There have been over one hundred and twenty four thousand incidents of hate crime in England and Wales in the year ending March 2021.

That’s according to official statistics recorded by police which illustrate that there was a nine percent increase in recorded data of similar crimes occurring in the same area.

Those are the shocking findings which come from police records which detail the different kinds of crime which occur around the UK. There could be several reasons for this increase in hate crime, one of which could be the Brexit referendum in which people around the UK voted to leave the European Union in an effort to gain more freedom and have more control over who comes in to the country.

A Hate Crime can be defined as an offence committed against someone due to their:

race or ethnicity

religion or beliefs

sexual orientation

disability

transgender identity

Official statistics have proven that the number of incidents of hate crime has been increasing year on year even though we are all being encouraged to be a more understanding and tolerant society. People around the country and world are being encourage to be more understanding and tolerant of people from different countries and cultures.

increases in police recorded hate crime in recent years have been driven by improvements in crime recording and a better identification of what constitutes a hate crime

as in previous years, the majority of hate crimes were racially motivated, accounting for around three-quarters of such offences (74%; 85,268 offences); these types of hate crime increased by 12 per cent between year ending March 2020 and year ending March 2021

The increase in reported incidents of hate crime can also be driven by the media as if there is an increase in coverage or stories surrounding the issue which are published, the general public will know what to keep an eye out for when they are out doing what they do in their every day lives. This can help increase with the number of hate crimes being reported and also help develop organisations who can support individuals or communities who have been the victim of a hate crime.

An example of recent coverage of hate crime in the media at the moment is what is happening in EastEnders in recent times. The local community is planning to build a mosque in the area but a gang with far right views has recently moved in to the area. Regular viewers will have seen local residents who are trying to set up the mosque being attacked by the gang.

When regular viewers see things like this happening in the programme, it will stay in their minds and they will know what to do or who to contact to avoid such incidents happening in the future. This will also help us build and develop a more understanding community who are accepting of people from different countries and their cultures.

People can also be a victim of a hate crime if they are disabled. In society, people can have different health conditions which affect their ability to do different tasks. These may be tasks that other people in society can do normally, however due to the condition or disability that some people may have, they will require support to help them undertake such tasks. This can be achieved using the Access To Work scheme for disabled people who work and with Personal Independence Payments for others.

Access To Work helps to pay for any adaptations that someone may need to their work place in order to make it more accessible to them. It can also help them employ a support worker or Personal Assistant who can help them complete work related tasks and travel to different meetings or conferences. Access To Work can either be paid weekly or monthly and helps disabled people with the costs they may incur at the work place.

Disabled people may be targeted and become victims of hate crime if they look and do things differently to others but society has to become more accepting and understanding of the different kinds of support that people may need. This will help society become a better place for everyone to live and help strengthen the economy.

People may also be attacked if they have different religious beliefs from those in the majority of society but people will need to become more understanding and accepting of these differences.

If you’d like more information about how to apply for Access To Work, please visit Access to Work: get support if you have a disability or health condition – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If you witness or become victim to an incident of hate crime and would like to access support, please visit Home – Stop Hate UK