Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the incidence of each of the five monitored strands of hate crime
in respect of the sex of the (1) victims, and (2) perpetrators;
and why annual hate crime data are not routinely disaggregated by
sex when published.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office () (Con)
My Lords, police-recorded hate crime data, published annually on
GOV.UK by independent Home Office statisticians, are not
routinely disaggregated by sex of victim or perpetrator. On 1
April, police forces started to identify and record any crimes of
violence against the person, as well as sexual offences, that are
deemed to be motivated by hostility towards the victim’s sex.
(CB)
I thank the noble Lord for his response. Will historical data be
made available on the government website? Looking at the last 10
years of hate crime data, it has increased every single year.
Between 2021 and 2022, it increased by 26%. What action are the
Government taking to reduce hate crimes for all groups
affected?
(Con)
On the noble Baroness’s latter point, she is right: in the year
ending March 2022, there was a 26% increase compared to the
previous year. Although the latest data does indicate that
increase, the most recent Crime Survey for England and Wales
figures, which were published in 2020, indicate a downward trend
in overall hate crime incidents over the past decade. It is felt
that the biggest driver for the increase in police-reported crime
is likely to be general improvements in the recording of the
crime. The police are also better at identifying whether a crime
is a hate crime, along with increased victim willingness to come
forward. As regards the publication of the data that we are
collecting as of 1 April, I cannot say for sure yet. It is for
2023/24. It is voluntary at the moment, but it will be part of
the annual data requirement. The Home Office statisticians will
make an independent judgment as to whether it is fit for
publication or not.
(Lab)
My Lords, hate crimes have developed incrementally. First, they
were targeted at racially motivated offences, before broadening
into the five strands to which the noble Baroness’s Question
alludes. So this should remind us that their current state is a
snapshot in time. We must always review these things to extend
further protections where they are necessary; that is how we got
to where we presently are. So surely the routine disaggregation
of annual data by sex would enable us to review whether there is
a necessity of extended protections offered by hate crime laws to
women and girls, in a way that is better informed than it
apparently is at present?
(Con)
The noble Lord raises a good point. Of course, the Law Commission
did look into this—a subject to which I am sure I will return.
But the recording for hate crimes in terms of the sex of the
perpetrator is actually very complex. The Ministry of Justice
holds court criminal data; the sex of perpetrators is published
for all crimes prosecuted that are specified in legislation,
including hate crime offences such as racially and religiously
aggravated assault, as the noble Lord has suggested. But where a
sentence uplift is used because there is evidence of a hate
element in the offence, it will be recorded under the offence
legislation, not the uplift. Therefore, the sex of the
perpetrator, while published, is not always linked to hate crime.
Consequently, the data is not a complete representation of all
hate crime and will not provide an accurate picture of the sex of
the perpetrators.
(CB)
My Lords, would the Minister agree that the whole point of
collecting statistics on so-called hate crime is to use them to
determine remedial action? But we already know the causes and the
action required. So-called hate crime is unacceptable behaviour,
not only against the five listed strands, but also against the
very tall, the very short, the thin, the fat, people with red
hair—anyone seen to be different from a questionable norm. We do
not need statistics to lay down norms of acceptable behaviour in
schools, the police and wider society.
(Con)
I entirely agree with the points that the noble Lord has made. I
am not sure that was a question, but I entirely agree.
(Con)
My Lords, the hate crimes legislation seems to me to violate one
of the general principles of common law, in that it defines crime
subjectively: it defines crime as anything perceived to be a
crime by the victim or by anyone else. Does my noble friend the
Minister believe that the increase in reporting correlates
exactly with an increase in actual crime? If it does, then what
evidence is there that this legislation has been of value in
combating discrimination and prejudice?
(Con)
My noble friend asks an interesting question. I referred earlier
to the Law Commission, which we asked to undertake a wide-ranging
review into hate crime legislation. On the specific question, the
Law Commission found that adding sex and gender to hate crime
legislation could have made it more difficult to prosecute the
most serious crimes that harm women and girls, including rape and
domestic abuse. It would also treat sex unequally to other
characteristics in scope of relevant hate crime laws, such as
race or religion. So, while I cannot necessarily specifically
answer my noble friend’s point, I would say that it is an
incredibly complex area that needs very careful thought.
(Lab)
My Lords, the Question from the noble Baroness, Lady Gohir, asked
why hate crime statistics are not disaggregated by sex. But the
question could equally be asked about why the data is not
disaggregated by the age of the victim and the perpetrator. I
well remember, when I sat on the pre-legislative scrutiny
committee for the Domestic Abuse Bill, we had a lot of lobbying
about violent acts against older people by younger people. Does
the Minister agree that reporting the interaction of these
characteristics, both sex and age, would allow resources to be
better allocated for the victims and to prevent these types of
crimes?
(Con)
Again, the noble Lord raises an interesting point. He will be
aware that age is not one of the five protected
characteristics—as I get older, I am beginning to think that that
is a mistake. I cannot answer his question in greater detail than
that at the moment but I will certainly take it back to the
department.
(LD)
My Lords, we await the Second Reading of the Protection from
Sex-based Harassment in Public Bill, a Private Member’s Bill
that, if it passes, will create an offence of causing intentional
alarm and distress to a person in public because of their sex or
presumed sex. Can the Minister tell the House when this Bill will
be introduced and whether such an offence will be recorded as a
hate crime?
(Con)
I am afraid I am not sure when the Bill will be introduced. I am
aware that the Government support that Bill, which was introduced
by . I do not have the answer as to
how the crimes will be recorded, but I will find out.
(Con)
My Lords, Saturday was the occasion of Stephen Lawrence Day. I
pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Lawrence, who is in her
place, for all the dedicated work she has done to build on the
memory of her son. What a pity that it should have coincided with
the outbursts of , which left me cold in our
modern world. We have hate legislation. Does my noble friend
really think that that legislation is effective? Is it really
reducing the amount of hate in society, or is it encouraging us
to concentrate on the wicked things that are going on rather than
allowing us the opportunity to celebrate and build on all the
many good things that are going on in terms of race relations in
this country, of which the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation is
one?
(Con)
I associate myself with my noble friend’s remarks about the noble
Baroness, Lady Lawrence, and the work she has done in that area.
As regards whether hate crime legislation increases, improves or
takes away from the current situation, there are plenty of
reasons why hate is present in society—you can start with Twitter
and move on. I am not sure that the legislation makes an enormous
difference to that, but it is something that will remain front
and centre of public debate for many years.
