How to Report a Hate Incident

Who can report a hate incident?

You can report a hate incident if you:

• have been the victim of a hate incident
• know anyone who has been the victim of a hate incident
• have been witness to a hate incident
• are a local authority/agency and receive information or a complaint concerning a hate incident.

A hate incident is defined as:

Any incident, which may or may not constitute a criminal offence, which is perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated by prejudice or hate.

A hate incident could be any of the following:

• A racist incident which is any incident that is perceived to be based upon prejudice towards or hatred of the victim because of their race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality/national origins or religion, whether actual or perceived.
  
• A homophobic incident which is any incident that is perceived to be based upon prejudice towards or hatred of the victim because of their sexuality, where the victim is or is perceived to be lesbian, gay or bisexual.
  
• A transphobic incident which is any incident that is perceived to be based upon prejudice towards or hatred of the victim because of their gender identity, where the victim is or is perceived to be transexual or transgender.
  
• A disablist incident which is any incident that is perceived to be based upon prejudice towards or hatred of the victim because of their disability, whether actual or perceived.

Hate Incident Reporting Form

Reporting is done via a confidential form which can be filled in by the member of staff, the victim of the hate incident, or both together.

The form is sent to Victim Support Sussex who enter the details of the incident onto a countywide database.  The statistics from the database are used to compile quarterly reports on the level and type of incidents happening across East and West Sussex.  This information is used by a variety of agencies and professionals to inform decisions about where support and preventative resources to tackle hate incidents/crimes should be focussed. 

You can fill in the Hate Incident Reporting Form by following the link in the Relevant Documents section of this page. Guidelines are also available to help the member of staff and/or the victim to complete it.

Where should I send the form?

The form goes to Victim Support Sussex. They record and monitor the reports received, and provide assistance and support to victims of incidents if requested:

Victim Support Sussex (Hate Incident Support Service)
PO Box 101
Crawley
West Sussex
RH10 8UA
Tel: 0845 3899528
Fax: 01293 536888
Email: SussexHateIncidentReport@victimsupport.org.uk

Note: In the vast majority of cases, it will be the victim’s decision about whether any action should be taken by an organisation about the incident, and if so, what form that action should take.  However, where an incident is so serious in nature that it presents a real and significant risk of harm to the victim (or another person), agencies may need to share information with others to reduce the risk to the victim and/or others.  Wherever possible, this would be done with the victim’s knowledge.  Agencies have policies regarding when and how this information should be shared.  If you have any concerns about information on your case being shared, you can discuss these with Victim Support  - please call 0845 38 99 528.