What is Hate Crime?
Hate crime is a crime in which the perpetrator's conduct is motivated, in whole or in part, by hatred, bias, or prejudice, based upon the actual or perceived race, colour, religion, national and ethnic origin, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation of another individual or group. Hate crime includes anything from verbal abuse, threatening behaviour or malicious communications. This includes all of the following:
Racist: Any incident, which is perceived to be motivated by prejudice towards, or hatred of people of diverse races, cultures or ethnic origins.
Religious: Any incident, which is perceived to be based upon prejudice towards, or hatred of, the religion and belief of persons or places of worship.
Homophobic:Any incident, which is perceived to be based upon prejudice towards, or hatred of, lesbians, gay men or bisexual people.
Transphobic: Any incident, which is perceived to be based upon prejudice towards, or hatred of, transvestites or transsexuals.
Disablist: Any incident, which is perceived to be based upon prejudice towards or hatred of the victim because of their impairment (also people with learning difficulty and/or mental and emotional distress).
Strategy Against Hate Crime and Harassment
Our Vision for Gateshead is: 'Local People realising their full potential, enjoying the best quality of life in a healthy, equal, safe, prosperous and sustainable Gateshead'.
To achieve this vision we need to be able to demonstrate our commitment to develop and implement a strategy to combat hate crime and harassment. We hope to provide a leading example of preventative and responsive action, measured by a reduction in hate crime and harassment, with heightened awareness of its impact. In Gateshead, all agencies and communities work together with the victim at the centre of their work, to tackle hate crime and harassment and to positively promote community cohesion.
This strategy is the very first to tackle hate crime and hate motivated harassment in Gateshead and will be among the first to be developed in the country. It marks a very important step towards tackling hate crime and harassment in our borough. Many people in Gateshead are victims or witnesses of such crime and harassment, which can take place anywhere - at home, in the streets, at work, and in schools and colleges. Nobody should have to live with the fear and anxiety that this causes.
Gateshead is proud of its diverse communities and acknowledges that there are some groups living in the borough that maybe more vulnerable than others. We will ensure that this Strategy Against Hate Crime and Harassment has an impact upon everyone living in Gateshead to ensure they live in a safe and fear-free community.