This week is National Hate Crime Awareness week and we’re proud to be taking part this year to show our support. We know that we're stronger and more successful when we support each other and combine the unique perspectives, talents, and wisdom that our different life experiences give us, and we can all take responsibility to fight inequality every day.
What is hate crime?
We work closely with the Police, Local Authorities and Environmental Health to tackle hate crime, and define a hate incident as:
“Any behaviour which is deliberately intended to harm or intimidate a person(s) which is perceived by the complainant(s) or any other person(s) as being motivated by prejudice or hate. It may or may not constitute a criminal offence.”
Examples include:
- Abusive or threatening behaviour or comments
- Deliberate and targeted acts intended to deter someone from peacefully living in their home, or to force them to move away
- Graffiti
- Intimidation and torment
- Physical attacks on people or property
Our community
“I grew up as a lone mixed heritage child in my white family. It was the sixties and seventies, and I was regularly subjected to hate, l verbal racist abuse”
Tonia Mihill, Orbit Customer Board Member, shares her powerful and inspirational blog about her lived experience of hate crime. She calls for us all to choose love, take action and make our neighbourhoods safer for everyone. Read more here
How do you report it?
We hope you never have to, but if you need to report an incident to us, you should do so within 72 hours of the incident and have already obtained a crime reference number from the Police in this time, if possible. You can report allegations by contacting us.
If you have been affected by hate crime and need further support, you can find more information on the Government website. We also have a number of support resources available with our Better Days programme.
Our Hate Incidents Policy outlines how we will manage allegations.
Resources:
- Hate Crime Awareness Week 2022 official website
- Hate Crime Awareness Week 2022 news
- YouTube videos
- Newsletter
- Hate Crime Awareness Week 2022 social channels
We can all take responsibility to fight inequality - in the everyday conversations that we have, the thoughts that we think, and the actions that we take. We can all be allies to each other. Call out prejudice if you see it, report it if you experience it, talk, share, and educate. Let us stand together and make our communities no place for hate.
