Hate Crime: Victims
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will commission a review into the equality of protections for white British victims of hate crimes.
Answered by Sarah Jones
The Government is determined to tackle all forms of hate crime wherever in the country it occurs, and whoever is responsible for committing it.
Race is already a protected characteristic in hate crime legislation in England and Wales - for example, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 creates specific racially-aggravated offences, and defines a “racial group” as “a group of persons defined by reference to race, colour, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins”, which covers white British individuals.
Accordingly, if someone commits a crime against a white British person and the perpetrator is motivated by - or demonstrates - racial hostility, the crime can be prosecuted as a hate crime. As such, the Government does not consider it necessary to commission a review into the equality of protections for white British victims of hate crimes.
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