Hate crime is an attack on someone because of their identity.
Hate crimes are:
- Racist incidents – attacks on the beliefs and identities of those who are perceived as being different because of their race, culture or ethnicity
- Sectarian or religious incidents – any incident by one person or a group of people against another on the basis of religious or political opinions
- Homophobic incidents – incidents committed against those perceived as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or transgender
- Disability related incidents – victimisation of people who have a physical disability or mental health issue.
Why Should I Report a Hate Crime?
Hate crime harms the victim and their community.
If you do not report hate crimes this makes it difficult to find out how extensive the problem is. By reporting a hate crime you are taking a step to help improve your community.
If you are living in, or visiting, one of our estates and you are the victim of, or witness to, a hate crime please report the incident. We would ask you to do this even if you do not want to take further action.
Hate crimes are criminal offences so the police will investigate and offer advice and support.
Who Can Report Hate Crimes?
Anyone can. This includes the victim, any witnesses and any person who believes an incident is motivated by hate or prejudice.
You do not have to be a Housing Executive tenant to report a hate crime on one of our estates.
How to Report a Hate Crime
If you have been the victim of or witnessed a hate crime you need to contact your local Housing Executive office by telephone, calling into the office in person or via email. You can also report hate crimes to your local Patch Manager. If you do not want to report the crime yourself you can ask a friend or relative to do it on your behalf.
If English is not your first language and you wish to report a hate crime please contact your local office. We can provide a telephone translation facility for many languages and formats.
You should also contact the PSNI about the crime.
When you report a hate crime or any incident we will handle it with confidence and, with your permission, take appropriate action.
Hate Harassment Toolkit
We developed the ‘Hate Harassment Toolkit’ in partnership with other organisations to provide customers, staff, community groups, professionals and the general public with a wide range of information and advice about Hate Harassment.
You can now download the latest version of the Toolkit.
