Hate crimes are any crimes that are targeted at a person because of hostility or prejudice towards that person’s: disability, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation or transgender identity.

This can be committed against a person or property.

A victim does not have to be a member of the group at which the hostility is targeted. In fact, anyone could be a victim of a hate crime.

We’ve produced this short film with spoken word artist George the Poet where he explores the different elements of hate crime and why it is important for us all to come together to challenge intolerance and report incidents of hate crime.

Hate crimes and hate incidents can hurt people and leave them feeling confused and frightened. By reporting hate crimes a person may be able to prevent these incidents happening to somebody else. It will also help the police understand the extent of hate crime in your local area so they can better respond to it.

Following the rise in race-related hate crime after the EU referendum we provided guidance on what to do if you're worried about racism, and how to report it.

Our joint campaign, supported by organisations including the TUC, FSB and CBI, provides advice on employees’ rights at, and outside, work and gives important information about where people can go for help, including how to report race hate incidents. Equality and Human Rights Commission Chair David Isaac wrote to employers (PDF) to launch the guidance.

• Polish language factsheet: what to do if you're worried about racism (Polskie) (PDF)

Support the campaign to defeat hate crime, and raise awareness of how to report it, by sharing our graphics on social media:

• Report hate speech online: Twitter graphic (jpg)
• Where to report hate speech online in Scotland: Twitter graphic (jpg)
• Report hate speech online: Twitter graphic (Polish) (jpg)
• Report hate speech online: Twitter graphic (Romanian) (jpg)
• Report hate speech online: Twitter graphic (Bulgarian) (jpg)