‘Deeply worrying’ rise in hate crimes
Dr Shunghu Hilda M’gadzah has said the UK government is not doing enough to educate people or to find out why these crimes are happening.
07 November 2022
Between March 2021 and March 2022 police recorded a 26 per cent increase in hate crimes in England and Wales across all five of its recorded characteristics. Psychologist Dr Shunghu Hilda M'gadzah has said the UK government is not doing enough to educate people or to find out why these crimes are happening.
The police monitor five strands of hate crime, those directed at people based on their race or ethnicity, their religion or beliefs, sexual orientation, disability and transgender identity. Race-based hate crimes made up a majority of the offences with 109,843 recorded between March 2021 and March this year – a 19 per cent increased compared to the same period between March 2020 and March 2021. The largest percentage increase was seen in transgender hate crime, which rose by 56 per cent compared to last year to 4,355 – the largest annual increase seen in this type of crime since hate-crime recording began 10 years ago.
Religious hate crime also increased by 37 per cent compared with last year to 8,730 with two in five of those crimes aimed at Muslim people, and one in four aimed at Jewish people.
Crimes aimed at disabled people increased by 43 per cent, the largest increase seen since the year ending March 2017, and the largest increase in sexual-orientation hate crimes since the end of March 2012 was also recorded with a 41 per cent increase in this type of crime.
In its report the Home Office suggested that the increases may be due to increased awareness and reporting of hate crimes. It also pointed out that percentage increases may be high in comparison to the year ending March 2021 – a period which included covid lockdowns and saw decreases in many categories of crime.
Dr Shunghu Hilda M'gadzah, consultant psychologist at Inclusion Psychologists, said in a statement that the rise was deeply worrying and highlighted a lack of government action to explore why hate crimes occur. 'As a society, we need to get to the root of the problem and that involves structurally addressing and understanding the causes of hate crimes rather than dealing with the effects. When people understand why they may think as they do, that can help them to think differently, but you need the structures and facilities in place to enable that to happen.
'The financial issues many have suffered due to the pandemic and cost of living crisis have undoubtedly been a material factor in the rise in hate crimes. When people are struggling and feel their needs are not being met, they often look for someone to blame. Social media often pours fuel on the fire as it makes it easier to express unacceptable views.'
