A racist incident is ‘any incident that is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person’ (Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report).
Racist incidents include any abuse, harassment or assault that is motivated by dislike or hatred of a person because of their skin colour, race or religion.
What is homophobia?
Homophobic harassment is abuse motivated by dislike or hatred of lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
What is disability harassment?
This form of harassment is targetted at disabled people. It can take the form of verbal abuse, physical assault, graffiti or any other action intended to upset the disabled person.
Hate crime
Racial, homophobic and disability harassment are all examples of hate crime. Hate crime can happen anywhere – in the home, school, work or when you are walking down the street.