How organisations can help stem the rise of hate crime

By Jo Faragher on 18 February 2022

Unfortunately, it can sometimes feel as though we’re detached from unimaginable things happening to other people: a footballer tweeting racist abuse or a group of Jewish people being attacked for their beliefs. But sadly, hate crime is on the rise.

Last October, figures from the UK Office for National Statistics revealed that reported hate crimes had risen by 9% across England and Wales since the start of the pandemic. Racially motivated crimes made up nearly three-quarters of the 124,091 reported incidents, an increase of 12% over a year. Homophobic hate crimes rose by 7%, and transgender hate crime by 3%. Disability hate crimes went up by 9% to more than 9,000.

Deborah Casale, partner in the London employment law team at Irwin Mitchell, explains that a hate crime is defined as “any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice, based on a person’s disability or perceived disability; race or perceived race; or religion or perceived religion; or sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation or transgender identity or perceived transgender identity.”

Structural issues

Charlene Brown, an employment lawyer, DEI specialist and co-founder of Howlett Brown, argues that microaggressions in the workplace can often stand alone as incidents, having a cumulative impact on employees’ wellbeing. “It’s important that employers take steps to think about how they can address microaggressions and how they can ensure there is a positive workplace culture,” she says. “This involves looking at structural aspects of the organisation: how does the organisation address issues, how are those issues heard, how do staff feel respected, valued and that their experience is taken into consideration, and what is the escalation process for addressing concerns?”

“The best way to nip toxic culture in the bud is to have a strategic plan across all levels of the organisation, ensuring there is a common approach to addressing complaints,” she advises. “Training will be short lived if structures and procedures aren’t in place in the context of ensuring a positive workplace and addressing microaggressions.” Casale adds that employers’ anti-discrimination and harassment policies should be made accessible to all staff, and must also include conduct outside work that could bring an employer into disrepute.

As the figures show, one of the groups most at risk of hate crime is the trans community. According to a survey by LGBT+ anti-abuse charity Galop, four in five respondents had experienced a form of transphobic hate crime, and for one in four this was a physical assault or threat of physical assault. Harassment came in a number of forms from invasive questions about surgery and deadnaming to death threats and damage to property. A number of respondents were ‘doxxed’, meaning someone published their personal identifying information online with malicious intent.

Leni Morris, CEO of Galop, says LGBT+ hate crime is disproportionately on the rise in the UK. “As the whole LGBT+ community knows from our history, there are real-world consequences to the public debates we’re seeing at the moment. Our 2020 Transphobic Hate Crime Report found that recorded transphobic hate crime has doubled in the last three years – and that only 1 in 7 trans people are reporting their experiences so those numbers are undoubtedly significant underestimates of what trans people are experiencing.”

‘Double disclose’

Morris adds that abuse and violence victims may find the workplace the safest place to disclose what is happening to them, and employers need to be clear on how to support LGBT+ colleagues. “Employers also need to consider the specific needs and experiences of LGBT+ employees when building policies around abuse disclosures, as well as how the HR team and employee support mechanisms function in the workplace. Remember that, in coming forward to talk about abuse, the employee may be making a double disclose – one about the abuse itself but the other about their LGBT+ identity. They may be afraid to disclose both of those things, not knowing what the response may be to either.”

Cleo Madeleine from Gendered Intelligence, a charity that delivers education and consultancy around support for the trans and non-binary community to workplaces and schools, says that while not every organisation will witness a hate incident, it’s important that colleagues feel comfortable to discuss issues with their trans and non-binary colleagues. “This is not just about avoiding hate, but about giving people the space to ask questions and address things they’re not sure about,” she says. Most people do not intend to be hurtful, she adds, but worry that if they get something wrong they’ll “get into trouble”. Education can help workplaces create non-judgemental spaces where people can comfortably ask questions.

When it comes to employees reporting a discriminatory incident, Madeleine advises organisations offer training to managers so they know how to best support a diverse range of people and to point them in the right direction. She adds: “If it’s you that’s experiencing [abuse], see if the organisation has an established policy around reporting it – many do but they may not be widely available. Unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world and from time to time discrimination can come from inside systems such as HR or a complaints team, so remember that gender reassignment, disability, race etc all count as protected characteristics under the UK Equality Act 2010, so there is legal recourse.”

Afraid of the consequences

Unfortunately, offering reporting mechanisms and people feeling comfortable to use them can be poles apart. Brown adds: “Often the whole concept of speak-up is a helpful notion and widely understood. But the practical application of it is far harder. People are nervous, afraid of the consequences, worried they may exacerbate the issues or cause offence. Those in vulnerable positions or where the power dynamics are not in their favour may well be in fear of future repercussions or in fear of their role being affected.” In some cases, she says, people who choose to speak up can find themselves on the end of a grievance – something that can create a “fear factor” that stops people airing concerns in future because they feel their voices won’t be heard. “To ensure a speak-up culture it needs to be on a structural, procedural and experiential level and it needs to be driven through action in everything an organisation does,” she adds. “It can be as simple as soliciting insights and comments about pieces of work the organisation creates, right through to managers and leaders inviting feedback from their staff as a way to build a habit. There also needs to be role modelling from managers.”

In an ideal world, this would happen naturally, she concludes: “When all of these things happen in combination with the right strategic framework, culture and tone from the top, speak-up should be an attribute to culture that stands the test of time. Any action that doesn’t cover all of those bases means that speak up culture will be short lived in any organisation.”

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