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:
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listen to you and give you emotional support
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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
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help you deal with the legal system - for example, if you’re going to court
Get support from Victim Support Wales 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.
If you’re Jewish
If you’ve experienced a crime and you think it’s because you’re Jewish, you can report it to Community Support Trust (CST).
CST can report the crime to the police for you.
If you’re Muslim
If you’ve experienced a crime and you think it’s because you’re Muslim, you can report it to Tell MAMA.
If you don’t want to go to the police, Tell MAMA can report the crime to the police for you.
They might also be able to give you free:
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emotional support - including counselling
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legal support - including going to court
Report an Islamophobic hate crime to Tell MAMA.
You don’t need to take legal action to access Tell MAMA’s counselling. If you want to find out more about the counselling, email counselling@tellmamauk.org.
If you're Gypsy, Roma or Traveller
If you’ve experienced a crime and you think it’s because you’re Gypsy, Roma or Traveller, you can get advice from Travelling Ahead. They can help you decide if you want to go to the police.
Calls are free from mobiles and landlines.
If you don’t want to go to the police, Victim Support can report the crime to the police for you.
If you’re LGBT+
If you’ve experienced a hate crime and you think it’s because you’re LGBT+, you can talk to LGBT+ charity Galop. If you're not sure if you want to report it, they can help you decide.
If you live in London, Galop can report a hate crime to the police for you.
If you don’t live in London, Galop can’t report a hate crime to the police for you - but they can give you independent advice and support. They can also tell you about organisations in your area that can help you.
Galop LGBT+ Hate Crime Helpline
Telephone: 020 7704 2040 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm)
Email: hatecrime@galop.org.uk
Website: www.galop.org.uk
Calls usually cost up to 55p a minute from mobiles and up to 13p a minute from landlines. It should be free if you have a contract that includes calls to landlines - check with your supplier if you're not sure.
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:
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.