Hate Crime Law Commissioner, 16th of Sept

The government appointed a new law commissioner Prof David Ormerod to review the adequacy of the protection offered by hate crime legislation. Hate crimes are acts of violence or hostility directed at people because of who they are. The police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), in general, record data on hate crimes for five protected characteristics: disability, transgender status, race, religion and sexual orientation. But criminal law does not treat all of those protected characteristics equally. This means someone who is assaulted based on religion or disability is not afforded the same protection as someone assaulted because of their race. MEND volunteers and survivors of Islamophobia attended a hearing organised by Citizens UK and provided powerful testimonies urging the hate crime commissioner to seal the gaps in the current law in order to ensure that all citizens are equally protected in the British laws. Indeed, this will reduce Islamophobic hate crimes.