This is a national event that aims to bring together organisations and communities across the UK to raise awareness of hate crime and encourage reporting. The awareness week covers all monitored strands; disability, faith, gender identity, sexual orientation, and race.
This year the city of Southampton is joining this national awareness week (8 – 13 October 2016) with a range of activities centred on the signing of a pledge by city leaders, including Ian Dunn of the University, welcoming diversity and condemning hate.
The timing of this campaign follows a national rise in Hate Crime reports after the EU Referendum; a 14% rise in hate crimes was recorded across the country immediately after Brexit although this is now abating (European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance).
Over the last year there has also been a rise in anti-Muslim reports: Tell Mama received 2,317 incident reports (Jan to Dec 2015) compared to 599 in 2014/15; a further 1,000 incidents were reported during the first four months of 2016. There was also a significant rise – 41% – in reports to police in the last year for disability hate.
Race hatred accounts for 82% of hate crimes recorded by police. A YouGov survey (2013) of 2,500 people from the LGBT+ community found 1 in 6 had experienced a homophobic incident in the last three years.
You can report a hate incident or hate crime to the police. The police will take any report very seriously. Hate crimes will be robustly investigated. In an emergency call 999; for non-emergency reports call 101.
