Hate Crime and Hate Incidents
What is a hate crime?
A hate crime is any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice, on the basis of:
- Disability
- Race
- Religion
- Sexual orientation
- Transgender identity
Devon and Cornwall Police also record hate crimes motivated by hostility or prejudice towards a person’s sex, e.g. misogynistic or misandrist hate crime.
What is a hate incident?
A hate incident, known as a non-crime hate incident (NCHI), is any incident perceived to have been motivated by hostility or prejudice, but which does not meet the criminal threshold.
Hate crime can include things like:
- Being called names or other forms of verbal abuse
- Being sent offensive letters, emails or text messages
- Being attacked or threatened with violence
- Having your property interfered with or damaged
If any of these things are happening to you, you should and you can also .
The police and the University take all reports seriously. We have a zero-tolerance approach to hate crime and work together on this.
If you are not sure if you have experienced a crime or not, we would still encourage you to report it to the police or the University.
Call 999 if someone is in immediate danger, people are injured, an offender is nearby, or you need immediate support. There is on when to call 999. There is also information on how to if needed.
You can report hate crime to the police , by calling the police emergency number 101, or visiting your .
If you do not want to report directly to the police, you can report through the True Vision tool or . By reporting through a third party you can remain anonymous if you wish to, but please read the guidance on the provider website about how to do this.
The University cannot report a hate crime to the police on your behalf but we can support you to make a report to the police. You can ask for this support when you .
You can seek support and advice for hate crime from the university's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team.
There are also local charities, groups and organisations in Devon and Cornwall which can offer support, advice and ways to report an incident without having to talk directly to the police:
Devon:
Cornwall:
There are also organisations who provide support nationwide:
- (support for anti-Semitism)
- (support for people of East and South East Asian heritage)
- (support for anti-Muslim hate)
- (support for anti-Muslim hate)