Anti-Muslim hate is widely believed to be under-reported, and several factors contribute to this, including: a lack of confidence that the police will take complaints seriously; previous negative experiences or dismissal when reporting incidents; previous misclassification of incidents, e.g. being recorded as anti-social behaviour instead of hate crime; and because of the normalisation of hate, leading some to accept it as 'part of life'.

Every incident should be reported, regardless of how minor it may seem, even if you don't want to involve the police. Reporting incidents helps protect our Muslim communities by showing the true extent of hostility towards Muslims. Data is essential for ensuring accountability of authorities such as the police, local councils, and government regarding their actions to address these issues.

If you have witnessed an incident or have been targeted and feel it was because race or religion (or other protected characteristics such as disability, sexual orientation, transgender identity), it may be a hate crime or hate incident. Trust your instincts-if it felt threatening, abusive, made you feel unsafe and /or your felt it was motivated by prejudice, it is worth reporting. You don't need to be certain; the authorities can assess whether a criminal threshold was met. It is also important to record anti-Muslim hatred incidents that do not meet criminal thresholds because these reports also help protect you and others to better understand the scale and nature of the hatred towards Muslims.

Hate crimes can take place in almost any setting. They may happen in public spaces such as parks, streets, or while driving. They can also occur on public transport, at train stations, and bus stops. Hate crimes are reported in educational settings, workplaces, online, and when accessing services. Even professionals carrying out their duties-such as police officers or NHS staff-can become victims while helping the public. Also, individuals may be targeted because of their perceived identity e.g. a Sikh man targeted who wears a turban may be perceived as Muslim and then attacked.

Hostility is not defined in the legislation. Consideration should be given to ordinary dictionary definitions, which include ill-will, ill-feeling, spite, prejudice, unfriendliness, antagonism, resentment, and dislike. While this is not an exhaustive list, hate crime / incidents can include:

• Physical assault - this can be any type of physical abuse including minor contact without injury if it causes one to feel threatened. For example, Muslims sometimes experiences having their hijab pulled, food and drink thrown at them or may be spat at. The most severe type of abuse can result in murder.
• Verbal abuse - this includes threats, name-calling, or any kind of verbal harassment
• Incitement to hatred - this includes actions intended to stir up hatred, such as threatening words, pictures, videos, music, online content or displaying /circulating discriminatory literature. For example, this could involve messages calling for violence against Muslims or chat forums where people encourage others to commit hate crimes or web pages showing violence against specific groups of people such as Muslims because of their perceived differences
• Criminal damage - this could involve damage to property, graffiti, arson etc.
• Harassment - repeatedly contacting someone with unwanted and abusive behaviour which can be through a range of methods such as text, phone, email, in person etc.
• Stalking - Following or obsessively contacting a person out of hate.
• Online abuse - spreading hate speech or sending hate mail through digital platforms.
• Hate Mail - sending offensive or threatening emails or letters

Note: Someone could be convicted of more than one type of hate crime.

Hate crime laws does not protect any religion from being criticised, disliked, ridiculed or insulted. Hate crime laws only protect people who may be subjected to hateful behaviour because of their religion. Freedom of expression, protected under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) which allows criticism of religion even if one finds it offensive. However, if speech targets individuals or groups with threatening, abusive, or insulting words or behaviour intended to stir up hatred based on religion, it can cross the line into a hate crime.

A hate crime or hate incident is when a person experiences hostility because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or because they are transgender. A person can experience hostility because of a combination of these characteristics. For example, Muslims may experience hostility because of their religion and their race.

Hateful behaviour that breaks the law is known as a hate crime. If the hateful behaviour directed at individuals because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or because they are transgender does not meet the threshold for it to be a criminal offence and no law is being broken, then it is a non-crime hate incident.

Sometimes experiences considered hostile may be recorded as a non-crime incident because of the following reasons:

• freedom of expression right was being exercised while remaining within hate laws
• behaviour / words were regarded to be trivial
• there was no basis to conclude that the incident was motivated by hostility
• comments were made as part of a legitimate debate such as when discussing political and social issues - individuals should not be stigmatised because someone is offended.

If you are in immediate danger, then you should call 999, otherwise you can make a report in the following ways:

• By visiting your local police station
• Contacting the police via phone
• Making a report online via the police run website, True Vision: www.report-it.org.uk

If you experience a hate incident while travelling on public transport such as on the train or station ,
you can contact the British Transport police on 0800 40 50 40 Or text 61016

Yes. Hate crimes and hate incidents can be reported to other trusted services such as community organisations, local councils, housing associations, schools, universities, or your employer depending on where they took place. Many charities and support services also take reports and can provide advice, practical help, and emotional support such as Muslim Safety Net. Reporting through different channels helps ensure you get the right support and that the issue is properly addressed.

You can report to these other services in addition to reporting to the police. If you decide not to report your experiences to the police, then at the very least report is to a service that collects hate crime / incident data such as Muslim Safety Net so that the information can be used to strengthen policy responses and increase understanding of the scale and nature of the hostility towards Muslims.

When you report hostility to the police which could be a potential hate crime or hate incident, the police will record your report under a specific category or categories of the five hate crime strands (race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity). A hate crime can be recorded as being motivated by more than one characteristic. Unfortunately, sometimes even when the victim believes that the hostility was motivated by prejudice against their religion, the police may opt to record it under it being motivated by their race only.

Do not assume that the police will automatically record the hostility correctly after you have described the incident. Sometimes police do minimise experiences and do not record it as a hate crime let alone recording it under the correct category. Always ask under which category the hostility is being recorded. Although training is provided to the police, they may be influenced by their own negative biases towards Muslims.

Victims (and / or witnesses) have the right to have the hostility recorded as how they perceived the motivating factors to be. For example, the victim may believe the hostility was due to their race only, faith only or both. The victim(s) or witness(es) do not have to justify or evidence their belief and it is important that their perception is not directly challenged by police officers.

If an offence is racially or religiously motivated, then the police will also record the crime in one of the following categories:

• 8P - racially or religiously aggravated assault with injury
• 105b - racially or religiously aggravated assault without injury
• 8M - racially or religiously aggravated harassment
• 9B - racially or religiously aggravated public fear, alarm or distress
• 58J - racially or religiously aggravated

Regardless of which of the above category is chosen, make sure you check under which strand your hate crime has been recorded i.e. race or religion or both. Ensure you make your views known under strand you want the incident recorded - you have the right to decide.

You should provide as much information as possible. While this is not an exhaustive list, include the following:

• Description of the hostility.
• Why you believe that the hostility was motivated by your religion and / or your race (and if relevant other characteristics protected under hate crime laws such as disability, sexuality and being transgender) - for example, this may be apparent from the verbal abuse used, symbols displayed or nature of the vandalism.
• Description of the perpetrators including vehicle number plates.
• Other actions you may have taken such as also reporting to another party e.g. in the case of online hostility, reporting to a social media platform.
• Your demographic information such as your race, religion, gender.
• Time, date and location of the hostility (including if it was online).
• Whether it was a one-off incident or whether the same perpetrators are repeatedly targeting you.
• Whether witnesses were present including people that may have been accompanying you at the time - if any vulnerable were with you during the incident e.g. children, elderly, disabled individuals. If you are pregnant then also ensure the police are made of aware of this.
• Your contact details.
• How the hostility has made you feel.
• What you would like the police (or any other service) to do for example, you may want it investigated to reporting it for information only.

When someone reports a hate crime or hate incident, the police are expected to follow a specific process as set out in the Codes of Practice for Victims. This will involve:

• Fair treatment - You should be treated with respect, dignity, sensitivity, compassion and courtesy and be able to make informed choices that are fully respected.
• Initial recording - Details of the victim, location, time, and what was said/done will also be logged and the the hostility formally recorded as a hate crime (if it meets the criminal threshold) or as a hate incident (if it doesn't meet the criminal threshold but is perceived as motivated by hostility).
• Risk assessment - Police will assess safety of the victim and provide advice.
• Investigation - A police officer will be assigned to investigate, which will include taking a detailed statement, gathering evidence (e.g. CCTV footage, copies of emails, copies of social media posts etc).
• Kept updated - You have the right to be informed by the police when important decisions are made about your case (e.g., arrest, release without charge, or a decision not to investigate). They must also explain the reasons within 5 working days. If the police investigate your case, they will agree with you on how often you want updates and your preferred contact method. You can change this at any time.
• Referral to a specialist service - Victims will be offered a referral to a specialist hate crime support service (such as Victim Support or local community organisations).
• Outcome - Once the evidence has been assessed (if there is any) the police will decide whether the experience that was reported amounts to:
  
  • A hate crime (because the law has been broken),
  • A non-crime hate incident because it was motivated by hate but did not break the law, or a
  • Non-crime incident - which is neither a hate crime or non-crime hate incident.
• Prosecution - When the police have finished their investigation and decide the law has been broken, they will pass the information to the Crown Prosecution Service, who will then decide if there is enough evidence to take the case to court. If the case is successfully prosecuted you have the right to make a Victim Personal Statement to explain in your own words how a crime has affected you, whether physically, emotionally, financially or in any other way. This is different from a witness statement. The Victim Personal Statement is considered by the judge or magistrate when determining what sentence the defendant should receive.

It is not always possible to bring a hate crime prosecution because:

• There may not be enough evidence to allow the case to be sent to the CPS so they can initiative a prosecution. Even if there were some evidence and the police pass it on to the CPS, they may decide the evidence is insufficient to prosecute.
• Even where there is enough evidence to prosecute in relation to the crime committed e.g. assault, harassment etc., there may not be enough evidence to show that it was linked to hostility and should be prosecuted as a hate crime. In such cases any conviction would result in the usual sentences for those particular crimes with no uplift for hate crime.

If you are unhappy with the police or a Crown Prosecution Service decision not to prosecute the suspect, you have the right to ask for a review of that decision under the under Victims' Right to Review schemes. Once the evidence is reviewed, the decision could be overturned.

There isn't one single Hate Crime Act England and Wales. Instead, hate crime is dealt with under a mixture of laws. Crimes motivated by hate are prosecuted as 'basic' offences, such as assault, criminal damage, harassment etc., and the subject to an enhanced sentence due to the hate element. The laws used to address hate crime include:

• Online Safety Act 2023 - Protects individuals from online harmful content by holding online platforms (eg. social media & search services) accountable by giving regulators the power to act where users are exposed to abuse, threats, or hate online. Further information can be found here.
• Sentencing Act 2020 (section 66) - If any crime is motivated by hostility towards someone's: disability, sexual orientation, transgender identity, race or religion - the court must treat this as an aggravating factor, meaning the sentence is more severe.
• Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (as amended) - This Act created a number of specific offences of racially aggravated or religiously aggravated crime, based on offences of wounding, assault, damage, harassment and threatening/abusive behaviour. Further information can be found here.
• Public Order Act 1986 - Covers stirring up hatred on the grounds of race, religion, or sexual orientation. For example: making speeches or publishing material encouraging hatred against a group. However, a higher threshold must be met for a stirring up religious hatred offence to occur. Further information can be found here.
• Protection from Harassment Act 1997 - Harassment includes stalking, intimidation, and persistent online abuse motivated by hostility towards a person's race or religion can becomes a hate crime, which carries higher penalties than standard harassment..
• Football Offences Act 1991 (section 3) - It is an offence under this Act when a group of people, or one person acting alone, chants something of a racist nature at a designated football match. Further information can be found here.
• Communications Acts - Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 and Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988 both criminalise indecent or grossly offensive communications such as letters, electronic messages, and social media posts.

Note - The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, which came into force on April 1, 2024, consolidates existing laws and introduces new offences related to stirring up hatred. This Act aims to provide greater protection for individuals and communities targeted by hate crimes.