About racist or religiously motivated incidents
"Any incident which is perceived to be racist or religiously motivated by the victim, witness or any other person."
This means a hate incident is when anyone feels they have been targeted because of their race or religion.
The victim or the witnesses' perception is used to 'early-identify' if an incident is motivated by hostility towards the victim's:
- race
- nationality
- religious belief or faith
- ethnic or cultural background
Incidents also include:
- racism by association - sometimes, you may experience racist or religiously motivated incidents due to your association.
- presumed membership of a group - membership of a race, religious or ethnic group also includes presumed membership - even if it is a mistaken presumption. For example, identifying a person from any part of Asia as Pakistani and calling them racist names.
- mistaken identity - at times, offenders may mistakenly believe that you are of a specific faith or ethnicity and may abuse or harass you. Such incidents will also be considered as religiously motivated even if you are not.
- lack of faith - a religiously motivated incident can be committed against a person consisting of hostility based on the victim having no religious belief or faith.
Identifying the type of incident early will ensure that it is recorded appropriately. The agency that you report it to will take into account the element of racial or religious prejudice in their investigation.
Direct racist or religiously motivated incidents
Examples of direct racist or religiously motivated incidents may include:
- physical abuse – spitting, punching, kicking, slapping, pushing or behaviour which leads to physical injury
- threats – words of a threatening nature, for example “I’m going to beat you up” or “I’m going to get you and your family”
- verbal abuse – racist name calling, swearing, abusive telephone calls
- written or printed abuse – letters by post, leaflets or posters using racist language, abusive text messages, abusive messages on social media
- graffiti or racist language or images – written/drawn onto property
- attacks on property or your home – eggs or stones thrown at property, tyres slashed, windows broken
- harassment – persistent intimidating or threatening behaviour which is spread over a period of time
Report a racist or religiously motivated incident
