Hate crime offending and victimisation: some considerations for public protection

Hate crime is defined by the UK government as ‘any crime or incident where the perpetrator’s hostility or prejudice against an identifiable group of people is a factor in determining who is victimised’ along the recognised diversity strands of disability, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, and transgender (Home Office 2009a). In criminological and criminal justice terms ‘hate crime’ is a relatively new concept. It is, however, an issue that has rapidly ascended the criminal justice agenda and continues to do so. From the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993, which ultimately served to place hate crimes firmly on the criminological map, through to the deaths of Anthony Walker, Jody Dobrowski, Brent Martin, Sophie Lancaster, Johnny Delaney, Christine Lakinski, Fiona Pilkington and Francecca Hardwick, and numerous others, all targeted because of some aspect of their identity, to the various victim surveys that consistently demonstrate the disproportionate victimisation of minority groups, to the government’s recent Hate Crime Action Plan (Home Office 2009b), concerns about identity motivated violence have moved hate crime from the periphery towards the centre of criminal justice attention.