Get help if you’ve experienced a hate crime or hate incident

If you or someone you know has experienced a hate crime or hate incident, you can get help from hate crime support services.

You can also report it to the police. If you don’t want to talk to the police, you can ask an independent organisation to report it for you anonymously. These organisations are called ‘third party reporting centres’.

If the incident happened at your home, school or workplace, you can also speak to your landlord, school or employer.

If you’re not sure if you’ve experienced a hate crime, you can check if something is a hate crime.

In an emergency, you should call 999.

Getting help from hate crime support services

You can get help whether or not you decide to report the hate crime or hate incident.

You can get help from Victim Support - this is an independent charity that can:

• listen to you and give you emotional support

• give you practical help - for example, if you need to repair damage caused by a hate crime or move house if you’re being harassed

• help you deal with the legal system - for example, if you’re going to court

Get support from Victim Support on their website. 

There are also specialist hate crime support services that can give you advice and support. They’ll be based in your local area.

You can find your nearest support service by checking a list of hate crime support services on the True Vision website.

You can also look online - try searching for the name of your local area and the words “hate crime support services”. 

If you’re still struggling to find a support service in your area, talk to an adviser.

Reporting a hate crime or hate incident

If you want to report the crime or incident to the police, it’s a good idea to contact a hate crime support service first. They can help you work out what to say in your report.

Check how to report a hate crime to the police.

If you’re not sure you want to report it to the police, it’s still worth contacting a hate crime support service - they can help you make a decision. 

Going to a third party reporting centre

If you want to report the crime or incident, but you don’t want to talk to the police, you can contact a third party reporting centre. They can report it to the police for you.

When you report through a third party reporting centre, your details will be kept anonymous. You don’t have to have any contact with the police if you don’t want to. If the case goes to court, they can even go to court for you. 

You can report a hate crime or hate incident to Stop Hate UK if they work in your area. Check if you can report a hate crime through Stop Hate UK.

If you can’t report through Stop Hate UK, you can find your nearest third party reporting centre by asking a hate crime support service.

You can also try looking online - search for the name of your local area and the words “third party reporting”.

If you still can’t find a third party reporting centre, talk to an adviser.

There might be other organisations that work in your local area - try searching online.

If the incident happened at your home, school or workplace

In some situations, there are other organisations you can get help from if you’ve experienced a hate crime or incident. 

If the incident happened at work

If the offender works for your employer, you might be able to make a discrimination claim against your employer. You can check if you’ve been discriminated against at work.

If the incident happened near home

If your neighbours or people in your area are harassing you, you can complain to their landlord. If you’re not sure who the landlord is, you can complain to your local council. 

Your local council can take action about hate crime and hate incidents using their ‘antisocial behaviour powers’.

You can:

• check what to do if your neighbour is harassing you

• check how to complain about your neighbour

If the incident happened at school

You should speak to a teacher your child trusts and tell them it’s a ‘safeguarding’ issue. The school should  deal with the problem using their safeguarding policy. 

If you think the school isn’t taking the problem seriously, they might be discriminating against your child. Check what to do if you think the school has discriminated against your child.