Racially motivated hate crimes in England and Wales have increased by 190% in the last 10 years, according to the data published by the Office of Statistics in November.
Police recorded hate crime incidents from March 2013 to March 2023, accounting for crimes against race, religion, transgender identity, sexual orientation, and disability.
The number of offences in March 2019-2020 was not recorded due to a new IT system implementation in 2019.
Out of the 145,214 hate crimes recorded from March 2022-2023, racial hate crimes made up 70% of incidents.
Recorded incidents of racial hate crimes increased from 31,115 reports in March 2013 to 101,906 in March 2023.
The pandemic in March 2022-2023 showed the highest number of racial hate crimes, with 108,476 incidents reported to the police.
According to the report, 34% of the victims identified were White, 30% were Asian, and 29% were Black.
The report notes: “However, accounting for different population sizes, Black and Asian victims had far higher rates of victimisation than White people.”
The exact figures are described as experimental statistics by the Home Office as providing victim ethnicity only became a requirement in April 2021.
The number of hate crimes against Asians increased worldwide during the pandemic after former US president Donald Trump repeatedly referred to the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” or “kung flu” on Twitter.
On Your Side is a support and report hotline that started in 2021 as a response to the growing discrimination against the Asian community in the UK during the pandemic.
The organisation published its own report with data gathered from 145 incidents recorded from August 9, 2022, to July 31, 2023.
In a statement, On Your Side said: “It’s our hope that our service will form a more accurate understanding of the levels of racism and/or other forms of hate faced by East and Southeast Asian communities in the UK, providing policymakers, civil society, and community groups with insights to shape better prevention and justice approaches.”
The hate crimes reported to On Your Side consisted of verbal abuse, offensive language, discrimination, harassment, and physical attacks.
Last November 20, Mayor Sadiq Khan launched a new “London for Everyone” campaign to address the recent hate crimes.
He also pledged £250,000 in new funding for the Community Alliance to Combat Hate Partnership.
Sadiq said in a statement on Twitter: “Our new campaign and fund will help unite communities, celebrate our diversity, promote mutual respect and remind us of what makes our city great.”
Image credit: Tim Pierce licenced under CC BY 2.0 DEED
