Why Tackling Hate Crime is so Difficult

We need to relook at Hate Crime to make it more effective.

There's a lot of talk about hate crime. But how the system works and how it can be used is in my opinion often misunderstood by all parties involved. Hate Crime, the meaning, reporting and hate crime offences are three distinct things. Though connected they are perceived and understood very differently.

The problem possibly stems from the usage of and the meaning or what is understood by hate crime. This includes everyone from the person who is affected by it and the whole legal system. In order for it to be effective it has to be better explained and better understood. 

A lot of work has gone in to reporting centres and education but this relates to only part of the problem. This only helps in reducing hate or showing in essence that it occurs both very important but is not a deterrent or the impact is often not felt by society. 

So what is Hate Crime? Well it isn't actually an offence! Have a look google it. There is no legal statute that actually says or allows someone to be prosecuted for Hate crime. 

In order to be a Hate Crime that is actionable firstly there has to be an offence. That offence in itself may not be obviously hate related in itself. 

A case in point, it was revealed that the top members of Britain First where convicted of Hate Crime. The actual offence was of religiously aggravated harassment. These are offences under The Crime and Disorder act or Harassment Act.  Nothing is actually mentioned about hate. Thus in order for a Hate Crime to occur there must be a criminal offence related to a statuette.  Once that is proved in court. This is where Hate Crime which is not mentioned but defined under the Criminal justice Act comes in. 

Thus where an offence has occurred as above which is or is presumed by the originator a factor and is in relation to specific issues i.e. disability, race, religious belief or sexuality. It can be declared in court as a Hate Crime. If this happens then the courts can use the fact that it is a Hate Crime and increase the severity of the penalties. It is a convoluted process that possibly requires relooking at.  Perhaps with a view to actually making it an offence itself with appropriate penalties. Or rather than being an additional sentencing factor. 

Often when I've tried to get people to report incidents to the Police, I regularly get the answer back, the police say it’s not a Hate Crime.  Again more often than not it is but the people in the system who we report it to have a lack of understanding of what it actually is or how the system works.

For it to be effective it is down to all parties to ensure they understand. People effected need to report acts of abuse, harassment or perceptions of such they are uncomfortable with or not happy about. The police need to understand the offences around it (crime and disorder) when investigating and base their questioning around it to help prove the offence. The prosecution service must bring it to the attention of the courts and the judiciary likewise need to ensure the sentencing is appropriate to the crime considering the fact that it was motivated by hate.

If we can but get all the cogs working together. We could show by the increased sentencing that as a society, you have the freedom to think what you want. However if that thinking leads to an act or similar harm to someone that causes any form of perceived distress it will be tackled thoroughly.