- Hate crimes recorded by police in England and Wales rose by 26% in the fiscal year ending March 2022 compared to the previous year.
- Transgender hate crimes have climbed by 56%, disability by 43%, sexual orientation by 41%, religion by 37%, and race by 19%.
- The United Kingdom has long been recognised as one of the safest countries in the world for sexual minorities.
The British government released its most recent hate crime figures for England and Wales (2021-22), revealing that hate crimes recorded by police climbed by 26% in the fiscal year ending March 2022 compared to the previous year.
It is crucial to highlight that it is unclear if this represents a “true spike,” both because there have been considerable changes in the way police record crime and because victims may have more confidence in reporting such crimes to authorities.
These statistics provide crucial information about the patterns and most common types of hostility in England and Wales toward someone based on specific personal qualities (race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and transgender identity).
However, in order to provide a comprehensive picture, these hate crime data must be considered in the context of broader trends in hostility and prejudice reflected in media narratives, social media use, and political discourse.
The monitored strands of hate crime, starting with the most common first, were race (109,843), sexual orientation (26,152), disability (14,242), religion (8,730), and transgender (8,730). (4,355).
Because some crimes can have more than one driving factor, these figures exceed the overall number of offences.
When the focus is on increases over the prior year, the trends are considerably different. Transgender hate crimes have climbed by 56%, disability by 43%, sexual orientation by 41%, religion by 37%, and race by 19%, in that order.
According to the paper, these annual increases are due in part to lower crime rates recorded during the times of COVID-19 restrictions, although there may have been an increase in hate crimes against transgender individuals due to greater debate about transgender problems on social media.
The United Kingdom has long been recognised as one of the safest countries in the world for sexual minorities, so the steep spike in hate crimes is a reminder that more has to be done to combat such attitudes, even if they are treated seriously by authorities.
While the analysis claims that crime rates were lower during the COVID-19 lockdowns, racist and religiously discriminatory media narratives must be noted.
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Muslims in particular were blamed around the world for supposedly worsening virus transmission during Ramadan, and Muslims in the UK were no exception.
Elizabeth Poole and Milly Williamson said in an analysis of four mainstream British newspapers that Muslims in the UK were once again divided into “good vs evil Muslim/immigrant,” with Muslim key employees shown as the “good” Muslim/immigrant versus “other Muslims.”
They also examine how similar media portray Muslims in other nations, frequently utilising images of “mass gatherings of Muslims, particularly in the run-up to Ramadan.”
According to one, “Pakistan’s government has struggled to implement social distance laws in mosques and religious gatherings.”
Such images evoke colonial and orientalist views that persist today, presenting Muslims as an uncontrolled mob.
According to the numbers in the report, Muslims were also the most targeted in religious hate crimes in the fiscal year ending March 2022. Where the perceived religion and the victim’s religion are not always the same, but the perceived religion is the one recorded, Muslims were the most targeted religious group, accounting for 42% of religious hate crime offences.
Attacks on Muslims were likewise the most common in the prior year, accounting for 45% of all incidents. Despite a decrease in the proportion, there were 756 more recorded incidents against Muslims this year.
Jewish people were the second most targeted religious group, accounting for 23% of religious hate crimes, followed by Christians at 8% and Sikhs at 4%.
As with last year’s data, there have been rises in racially and religiously aggravated offences following specific occurrences.
These were following the EU Referendum in the summer of 2016, the terrorist attacks in 2017, and the Black Lives Matter rally in the summer of 2020 following George Floyd’s death.
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A fourth surge has been detected in the summer of 2021, attributed to a “increase in racially or religiously aggravated public fear, alarm, or distress offences” rather than specific occurrences as previously recorded.
However, one event that should be mentioned here in terms of racially aggravated offences is the Euro 2020 final, which will be staged on July 11, 2021, pursuant to COVID-19.
When England lost the World Cup final, the black players who missed their penalty kicks, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka, were cruelly insulted on social media.
On August 5, 2021, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) revealed that a hate crime investigation had received over 600 reports of hate crimes, 207 of which were criminal in character.
Despite the team’s collective defeat, despite the fact that 123 of these criminal acts were committed from accounts outside of the UK, this investigation demonstrates the disproportionate racial targeting of ethnic minority people.
This repulsive reaction was eloquently highlighted by German player Mesut zil, who remarked, “I am German when we win, but an immigrant when we lose.”
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel defended the English players, but were accused of hypocrisy for not criticising fans who booed the players throughout the tournament for ‘taking the knee’ in solidarity with victims of racial abuse, which Patel dismissed as “gesture politics.”
As a result, while abuse escalated during the final, the players had previously faced criticism from both fans and the government for their symbolic stance against racism.
Racism continues to be a big issue within both the Conservative and Labour parties, and if not addressed, will further strengthen racist political hierarchies and normalise racist political speech.
Whether or whether these hate crime numbers show a “real spike,” a wide range of hostilities and biases exist in England and Wales, exacerbated by trends in print media, social media, and political debate.
Without a stronger united front against such preconceptions by the general people, journalists, and public leaders, they will simply remain, along with our country’s polarisation.
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