Hate crime

Hate crime is a crime against a person usually because of their race, religion, sexuality or disability. Hate crime can take many forms from bullying and name calling, damage to property, violent attacks and even hate mail or hate email.

Types of hate crime

There are many different types of hate crime and in Northern Ireland the police and the courts recognise these as hate crimes:

racial hate crime - you can be a victim of racial hate crime because of the colour of your skin, but also because of what country you come from or what language you speak
homophobic hate crime - this mean a crime against someone because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender
religious hate crime - is attacking someone because of their religion or even for a lack of religious belief
sectarian hate crime - is where you can be attacked because of your community background, ie: Catholic or Protestant or because of your political opinions, eg: nationalist or loyalist
disability hate crime - is a crime against someone because of a physical or mental disability they have or appear to have

Every crime is a sign of hate. But crimes committed against a person because of skin colour, religion or sexuality is an attack against the victim's identity, others of the same group and society as whole. The courts take hate crimes very seriously and can give stronger prison sentences to people who have committed hate crimes.