Since the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry(1999), the UK criminal justice system has led the way on dealing with all forms of hate crime. Much of what we call bullying in school would be defined by the police as a hate incident or hate crime. The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) defines a hate incident as: ‘any incident, which may or may not constitute a criminal offence, which is perceived by the victim or any other person, as being motivated by prejudice or hate.’ Prejudice or hate may be based on personal characteristics of:
- disability
- race
- religion
- sexual orientation
- gender identity
the full list as defined by the Equality Act can be found here.
