 1,408 Public order offences 162 56 23 18 11 270 Criminal damage and arson 3 0 0 0 0 3 Other notifiable offencesb 24 2 50 26 1 103

Total 928 210 352 225 69 1,784

Percentage of all hate crimes Violence against the person 4% 7% 8% 7% 10% 6% Public order offences 1% 2% 1% 1% 2% 1% Criminal damage and arson 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Other notifiable offences 1% 1% 10% 3% 1% 3%

Total Online 2% 3% 4% 4% 6% 2% Note: a) Figures are based on data from 30 police forces

Source: Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2017 to 2018: data tables, Figures A1 & A4, 16 October 2018

When broken down by strand, the highest proportion of all online hate crimes that involved violence against the person were in the transgender strand (10%). The strand with the lowest proportion was race (4%). 1.8 Police Force Area Data Hate crime data by police force area is available from the Police Recorded Crime and Outcomes Open Data Tables. Data for the total number of hate crime offences recorded in each police force area by strand are available from 2012/13. Estimates of the rate of hate crime and by hate crime strand in police force areas per 100,000 population, excluding figures from the British Transport Police, have been calculated using mid-year population estimates for police force areas. Figures for the GMP have not been included due to issues with their data supply following the implementation of new force IT systems. The table below shows the rate per 100,000 population in police force areas for each hate crime strand in 2019/20.26 The table shows the 10 police force areas with the highest rates of offences. One police force area, West Yorkshire appeared in the top 10 for each hate crime strand.

26 The figures have been calculated by dividing the number of offences in each police force area with the 2018 Mid-Year population estimates for Police Force areas. 17 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

Top 10 police force areasa with the highest offence rates for each hate crime strand England & Wales, 2019/20

Race Religion Sexual Orientation

Rate per Rate per Rate per 100,000 100,000 100,000 Rank Police Force Area Population Rank Police Force Area Population Rank Police Force Area Population

1 West Yorkshire 261 1 Metropolitan Police 25 1 West Yorkshire 47 2 Metropolitan Police 198 2 West Yorkshire 18 2 Merseyside 46 3 West Midlands 191 3 Northumbria 16 3 South Yorkshire 37 4 Merseyside 145 4 Sussex 16 4 Cheshire 35 5 Bedfordshire 143 5 Bedfordshire 15 5 Metropolitan Police 34 6 South Yorkshire 141 6 Hertfordshire 13 6 Sussex 31 7 Kent 138 7 Essex 12 7 Cumbria 30 8 Avon and Somerset 133 8 Avon and Somerset 11 8 Kent 30 9 Northumbria 127 9 Kent 11 9 Northumbria 29 10 Cleveland 125 10 Cambridgeshire 11 10 Hampshire 29

Disability Trangender All Hate Crimesb

Rate per Rate per Rate per 100,000 100,000 100,000 Rank Police Force Area Population Rank Police Force Area Population Rank Police Force Area Population 1 West Yorkshire 38 1 West Yorkshire 9 1 West Yorkshire 359 2 Northumbria 27 2 Hampshire 7 2 Metropolitan Police 249 3 Gloucestershire 26 3 Cleveland 7 3 West Midlands 229 4 Essex 26 4 Sussex 6 4 Merseyside 220 5 Kent 25 5 Cheshire 6 5 Kent 219 6 South Yorkshire 24 6 Surrey 6 6 South Yorkshire 208 7 Cheshire 23 7 South Yorkshire 6 7 Northumbria 195 8 Merseyside 23 8 North Wales 6 8 Cheshire 189 9 Hampshire 22 9 Devon and Cornwall 5 9 Essex 185 10 Cumbria 19 10 Wiltshire 5 10 Bedfordshire 184

Notes: Figures for the Metropolitan Police and the City of London have been merged. Data for the British Transport Police has been excluded. a)Data for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have not been included for 2019/20 because of issues with their data supply following the implementation of new force IT systems.

b) Figures for the various strands contains the number of hate crime offences by motivating factor. The all hate crime figure is the total number of hate crime offences. It is advised that the total number of hate crime offences should not be the sum of motivating factors, as one hate crime offence may have more than one motivating factor particularly those concerning race and religion.

Sources: Home Office, Hate Crime Open Data, accessed October 13 2020 ONS: Mid-year Population Estimates 2019 ONS, Local Authority District to Community Safety Partnerships to Police Force Areas (December 2019) Lookup in England and Wales

For all hate crime offences, the highest rate per 100,000 population in 2019/20 was to be found in the West Yorkshire (359). The lowest rates were to be found in North Yorkshire (78). The figure for England and Wales including the British Transport Police, was 177 per 100,000 population.

The following maps show hate crime rates in police force areas for each strand in 2019/20. (table 2 in the Appendix tables for rates for each police force area by strand for 2019/20) All offences Racial Religion

Data for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have not been included because of issues with their data supply following the implementation of new force IT systems.

Disability Sexual Orientation Transgender

Note: In 2019/20, the Gloucestershire police force recorded no hate crime offences related to the sexual orientation of the victim.

Sources: Home Office, Hate Crime Open Data, accessed 13 October 2020 ONS, Mid-year Population Estimates 2019 ONS, Local Authority District to Community Safety Partnerships to Police Force Areas (December 2019) Lookup in England and Wales 18 Hate Crime Statistics

Derbyshire and Northamptonshire had the greatest percentage increase (42%) of all police force areas for the total number of hate crime offences in 2019/20 compared to the previous year followed by Cambridgeshire (35%). Lancashire had the greatest percentage decrease of -16% followed by Staffordshire (-14%). However, when looking at percentage changes since 2015/16, to cover the EU referendum period, Dyfed-Powys had the greatest percentage increase in England and Wales (303%), followed by Kent (242%). The smallest percentage increase was for South Wales which saw an increase of 19% compared with figures in 2015/16. (See table 1 in the accompanying Appendix tables accompanying this paper online) 19 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

2. Crime by Strand

2.1 Race CSEW figures on race hate crime show that for the 2017/18 to 2019/20 combined dataset, those from the ”Other” ethnic grouping had the highest proportion of victims to have suffered racially motivated hate crime. 1.1% of those identifying as being from an ‘Other ethnic group’ reported they had been subject to racially motivated hate crimes. Those of Asian ethnicity had the second highest proportion with 1.0%. Of all aged over 16, 0.2% claimed to have been the victims of racially motivated hate crime. Proportionally, figures for all Non-White ethnic groups subjected to racially motivated hate crimes, have declined from the combined 2007/08 and 2008/09 dataset. The figure for White victims has remained stable at 0.1%.

Percentagea of adults aged 16 and over who were victims of racially-motivated hate crime, by ethnicity and religion England and Wales

2007/08 2009/10 2012/13 2015/16 2017/18 & to to to to 2008/09 2011/12 2014/15 2017/18 2019/20 Ethnic groupb White 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 Mixed/multiple ethnic groups 3.0 0.9 1.1 0.5 0.3 Asian/Asian British 2.1 1.8 1.0 1.1 1.0 Black/African/Caribbean/Black British 1.7 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.9 Other ethnic group 2.0 1.5 0.8 1.0 1.1 Religion Christian 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 Buddhist 0.9 0.8 0.1 0.1 - Hindu 2.0 1.1 0.6 0.7 0.7 Muslim 2.5 2.2 1.2 1.5 1.2 Other 0.7 0.7 1.2 0.5 0.5 No religion 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1

All Adults 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2

Notes: (-) A reliable estimate cannot be produced due to small numbers in the survey a) This percentage is calculated treating a household crime as a personal crime. b) Ethnic group is based on the 2011 Census definition of ethnic group which now includes Chinese in the Asian/Asian British group.

Source: Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales 2019/20 Appendix Tables, Table 15, 13 October 2020

The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) in London has published figures on the characteristics of the victims of racist hate crimes in London in the twelve months to June 2017. 56% of victims were male. Those of Black ethnicity constituted the largest proportion 20 Hate Crime Statistics

(30%) of all victims to have suffered racist hate crime followed by those of Asian and White-North European ethnicity (25% each). Most victims were aged 25 to 44 (55%).27

2.2 Religion Police Recorded Crime figures on the number religious hate crimes that were Islamophobic, anti-Semitic or relate to other faiths are provided in the Home Office’s Hate Crime Statistics 2019/20. The recording of religious hate crime is based on the perceived religious target of the offender. In some cases, more than one religion will be targeted, and in others the actual targeted religion will differ from the intended one.

The data in 2019/20 shows that 50% of religious hate crimes recorded by the police were against Muslims. 19% were anti-Jewish in nature; 9% were anti-Christian with 13% of offences being recorded as “unknown”.

Around 50% of religious hate crimes recorded by police in 2019/20 were Islamophobic a,b,c,d

Number of offences Percentage Muslim 3,089 49.8% Jewish 1,205 19.4% Unknown 823 13.3% Other 432 7.0% Christian 531 8.6% No religion 70 1.1% Sikh 202 3.3% Hindu 114 1.8% Buddhist 21 0.3%

Total number of targeted religionsb 6,487 Total number of offences 6,203

Notes: a) Data for religious hate crimes where targated religion has been recorded by the police b) In some offences more than one religion has been recorded as being targeted. c) Nottinghamshire were unable to provide percieved religion data for 2019/20 therefore are excluded form this table. d) Data for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have not been included in this release because of issues with their data supply following the implementation of new force IT systems.

Source: Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales 2019/20 Data Tables ,Table B1

27 MOPAC, Hate Crime Dashboard, Accessed 12 December 2018 21 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

The CSEW provides data on the proportion of adults by ethnicity and religion who have been the victims of religiously motivated hate crime. The proportion of all adults that have been victims of religiously motivated hate crime in the 2017/18 to 2019/20 combined dataset is 0.1%. This has remained unchanged from the 2007/08 and 2008/09 combined dataset.

Muslims in the 2017/18 to 2019/20 combined dataset were most likely to be the victims of religion motivated hate crime with 0.8% of Muslims claiming to have been the victims of such attacks. Hindus formed the second most likely religion to have been victims of religiously motivated hate crime (0.3%).

Percentagea of adults aged 16 and over who victims of religion-motivated hate crime, by ethnicity and religion England and Wales

2007/08 2009/10 2012/13 2015/16 2017/18 & to to to to 2008/09 2011/12 2014/15 2017/18 2019/20 Ethnic groupb White 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Mixed/multiple ethnic groups 0.8 0.1 0.6 0.1 - Asian/Asian British 0.8 0.9 0.5 0.5 0.5 Black/African/Caribbean/Black British 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 Other ethnic group 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.7 Religion Christian 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Buddhist 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 - Hindu 0.7 0.4 0.3 0.5 0.3 Muslim 1.0 1.2 0.8 0.8 0.8 Other 0.4 0.6 0.5 0.2 - No religion 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

All Adults 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

Notes: (-) A reliable estimate cannot be produced due to small numbers in the survey a) This percentage is calculated treating a household crime as a personal crime. b) Ethnic group is based on the 2011 Census definition of ethnic group which now includes Chinese in the Asian/Asian British group.

Source: Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales 2019/20 Appendix Tables, Table 16, 13 October 2020

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and MOPAC produce statistics on Islamophobic, anti-Semitic and faith hate crimes in London. Further statistics are available from Freedom of Information requests, those recorded by Tell MAMA concerning and the Community Security Trust (CST) regarding anti-Semitism.

It should be noted that a substantial proportion of hate crimes described as Islamophobic are directed at non-Muslims mistaken for Muslims. For 22 Hate Crime Statistics

instance, an FOI request to the MPS disclosed that in 2016, 7% of victims of Islamophobic hate crimes were non-Muslims, while 19% were of unknown faith or had not been contacted to determine their faith.28

Islamophobia in the UK Tell Mama (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) records incidents of Islamophobia as well as providing support to its victims. The organisation takes and records reports from victims or witnesses of anti- Muslim incidents and crime as well as incidents of online Islamophobic abuse within and originating from the UK. As with police recorded figures there is likely to be a gap between the number of crimes reported to Tell Mama and the actual number.29

The key findings of Tell Mama’s 2019 interim report regarding Islamophobic incidents covering the period from January to June 2019 were:

• 705 reports were reported to Tell MAMA, of which 529 were verified by Tell Mama staff. • 20 police forces across the UK recorded 1,213 anti-Muslim incidents of which 1,028 (85%) occurred offline, 91 occurred online and in 94 cases the nature of the incident was undisclosed. • In the week after the Christchurch terror attacks of March 2019, the number of incidents recorded by Tell MAMA increased by 692% from 12 to 95 • Of the online incidents recorded in the period in question, 35% occurred in March • Abusive behaviour increased from 25 incidents in February to 41 in March, an increase of 64%. From February to March, incidents of threatening behaviour increased by 225% and incidents of vandalism increased by 163%. Of the 21 incidents of vandalism in March 2019, 10 targeted mosques or madrasas. • The number on anti-Muslim incidents that took place in public areas increased from 12 in February 2019 to 35 in March 2019 a 192% increase). The number of attacks targeting mosques and Islamic institutions increased from 3 in February 2019 to 16 in March an increase of 433%. In April 2019 there 5 such incidents, a 69% decrease on the following month. 30

In 2017, based on responses from 42 of the 45 police Forces in the UK regarding the number of Islamophobic hate crimes directed at mosques, the Press Association suggests that:

• Hate crimes targeting mosques and other Islamic places of worship across the UK more than doubled between 2016 and 2017;

28 FOI request to MPS, Victims of Islamophobic Hate Crime by Muslim/Non Muslim- recorded between 01/01/2016 and 31/12/2016 29 Tell Mama, Normalising Hatred, 2018 Annual Report,p.21 30 Tell Mama, The Impact of the Christchurch Terror Attack, Tell Mama Interim Report 2019, p.5 23 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

• 110 hate crimes targeted mosques between March and July 2017, up from just 47 over the same period in 2016 • 25 forces saw a year-on-year increase in hate crimes targeting mosques, the biggest rise reported was by Greater Manchester Police (9 crimes, up from 0) and London’s MPS (17 crimes, up from 8). • Threats, harassment or other intimidating behaviour more than tripled, from 14 crimes in 2016 to 49 in 2017. • Violent crime against individuals more than doubled from 5 recorded crimes against worshippers at mosques in 2016 to 11 crimes in 2017. • Crimes recorded as vandalism or criminal damage increased from 12 in 2016 to 15 in 2017.31

Islamophobia in London According to Labour Force Survey figures, at the end of 2019, around 36% of the Muslim population in Great Britain lived in London.32 Data from the MPS shows that the number of Islamophobic hate crime incidents in London has increased by 268% since 2012/13. The increase in police recorded figures in London can be partly attributed to improved recording by the police. In 2019/20, there was a 13% decrease on the previous year in the number of Islamophobic hate crimes recorded by the police in London. The highest number of Islamophobic hate crimes recorded in London occurred in 2017/18 (1,667) which coincided with terrorist attacks in London and Manchester in that year.

Islamophobic hate crimes in London

1,667

1,266 1,275 1,115 1,115

742 577

346

2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20

Source: MPS, Hate Crime or Special Crime Dashboard Accessed 6 October 2020

The London borough with the highest number of Islamophobic hate crime offences in 2019/20 was Westminster with 104 followed by Tower Hamlets (103) and Newham (66). The London borough with the largest Muslim population is Newham followed by Tower Hamlets. (See Table 4 in the Appendix tables)

31 Huffington Post, Hate Crimes targeting Mosques in UK More than Double in A Year, 9 October 2017. The figures are likely to be incomplete and polices forces differ in how they record their statistics. 32 Quarterly Labour Force Survey, October-December 2019 24 Hate Crime Statistics

Anti-Semitism in the UK The Community Security Trust (CST) is an organisation that works for the physical protection and defence of British Jews. It also aims to promote research on anti-Semitism, and extremism. Its annual anti-Semitic incident report records hate crimes and non-crime incidents.

In 2019 the CST recorded 1,813 anti-Jewish incidents.33 This was an increase of 7% on the previous year. It was also the highest total recorded since 2007. Between 2016 to 2018 record annual totals have been recorded. The CST recorded over a 100 anti-Semitic incidents in each month in both 2018 and 2019. Between 2006 to 2015, only on six occasions did the number of monthly incidents exceed a hundred. Since 2016, there have only been two months where the number has dropped below a 100.

The chart below shows the number of incidents recorded annually by the CST between 2009 and 2019:

Anti-Semitic incidents recorded by the CST

Gaza Conflict Gaza Summer Conflict 2014 1,813 2008/09 1,690

1,420 1,375

1,182

931 960

646 650 609 535

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Source: CST, Anti-Semitic Incidents Report 2019, Anti-Semitic Incidents January - June 2020

During 2019, the highest number of incidents occurred in February and December, where there were 182 and 184 anti-Semitic incidents respectively. The 184 incidents recorded in December were the fourth highest recorded by the CST while those recorded in February were the joint fifth highest recorded by the organisation.

The report attributed the peaks in 2009 and 2014 to conflict in Gaza during these years. 2009 also saw a 71% increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents recorded in the previous year, while 2014 saw a 121% increase on the previous year. The peaks in 2016 and 2017 were attributed to a general rise in hate crime following the EU referendum and the terrorist attacks of 2017. In 2018 it was attributed to the debate and coverage concerning alleged widespread anti-Semitism in

33 The figure of 1,813 is based on that provided in the CST Anti-Semitic Incidents January -June 2020 report as opposed to the 1,805 reported in the Anti-Semitic Incidents report of 2019. 25 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

the Labour Party and events in Gaza between April and May.34 The peaks cited above for 2019 coincided with the departure of number of Labour MPs from the party, some of whom cited anti-Semitism as a major reason in February 2019 and the general election where leading Jewish figures publicly voiced concern about the Labour Party at that time.35

The CST also notes the number of anti-Semitic incidents is likely to be significantly higher than those reported to the police and the CST. A 2018 survey of Jewish experiences and perceptions of in the EU found that 76% of British Jews who experienced anti-Semitic harassment over the previous five years did not report it to the police or any other organisation.36

Appendix table 6 shows the number and proportion of anti-Semitic incidents recorded by type annually from 2007 to 2019. The majority of incidents involve abusive behaviour, which in 2007 accounted for around 60% of all incidents increasing to around 80% in 2019. Incidents of extreme violence are rare, incidents of assault as a proportion of anti-Semitic attacks have declined by around 12 percentage points since 2007 from 21% of all incidents in that year to 9% in 2019.

In July 2020 the CST reported on anti-Semitic incidents between January to June 2020.

Among the report’s key findings:

• In the first six months of 2020, the CST recorded 789 anti- Semitic incidents. This was a 13% percent decrease on the previous year for the period in question and was the third highest ever recorded by the CST for the January-June period. • In April 2020, the 98 incidents reported in that month was the first time since December 2017 that the total was below a 100. The CST recorded over 100 anti-Semitic incidents in each month from January to June for the preceding three years. From 2006 to 2016, there were only six occasions where the total number of monthly incidents exceeded a 100. • The CST recorded 47 incidents of assault for the period in question. This represented a 45% decrease on the number of assaults for the same period in 2019 (85 assaults). One of which was classified as involving ‘Extreme Violence’ such as grievous bodily harm (GBH) or a threat to life. The fall in the number of assaults was attributed to Covid-19 restrictions. • There were 673 incidents of abusive behaviour in the first six months of 2019, a 7% increase for the same period in 2019 (727). Abusive incidents constituted 85% of the incidents recorded so far in the year.

34 Community Security Trust, Anti-Semitic Incidents 2017 report, p.5 35 Community Security Trust, Anti-Semitic Incidents 2018 report, p.4 36 EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, Experiences and perceptions of antisemitism – Second survey on discrimination and hate crime against Jews in the EU, 2018, p.56 26 Hate Crime Statistics

• 69 percent of the incidents recorded so far in the year occurred in Greater London or Manchester which also had the largest Jewish populations. • The number of reported online instances of anti-Semitism has increased by 4% from 332 to 344 incidents. This represented the highest number of incidents recorded by CST in the first half of a year and constituted 44 per cent of this year’s total to date, compared to 36 per cent of 2019’s six-monthly figure. The proportional increase of online incidents was attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic resulting in a reduction in offline incidents as opposed to a large surge in online incidents.37

Anti-Semitism in London Data from the MPS shows that the number of anti- A nti-Semitic hate crimes in Semitic hate crime victims in London has increased by London 217% since 2013/14. In part this may be due to better recoding methods used by the police. In 2014, coinciding with events in Gaza, there was an increase in the number of hate crimes from 194 in 2013/14 to 459 600 615 542 519 in 2014/15, a 137% increase on the previous year. There 459 was a 2.5% increase in the number of anti-Semitic 441 attacks in 2019/20 compared with 2018/19. 194 According to Labour Force Survey figures, at the end of 2019 around 58% of the Jewish population in Great Britain lived in London. The highest count of anti-Semitic 2013/14 2015/16 2017/18 2019/20 hate crimes in 2019/20 was in Barnet (165) and Hackney (107). (See Appendix table 5) Source: MPS, Hate Crime or Special Crime Dashboard Accessed 6 October 2020

2.3 Sexual Orientation and Transgender Identity

In July 2018 the Government Equalities Office published the National LGBT Survey. Of the 108,100 valid responses provided from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT) survey, 40% had experienced a negative incident in the preceding 12 months, due to being part of the LGBT community, or being thought to be part of the LGBT community, involving someone they did not live with. The most frequent type of incidents involved various types of verbal abuse. 91% did not report the most serious type of incident that they experienced or did not report it personally.38 The most common reasons given for not reporting an incident involved ‘That it was not worth it or nothing

37 Community Security Trust, Anti-Semitic Incidents January-June 2020 report, pp.2-6 38 Government Equalities Office, National LGBT Survey,p.33 39 LGBT Survey Data Viewer. Respondents were permitted to give more than response as to why they did not report an incident 27 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

would happen or change’ (48%), or that ‘it was not serious enough or it happens all the time’ (54%). 39

Transgender people were around twice as likely to experience threats of physical or sexual harassment or violence compared with the LGBT community as a whole (11% v 5%).40

Figures from the National LGBT Survey Data Viewer, concerning negative incidents experienced outside the home by the LGBT community found that:

• 54% of transgender people had experienced a negative incident outside of the home compared with 40% of all LGBT people; • 50% of LGBT people stated that the most serious incident experienced outside the home involved verbal harassment compared with 44% of transgender people; • 88% of transgender people did not report the most serious type of incident they experienced or did not report it personally; • 44% of LGBT people expressed dissatisfaction with the way the police handled the most serious incident reported compared with 43% who expressed satisfaction; • 48% of transgender people expressed dissatisfaction with the way the police handled the most serious incident reported compared with 39% who expressed satisfaction; • 43% of all LGBT people aged 18 to 24 had experienced a negative incident (the highest of any age group) in the previous year in comparison with 25% of those aged 65+ who were at least risk; • 40% of both male and female LGBT people experienced a negative incident in the previous year compared with 52% of non-binary people; • Black LGBT people (37%) were the least likely of any ethnic group to experience a negative incident in the previous year compared to 40% of white LGBT people. Those of mixed ethnicity (44%) were the most likely to experience an incident. • LGBT people of the Islamic faith (45%) were the most likely of the mainstream religions to experience a negative incident in the previous year. This was followed by 42% of those who were Jewish and compares with 37% of Christians. 41% of those with no religion experienced a negative incident in the previous year; • LGBT disabled people were more likely to have experienced a negative incident (49%) in the previous year compared with 39% of non-disabled LGBT people.

2.4 Disability

Leonard Cheshire with United Response, reporting on figures received from police forces across England and Wales in 2019/20 found that only 1.6% of cases ended with a charge. From the

. 40 Ibid; pp68-69 28 Hate Crime Statistics

figures received from police forces who responded to FOI requests, nearly half of the reported incidents to police involved an element of violence and 10% took place online. 41

The disabled charity United Response in October 2019 reported responses from 34 police forces to FOI requests. They report that the number of disability hate crimes committed by repeat offenders had risen by 179% in the past three years in 21 police force areas. The most prolific repeat offenders of disability hate crimes in 2018/19 were to be found in Greater Manchester and Avon and Somerset.

A report from the BBC in October 2017 showed that, hate crimes against disabled children were also increasing. Having received responses from 29 forces to a FOI request regarding hate crimes targeting disabled children, they suggested that in 2016/17, there were 405 such incidents compared with 181 in 2014/15, an increase of 149%. In comparison, the overall number of disability hate crimes had increased from 1,531 in 2014/15 to 3,079. This represented an increase of 101%.42

The report also mentions a survey taken of 2,700 parents of disabled children from the Disabled Children’s Partnership that showed that hate crime and abuse against their children was commonplace.

The study suggests that:

• 79% of parents of a disabled have had offensive comments aimed toward them and their child on either social media or to their face; and • 57% of parents of disabled children have had offensive comments aimed toward them and their child, in a public setting.43

41 Leonard Cheshire, Reports of violent disability hate crime continue to rise as number of police charges fall again, 8 October 2020 42 BBC, Disabled children hate crime reports increasing, 15 October 2017 43 Contact, Contact CEO talks to BBC about 149% rise in reported hate crimes against children, 16 October 2017 29 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

3. Prosecutions and Convictions in England

Figures for hate crime prosecutions are published by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).44 Hate Crime legislation requires that a sentence be uplifted when the evidence shows that hostility has been motivated by hatred towards a person’s race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.45 The CPS data summary Quarter 4 2019- 2020 states that the proportion of hate crime convictions that saw a recorded sentence ‘uplift’ increased to 77% in Q4 2019/20, from 74% in 2018/19 and 67% in 2017/18. Prosecutions CPS figures for 2019/20 show the number of prosecutions, the number of convictions and the number of failed prosecutions for each hate crime strand. The numbers are broken down by strand. Figures for homophobic and transphobic convictions have been combined. It is worth noting that in 2019/20, while there was an 8% increase in the total number of Hate Crime offences on 2018/19, the number of prosecutions recorded by the CPS decreased in the same period. In 2019/20, there were 10,950 prosecutions for hate crime offences compared with 12,828 in 2018/19. This represented a 15% decrease on the previous year. Since 2016/17, the number of annual prosecutions has been falling with 2019/20 representing the largest percentage decrease in that period. The CPS also reported that in Q4 2019/20, there was a 18% fall on the previous year in the number cases received by the police from 10,749 in 2018/19 to 8,830 in 2019/20.46

Between 2011/12 to 2017/18, the total number of hate crime prosecutions for all strands remained relatively unchanged. In 2011/12 there were 14,196 prosecutions for all strands compared with 14,151 in 2017/18. In 2019/20, the figure of 10,950 was the lowest recorded since 2011/12.

Convictions The conviction rate for all hate crime strands has remained relatively stable since 2011/12, fluctuating between a low of 82.6% in 2012/13 to 85.3% in 2019/20. The annual average of the proportion of successful convictions since 2011/12 was 83.8%. Since 2011/12, the hate crime strand with the highest annual average rate of successful convictions was for racially motivated hate crimes (84.4%). The disability hate crime strand had the lowest annual average conviction rate for the period in question of 77.2%.

44 The CPS does not collect data which constitutes official statistics as defined by the Statistics and Registration Services Act 2007. The statistics provided by the CPS are subject to error in recording and are also provisional and subject to change. Please see here for more details. From Q2 2019/20 the CPS transitioned from annual to quarterly reports. 45 Criminal Justice Act 2003, Section 145 & 146 46 Crown Prosecution Service, CPS data summary Quarter 4 2019-2020, 30 July 2020 30 Hate Crime Statistics

Completed prosecutions for all hate crime offences England

Prosecution numbers Prosecution percentages Annual % change in Total Total Convictions Unsuccessful Prosecutions Convictions Unsuccessful prosecutions 2011/12 11,843 2,353 14,196 83% 17% .. 2012/13 10,794 2,276 13,070 83% 17% -7.9% 2013/14 11,915 2,156 14,071 85% 15% 7.7% 2014/15 12,220 2,518 14,738 83% 17% 4.7% 2015/16 12,846 2,596 15,442 83% 17% 4.8% 2016/17 12,072 2,408 14,480 83% 17% -6.2% 2017/18 11,987 2,164 14,151 85% 15% -2.3% 2018/19 10,817 2,011 12,828 84% 16% -9.3% 2019/20 9,340 1,610 10,950 85% 15% -14.6%

Source: CPS, Hate Crime Annual Data Tables Year Ending March 2020

The CPS published convictions rates by police force area for 2019/20. Figures for the city of London and the Metropolitan Police were combined and had the lowest conviction rate for all hate crime alongside Suffolk for all hate crime convictions (79.8%). Wiltshire had the highest with 94.2%. Conviction rate figures for all hate crime strands and for all police force areas by strand are available in table 7 and 8 respectively in the Appendix tables.

3.1 Prosecutions by Offence Category

The table below shows the proportion of hate crime flagged prosecutions by offence category from 2014/15 to 2018/19. Figures relating to hate crimes for 2019/20 have not been published. Figures for racist and religious hate crimes are combined as are figures for homophobic and transphobic crimes: 31 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

Proportion of hate crime prosecutions by principal offence category

2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19

Racially and Religiously Aggravated

Homicide 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% Offences against person 53.7% 76.4% 87.7% 86.8% 88.5% Sexual Offences 0.3% 0.3% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% Burglary 0.5% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% Robbery 0.7% 0.6% 0.3% 0.5% 0.3% Theft and Handling 3.3% 1.7% 1.0% 1.1% 0.9% Fraud and forgery 0.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% Criminal damage 4.3% 3.3% 2.5% 2.2% 2.2% Drug offences 1.1% 0.6% 0.5% 0.4% 0.5% Public Order Offences 31.4% 15.1% 7.1% 7.9% 6.5%

Homophobic and Transphobic

Homicide 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.3% 0.1% Offences against person 54.0% 59.2% 59.5% 56.2% 60.0% Sexual Offences 1.3% 1.3% 1.3% 0.6% 0.4% Burglary 0.4% 0.3% 0.1% 0.3% 0.2% Robbery 1.9% 1.1% 1.4% 1.2% 0.6% Theft and Handling 2.1% 1.7% 1.1% 1.7% 1.7% Fraud and forgery 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.4% Criminal damage 4.4% 3.9% 3.3% 4.6% 3.4% Drug offences 1.7% 1.2% 1.4% 1.5% 2.2% Public Order Offences 30.3% 29.8% 30.6% 32.8% 29.7%

Disability Homicide 0.8% 0.6% 0.7% 0.6% 0.0% Offences against person 44.2% 48.0% 46.4% 48.1% 53.5% Sexual Offences 4.9% 3.6% 5.1% 3.2% 3.4% Burglary 7.7% 8.7% 7.3% 7.2% 3.9% Robbery 9.6% 6.7% 7.5% 9.7% 6.9% Theft and Handling 11.3% 12.1% 11.4% 8.0% 8.8% Fraud and forgery 6.1% 6.4% 8.4% 9.3% 5.4% Criminal damage 3.1% 2.9% 2.1% 1.4% 3.0% Drug offences 0.9% 0.4% 0.3% 0.7% 1.3% Public Order Offences 8.5% 9.3% 9.1% 11.1% 11.8%

Source: Crown Prosecution Service, Hate Crime Annual Report, various years

The majority of offences involved offences against the person, particularly for those of a racially or religiously motivated nature. In 2016/17, there was a 34 percentage point increase on 2014/15 for such offences. This decreased by almost a percentage point in 2017/18 before increasing by almost two percentage points in 2018/19. Around 30% of offences prosecuted for the homophobic and transphobic flagged strand were public order offences which was roughly around 20 percentage points higher than similar racially and religiously aggravated and disability offences. Burglary, robbery and theft and handling offences, known as acquisitive offences, were more common for disability hate crimes. 32 Hate Crime Statistics

3.2 Offenders by ethnicity Figures on the ethnicity of hate crime offenders as opposed to defendants are available only for racially or religiously aggravated offences. The data is available from the Ministry of Justice, Proceedings and Outcomes by Home Office Code 2013 to 2019. The chart below shows the number and proportion of people convicted of all racially or religiously aggravated offences by self-identified ethnicity between 2013 to 2019.

Proportions of those convicted by ethnicitya for racially or religiously aggravated hate crime offences b 2012 to 2016

2012 87.4% 4.8% 4.3%

2013 86.5% 5.5% 4.7%

2014 84.9% 6.2% 5.6%

2015 84.3% 6.0% 6.0%

2016 83.0% 7.4% 6.4%

White Black Asian Mixed Chinese or Other

Notes: a) Figures for ethnicity are categorised using the 5+1 self-identified classification based on the 16+1 classification used in the 2001 Census. The not applicable category for self-identified ethnicity includes all individuals tried for summary offences or tried prior to 2009 for indictable offences, for whom the quality of the data available is insufficient to justify inclusion, and all companies. (Ethnicity is only able to be shown for indictable offences from 2009 onwards due to improvements in data quality, in magistrates’ courts associated with the introduction of the LIBRA case management system at that time.) The not stated category includes all others for whom ethnicity information is not available, either because they have chosen not to state their ethnicity or because no information has been recorded. b) The figures given in the table for court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. Source: MOJ, Proceedings and Outcomes by Home Office Code 2013 to 2019

Where the ethnicity of an offender was known, the majority of those convicted were White and this proportion has been over 80% for each of the years in question; but has been declining over the period from around 87% in 2013 to 82% in 2019. The proportion of those convicted who declared themselves as Black or Asian has been rising. In 2013, 5% of those convicted declared themselves to be Black which increased to 7.3% in 2019 with a high of 8.3% in 2017. Those who declared themselves to be Asian increased from 4.4% in 2013 to 6.8% in 2019.

The table below shows the conviction rates by self-identified ethnicity for racially or religiously aggravated hate crime offences. 33 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

Racial or religious hate crime prosecutions and convictions by knowna ethnicity

2013 to 2019, England and Wales

Chinese or White Black Asian Mixed Other Total

Prosecution Numbers 2013 4,295 297 267 141 49 5,049 2014 4,449 369 329 142 70 5,359 2015 4,615 420 329 160 65 5,589 2016 4,026 426 334 132 62 4,980 2017 3,899 453 320 126 65 4,863 2018 3,345 346 235 113 69 4,108 2019 2,869 318 237 119 45 3,588 Conviction Numbers 2013 3,002 173 153 81 39 3,448 2014 3,125 230 189 80 34 3,658 2015 3,346 247 238 111 41 3,983 2016 2,969 268 233 84 31 3,585 2017 3,027 305 231 83 46 3,692 2018 2,548 247 173 78 49 3,095 2019 2,262 202 187 85 30 2,766 Conviction Rates

2013 70% 58% 57% 57% 80% 68% 2014 70% 62% 57% 56% 49% 68% 2015 73% 59% 72% 69% 63% 71% 2016 74% 63% 70% 64% 50% 72% 2017 78% 67% 72% 66% 71% 76% 2018 76% 71% 74% 69% 71% 75% 2019 79% 64% 79% 71% 67% 77%

Notes: a) Figures for those whose ethnicity was unknown have been excluded from the calculations.

Source: MOJ, Proceedings and Outcomes by Home Office Code 2013 to 2019 34 Hate Crime Statistics

4. Scotland

Hate crime figures in Scotland, presented here from Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) Scotland’s prosecution service are not Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening comparable with those for England and Wales. Figures in Scotland differ Communications in that they cover the number of hate crime charges as opposed to the (Scotland) Act 2012 number of individuals charged for such crimes or the number of incidents that led to charges. Hate Crimes figures COPFS Scotland’s The Offensive Behaviour at prosecution service are reported in their Hate Crime in Scotland Football and Threatening 2019/20 publication. Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 came into force In total, there were 5,219 hate crime charges in Scotland in 2019/20, an on 1 March 2012 and was 11% increase on the previous year.47 In 2019/20, the number of race repealed on 20 April 2018. hate crimes increased by 4% on the previous year but was 27% less There are no charges than the figure for 2010/11. The largest percentage increase for an recorded on the COPFS database reported under individual hate crime strand since 2010/11 was for disability hate crimes the Act after 2017-18. If a (706%) from 48 hate crime charges in 2010/11 to 387 in 2019/20. charge reported in an earlier year under the Act Hate crime charges in Scotland by hate crime strand contained a hate crime 2010/11 to 2019/20 aggravation it will still be included in the overall Total figures for each type of hate Number of crime into which it falls. Sexual Charges Race Religion Disability Orientation Transgender Reporteda The repeal of the Act means 2010/11 4,178 694 48 452 14 5,332 that there is a discontinuity 2011/12 4,547 896 60 650 16 6,053 in the time series of figures 2012/13 4,034 689 137 729 14 5,408 given between 2016-17 and 2013/14 4,160 591 147 887 25 5,658 2017-18. Figures for all 2014/15 3,820 567 176 848 21 5,208 categories of hate crime 2015/16 3,721 591 199 1,027 30 5,334 may be higher in 2017-18 2016/17 3,367 678 188 1,081 42 5,037 and subsequent years than 2017/18 3,278 650 282 1,116 52 5,053 they otherwise would have 2018/19 2,921 534 299 1,194 40 4,686 been due to charges that 2019/20 3,038 660 387 1,486 41 5,219 would previously have been % reported under the change Offensive Behaviour at 2018/19 Football and Threatening to Communications (Scotland) 2019/20 +4% +24% +29% +24% +2% +11% Act 2012 being reported as % an alternative charge with change an aggravation. 2010/11 to 2019/20 -27% -5% +706% +229% +193% -2%

Note: a) Where a charge has more than one hate crime aggravation, it is included in each type of hate crime into which it falls. It is therefore not possible to add up the charges for each category of hate crime to obtain the total number of hate crime charges reported

Source: Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service, Hate Crime in Scotland 2019/20, 12 June 2020

47 COPFS notes in their Hate Crime in Scotland 2018-19 publication that where a charge has more than one hate crime aggravation, it is included in the publication in each type of hate crime into which it falls. It is therefore not possible to add up the charges for each category of hate crime to obtain the total number of hate crime charges reported. Please see p.13 35 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

Proportionally, the majority of hate crimes in Scotland were racially motivated accounting for 58% of all hate crime charges in 2019/20 compared to 78% in 2010/11. The second largest proportion of hate crimes in Scotland were related to the sexual orientation of the victim accounting for 28% of all hate crimes in 2019/20, compared with 8% in 2010/11.

Proportion of hate crimes by strand Scotland, 2010/11 to 2019/20

Race Religion Sexual Orientation Disability Transgender

3% 3% 3% 4% 4% 6% 6% 7% 8% 11% 13% 16% 16% 19% 21% 22% 25% 13% 15% 28% 13% 10% 11% 11% 13% 13% 11% 13%

78% 75% 75% 74% 73% 70% 67% 65% 62% 58%

2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20

Note: It is possible for a charge to have more than one motivating factor. For this reason the sum of the percentages of the 5 motivating factors exceeds a 100%.

Source: Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service, Hate Crime in Scotland 2019/20, 12 June 2020

Additional figures published by COPFS provide a breakdown of hate crimes by strand for each COPFS office since 2010/11. The highest number of hate crime charges, by strand, were to be found in Glasgow and Edinburgh. For each hate crime strand, particularly the transgender strand, there were a number of instances where numbers were suppressed in order to prevent disclosure of identities.

Across all hate crime strands, the majority of charges ended up with court proceedings. In 2019/20 80% or more of charges for all hate crime strands, ended with court proceedings. 36 Hate Crime Statistics

Proportion of hate crime charges ending in court proceedings Scotland, 2010/11 to 2019/20

Sexual Race Religion Disability Orientation Transgender

2010/11 84% 86% 73% 79% 100% 2011/12 82% 87% 60% 82% 75% 2012/13 83% 82% 69% 77% 79% 2013/14 87% 89% 86% 88% 88% 2014/15 86% 86% 86% 89% 86% 2015/16 86% 91% 87% 87% 67% 2016/17 84% 86% 78% 83% 74% 2017/18 84% 85% 82% 85% 65% 2018/19 81% 86% 85% 83% 75% 2019/20 82% 84% 88% 84% 80%

Note: The percentages presented in this table do not include charges that were not separately prosecuted that is to say other charges in the same case for the same accused person that were prosecuted. In some of the cases, charges that were prosecuted may have included details from charges that were not prosecuted.

Source: Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service, Hate Crime in Scotland 2019/20, 12 June 2019

4.1 Police recorded figures In February 2019 the Sottish government published a report on hate crimes reported by the police with the latest data being for 2017/18. Hate crimes in Scotland are recorded by the police on the Interim Vulnerable Persons Database (IPVD) which was introduced in 2013 and became a national system in 2014. It is the only system in Scotland holding information on hate related activity faced by the police. A review of the IPVD in 2016 noted that while the database doesn’t adequately reflect the total volume of hate crime that comes to the attention of Police Scotland; It can be used to provide summary information on the scale of police recorded hate crime in Scotland. It also records crimes not reported to COPFS.48 In 2017/18, the police recorded 6,736 hate crimes in Scotland. Since 2014-15 the number of hate crimes have fluctuated from 6,600 to 7,000 (to the nearest 100). Of the hate crimes recorded in 2017/18, 67% were related to race, 16% were related to sexual orientation, 7% religion, 4% disability, 1% transgender, with the remaining 5% having multiple hate aggravators.

48 Scottish Government, Hate crime: availability of information recorded by the police in Scotland, 27 February 2019 37 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

Hate crimes recorded by the police by aggravator Scotland, 2014/15 to 2017/18

2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 Number

Race 4,967 4,666 4,435 4,491 Religion 520 521 504 504 Sexual Orientation 1,010 1,020 1,025 1,085 Disability 244 239 235 274 Transgender Identity 48 45 61 59 Multiple Aggravators - of which 240 295 317 323 Race & Religion 134 153 154 160 Other (including. Race or Religion) 94 126 134 138 Other (excluding. Race or Religion) 12 16 29 25

Total 7,029 6,786 6,577 6,736 Percentages

Race 71% 69% 67% 67% Religion 7% 8% 8% 7% Sexual Orientation 14% 15% 16% 16% Disability 3% 4% 4% 4% Transgender Identity 1% 1% 1% 1% Multiple Aggravators - of which 3% 4% 5% 5% Race & Religion 2% 2% 2% 2% Other (including. Race or Religion) 1% 2% 2% 2% Other (excluding. Race or Religion) - - - -

Source: The Scottish Government, Hate crime: availability of information recorded by the police in Scotland, Table 2

Regarding the nature of hate crimes in 2017/18, the majority involved threating or abusive behaviour (45%), followed by racially aggravated conduct (23%), common assault (13%) and offences relating to the 2003 Communications Act (5%). Figures are also provided for the rate per 10,000 population for all hate crimes in each Scottish local authority. The highest rates in 2017/18 were recorded in Glasgow (30) and in the city of Edinburgh (26). Appendix table 9 provides a breakdown for hate crime rates in each Scottish local authority recorded by police. In response to an FOI requesting the latest IPVD Hate Crime data, it was stated by the Scottish government that no further reports on hate crime based on data from the IVPD or Police Scotland’s System for Tasking and Operational Resource Management (STORM) since February 2019 is available.49

49 Scottish Government, Developing Information on Hate Crime Recorded by the Police in Scotland: FOI release, 17 August 2020 38 Hate Crime Statistics

5. Northern Ireland

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) records six strands of hate crime adding sectarian hate crime (which is different from the non- sectarian faith/religion strand). Though Home Office counting rules are used when recording what counts as a crime with a hate motivation, differences in legislation should be taken into account when comparing with England and Wales. Statistics in Northern Ireland record hate crime ‘incidents’ and ‘crimes’. Hate Crime incidents may be crimes in law but are not severe enough (i.e Traffic offences and disorderly behaviour) to warrant being considered as a notifiable offence requiring a trial by jury. It also includes a number of closely related offences such as assault without injury.50

Since 2010/11, the total number of hate crime incidents decreased by 11% while crimes decreased by 8%. Sectarian hate crimes and incidents have declined since 2010/11 by 36% and 38% respectively. Racist hate crimes and incidents in the same period increased by 18% and 11% respectively. In the year since 2018/19, the number of sectarian hate incidents and crimes increased by 3%. In the same year the number of racist incidents decreased by 17% and crimes by 10%. (See Appendix table 10) Since 2010 the proportion of racist hate crimes and incidents have risen in Northern Ireland while secterian ones have declined

Incidents

9% 8% 10% 11% 11% 12% 10% 10% 11% 11%

45% 44% 40% 37% 35% 56% 59% 55% 48% 39%

43% 46% 36% 39% 39% 42% 41% 33% 30% 30%

2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20

Crimes

8% 8% 10% 11% 12% 12% 9% 9% 10% 10%

46% 46% 43% 40% 39% 58% 59% 57% 50% 40%

40% 39% 40% 42% 44% 40% 31% 31% 30% 36%

2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 Racist Sectarian Homophobic Disability Faith/Religion Transphobic

Source: Police Service of Northern Ireland, Hate Motivation Statistics, Accessed 10 September 2020

50 Please see section 2.1 ,2.4 and 6 of the user guide of Police Recorded Crime Statistics in Northern Ireland for further details 39 Commons Library Briefing, 10 December 2020

As the chart above shows since 2010/11, the highest proportion of hate incidents and crimes (80% or over), have been either racist or sectarian in nature. In the same period, the proportion of hate crimes and incidents that were sectarian has been declining. In 2019/20 however, the proportion of sectarian incidents and crimes increased by 4 and 1 percentage point respectively.

In 2010/11, 56% of incidents and 58% of crimes were sectarian in nature. By 2019/20, 39% of incidents (a decline of 17 percentage points since 2010/11) and 40% of crimes were sectarian (declining 18 percentage points since 2010/11). In 2016/17, racist incidents, for the first time since 2010/11 constituted the majority of hate crime incidents (42%) compared to 40% that were sectarian.

The table below shows the proportion of hate crimes by strand with an outcome. With few exceptions, for each hate motivation strand in every year since 2010/11, over 75% of crimes do not end with a prosecution or a warning. Regarding the outcome of racist hate crimes, the figures show that since 2010/11 over 80% of crimes do not end with a prosecution or a warning.

Proportion of hate motivated crimes with an outcome Northern Ireland

Racist Sectarian Faith /Religion Disability Homophobic Transphobic

2010/11 13% 29% 0% 14% 18% 13% 2011/12 19% 18% 17% 47% 15% 0% 2012/13 19% 16% 14% 14% 20% 0% 2013/14 17% 15% 23% 5% 17% 25% 2014/15 14% 15% 11% 12% 21% 13% 2015/16 19% 15% 5% 5% 26% 0% 2016/17 18% 13% 8% 12% 22% 25% 2017/18 15% 12% 7% 4% 22% 24% 2018/19 17% 10% 9% 8% 19% 8% 2019/20 14% 12% 13% 15% 25% 12%

Note: The outcome figures in this table are based on the following outcome methods; charge/summons, cautions ( and juvenile), community resolutions, penalty notices disorder, offences taken into consideration and indictable only offences where no action was taken against the offender (died before proceedings or PPS did not prosecute). Community resolutions were first introduced as an outcome during 2011/12 (these were called discretionary disposals prior to 30 June 2016) and penalty notices for disorder were introduced in June 2012.

Source: Police Service of Northern Ireland, Hate Motivation Statistics, Accessed 10 September 2020

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