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Racist and religiously motivated incidents
What a racist or religiously motivated incident is, how to report it and what to do if you need support.
About racist or religiously motivated incidents
"Any incident which is perceived to be racist or religiously motivated by the victim, witness or any other person."
This means a hate incident is when anyone feels they have been targeted because of their race or religion.
The victim or the witnesses' perception is used to 'early-identify' if an incident is motivated by hostility towards the victim's:
race
nationality
religious belief or faith
ethnic or cultural background
Incidents also include:
racism by association- sometimes, you may experience racist or religiously motivated incidents due to your association.
presumed membership of a group - membership of a race, religious or ethnic group also includes presumed membership - even if it is a mistaken presumption. For example, identifying a person from any part of Asia as Pakistani and calling them racist names.
mistaken identity- at times, offenders may mistakenly believe that you are of a specific faith or ethnicity and may abuse or harass you. Such incidents will also be considered as religiously motivated even if you are not.
lack of faith - a religiously motivated incident can be committed against a person consisting of hostility based on the victim having no religious belief or faith.
Identifying the type of incident early will ensure that it is recorded appropriately. The agency that you report it to will take into account the element of racial or religious prejudice in their investigation.
Direct racist or religiously motivated incidents
Examples of direct racist or religiously motivated incidents may include:
physical abuse – spitting, punching, kicking, slapping, pushing or behaviour which leads to physical injury
threats – words of a threatening nature, for example “I’m going to beat you up” or “I’m going to get you and your family”
verbal abuse – racist name calling, swearing, abusive telephone calls
written or printed abuse – letters by post, leaflets or posters using racist language, abusive text messages, abusive messages on social media
graffiti or racist language or images – written/drawn onto property
attacks on property or your home – eggs or stones thrown at property, tyres slashed, windows broken
harassment – persistent intimidating or threatening behaviour which is spread over a period of time
Report a racist or religiously motivated incident
Report to Sussex Police
Phone 999 you in an emergency and ask for the police.
If it is not an emergency, contact the police phone 101 or report online.
If you would prefer to report by phone or email, use the following contact details.
If you're a council tenant, council leaseholder or tenants of a leaseholder, report anti-social behaviour and hate incidents to Housing Customer Services.
If you're a housing association tenant, report anti-social behaviour and hate incidents to your housing provider. We cannot intervene in housing association cases.
If you're a private rented sector tenant or own your home, report anti-social behaviour and hate incidents to the Community Safety Team.
Report all hate incidents or crimes that you may have been the victim of, witnessed, or are reporting on behalf of someone else through the True-Vision website. You can give as much or as little personal details as you choose. You can report anonymously, if you want to.
If you're reporting a crime, the police will create a crime report and investigate. If you've given your contact details, the police will contact you according to your consent.
If you do not provide personal details, the self-reporting forms will be used to monitor the incidents.
Support services for victims of racist and religiously motivated incidents
RHF also liaises and scrutinises organisations to make effective anti-racist policies and improve ways of working. RHF works in partnership with their members, wider communities, statutory and voluntary sectors.
Victim Support help people affected by all types of crime.
They provide free confidential support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for people affected by crime and traumatic events — regardless of whether they have reported the crime to the police or when it occurred and for as long as it is needed.
Most of our services are delivered locally through skilled staff and volunteers who are deeply rooted in their communities. We adapt our services to meet local need
Links to support in other formats
True-Vision easy-read self-reporting forms
If you have a learning disability or care for someone that does, use easy read forms to report hate incidents.