Background
The past decade has borne witness to spiralling levels of hate crime, with official statistics showing recorded hate crime to have more than tripled in England and Wales over this period. However, with research demonstrating that fewer than one in four victims report any of their hate crime experiences, we know that this is the tip of the iceberg.
It has been eight years since the UK government published its most recent hate crime action plan for England and Wales, with it expiring completely in 2020. With deepening divisions among communities and resources stretched to deliver effective prevention, victim support and justice, there is an urgent need for a coordinated, evidence-based response to hate, hostility and harassment.
This call for evidence
Between October 2024 and February 2025, the Centre for Hate Studies based at the University of Leicester, and hate crime prevention charity, Protection Approaches are leading a national consultation to collect evidence from civil society organisations, academic experts, policy makers criminal justice professionals, and individuals who have been impacted by hate crime to understand what a new hate crime strategy for England and Wales should include.
Evidence and opinions that you submit through this questionnaire will be analysed and form the basis of a publication in Spring 2025 which will include a set of practical, evidence-based policy recommendations relating to the areas of hate crime prevention, victim support and justice. After this time, all data submitted will be securely erased.
All named parties who submit evidence will be listed in the final written output (you may opt-out of this at the end of this questionnaire).
What we’re asking you
We’re asking the key stakeholders referred to above to share their views on a range of key themes, including:
- What is needed to more effectively address hate crime?
- What are the main barriers to prevention, victim support, and justice?
- What does good practice look like?
- What has resulted in supportive practice, good engagement or positive outcomes?
You do not need to complete all questions, only the questions relevant to you or the work of your organisation.
What next
If you are involved in a civil society organisation, are an academic expert, policy maker, or criminal justice professional, or if you have been impacted by hate crime, we would we’d like to hear from you. You can tell us your views and share any evidence you may have by completing this questionnaire. If you would like to complete the questionnaire offline, please download an MS Word version here and return to Emily Wertans via centreforhatestudies@leicester.ac.uk. (updated) Deadline for submissions: 23.59 Friday 14th Feb 2025.
Geographical scope
This consultation focuses on England and Wales reflecting the geographical scope of the UK Government's previous strategy, the Hate Crime Action Plan 2016–2020. While hate crime legislation and policing in Wales is not devolved, operational response to hate crimes such as victim support services fall within the devolved powers of the Welsh Government. As such, while our written outputs will make recommendations for a UK Government strategy to include all areas of hate crime prevention, victim support, and justice, we recognise that decisions about whether some areas of such a strategy would be implemented in Wales, would ultimately rest with the Welsh Government.
Barriers to participating
We know some people would like to contribute to this research but face accessibility or financial barriers to getting involved. We have a specific budget to overcome such barriers. If you have valuable insights to contribute to this research, but there are barriers preventing you from getting involved, please contact us through email (centreforhatestudies@leicester.ac.uk) or by phone 020 3859 950.