LGBT hate crime reports have almost tripled in the past five years – as this BBC News report shows. Our members are supporting an intersectional approach to recording hate crime to improve victims experience of the system. 

Hate crime report 

Earlier in the year we published a report on hate crime – Overcoming everyday hate in the UK: Hate crime, oppression and the law. One finding showed that certain groups experienced hate crimes at higher rates. 88.5% of transgender people surveyed said they had experienced hate crime; and 81.8% of gay or lesbian people.  

One participant in the hate crime report, who wished to remain anonymous, gave testimony on an homophobic hate crime incident: "So one of the things that stuck with me was about 12 years ago now, when I was a university student and I was with my girlfriend at the time. We were walking, holding hands, across the park, to campus. And this group of guys, about four of them just started walking alongside us, shouting abuse, rape threats – in the middle of the day, and it was a walk that I did all the time, and it just serves as a reminder that if I’m anywhere in public, with a partner, I just feel ‘well if we show who we are, we are potentially going to be threatened and abused.’"