Hate crime victims and hate crime reporting: some impertinent questions

This chapter identifies how hate crime reporting could be improved in an English northern town and made inclusive across different equality groups. It reflects back on own research findings and the broader research literature to pose some questions on the adequacy and utility of the current reporting agencies' approaches and the general policy direction to hate crime victims. The chapter explains merit because the statutory criminal justice agencies and the voluntary sector are grappling with the challenges of adopting hate crime in its broadest sense, and providing a responsive, effective and victim-centred service across markedly different vulnerable groups. It draws out some implications that the legacy of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry has had for strategic thinking and policy-making, and makes some tentative suggestions on how these might be improved. The current policy imperative is aimed at encouraging the reporting of hate crime, driven by the conviction that reporting rates are notoriously low.