National Hate Crime Awareness Week

The week was founded in 2009 to mark the 10th anniversary of attacks in London on Black and LGBT+ communities in Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho. In 1999 these communities were targeted by three nail bomb attacks that tragically killed three people and left more than 100 people injured. The attacks were motivated by racism and homophobia.

Hate crimes are acts of violence or hostility towards individuals and communities because of who they are, or who people perceive them to be. Hate crimes are currently recorded where a crime is directed at someone because of their race, sexual orientation, transgender identity, disability, religion or belief. In Northern Ireland there is an additional category of sectarian hate.

Raising awareness of what a hate crime is and how to report it is more important than ever in the current climate. There has been a rise of far right extremism and racism, in our workplaces, in our communities, and online.

The summer of 2024 saw the largest outbreak of racist rioting in the UK for more than a decade, leading to attacks on mosques and hotels housing migrants. And whilst the riots targeted people of colour, asylum seekers and businesses owned by migrant people, the far right's targets go beyond this to include LGBT+ people, trans people in particular, women, disabled people, Jewish people and refugees.

Since then far right demonstrations have increased around the country, often targeting hotels and accommodation housing people seeking asylum. In September 2025, over 100,000 people took part in a far-right rally organised by Tommy Robinson (aka Stephen Yaxley Lennon). These same far right groups are behind the campaign ‘Raise Your Colours’ which encourages the display of flags.

The United Nations have urged the UK to take action to curb racist hate speech by politicians and other high profile figures saying "there is a direct link between what the politicians and public figures say and what happens afterwards."

Usdaw members living and working in areas where far right are active have reported a negative impact in their communities and in their workplaces. Members have reported feeling unsafe and faced abuse, intimidation, hostility and threats while going about their daily lives and work.

Despite the continued co-ordinated action by anti-hate groups, trade unions and allies, the number of hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales for the year ending March 2024 stands at 140,561. This number has more than tripled since March 2013. As in previous years, the majority of hate crimes were racially motivated, accounting for over two-thirds (70%) of all offences. Religious hate crime increased by almost 25% from last year, driven by a rise in attacks targeting Jewish people and Muslim people.

In Scotland the total number of charges reported containing at least one element of hate crime were marginally less, down by 1.2%, in 2024-25 compared to the previous year, standing at 6,019. Racist hate crimes continue to make up the majority of incidents in Scotland (56%).

In Northern Ireland, 3297 hate incidents and crimes were reported in the 12 months to March 2025. There were more race and faith/religion hate incidents when compared with the previous twelve months. The number of both race incidents (1,807) and race crimes (1,188) are the highest levels recorded since the data series began in 2004/05. August 2024 saw 349 race incidents recorded - the single highest monthly level ever recorded.

This is important to note, as Northern Ireland figures are the first figures from the UK to reveal a spike in racist hate crime as a result of the far right riots in August 2024. Spikes in hate crime are notably triggered by specific events such as the EU referendum, political events, the Coronavirus pandemic and now most recently, the rise in far right extremism.

The results of Usdaw’s Freedom From Fear Survey last year show that violence against shopworkers has nearly doubled since last year, with 10% saying they'd been assaulted. A third of members reported that abuse at work took the form of harassment directed at them because of their race or sex. Half of Black members (48%) responding to the survey reported racial harassment and a third of women under 27 experienced sexual harassment from customers while at work.

We also know there are still very low levels of awareness of what a hate crime is across the UK. Usdaw is working to change this. 

Download the 'Together Against Hate' publications to find out more about what a hate crime is, how to report them and the harm they cause. 

You can also order all the posters and leaflets. 

Raising awareness of hate crime sits alongside the union’s Freedom from Fear campaign to raise awareness of the impact of violence and abuse on members and encourage incident reporting.

Visit nationalhcaw.uk for information relating to the 2025 National Hate Crime Awareness Week and ways that you can get involved.

Together we can resist hate crime.