We have recently reviewed our hate crime and hate incidents policy and procedure.
Since these were last reviewed, there has been increasing reports of hate crime and hate incidents across the UK. In particular, a significant rise in Islamophobic and antisemitic incidents, as well as clear spikes in hate crime following the Southport Murders and homophobic marches taking place in the capital.
We recognise the impact that this may be having on residents and want to continue to champion diversity and strive to build communities where everyone belongs.
In our review, we have made an effort to broaden the scope of actions that the policy covers, so it includes the ways in which we’re more commonly seeing hate crime and incidents occur today, such as via online abuse or aggressive displays of anti-immigrant sentiment.
The policy also outlines the range of support we offer if you need to report a hate crime and how you can do this. If something happens and you’re not sure if it counts as a hate crime, you can always report it to us, and we will treat it as a hate crime until we are advised otherwise by police. We would always rather that incidents like these are reported so we can support residents in any way we can, which includes reporting it to the police for you if you don’t feel comfortable approaching them yourself. More information on safety and harassment can be found on our safety in your community page.
Hate crime and hate incidents are something we take seriously, and we have built our policy to reflect this, to ensure that all our residents feel safe and comfortable in their homes.
