Hate crime strategy

Aim 1

Victims of hate crime are treated with fairness, compassion and in a trauma-informed manner in which their safety and recovery is a priority.

Experiencing a hate crime can be a traumatic experience and we want everyone to be treated in a way that recognises this, including as they interact with police and the criminal justice system.

We encourage everyone who experiences a hate crime to report it through the reporting mechanisms available and we want people to feel confident that their report will be taken seriously.

Witnessing a hate crime can also be a difficult experience and we want to ensure people know how to report a hate crime and access appropriate support.

Commitment 1

We will continue to seek views from all of our communities and stakeholders to ensure that the Police Scotland response to hate crime is both consistent and effective.

Lead organisation: Police Scotland

Tackling hate crime is a priority for Police Scotland. Police Scotland will continue to support those most at risk and the wider public whilst building trust with our communities and key stakeholders. Police Scotland will undertake meaningful and effective engagement at both a local and national level, including supporting lived experience engagement to support this.

Our lived experience engagement highlighted that some communities do not feel comfortable engaging with the police for a range of reasons including previous interactions and experiences others within their community have shared. It is important to individuals reporting that the incident is taken seriously, that people feel listened to, and are treated with empathy. The important role of effective and ongoing equalities training for officers was also raised.

The Thematic Inspection of Hate Crime,^[27] published June 2021, focused on the standard of police investigations, procedures, policies and initiatives in place to engage with communities to ensure victims of hate have the confidence to come forward and report their experiences. The report highlighted that the nature and scale of hate crime in Scotland is not currently understood by Police Scotland and identified 15 recommendations.

Police Scotland has committed to delivering on the recommendations made within the report. This will be delivered in a way that will incorporate the identified areas for improvement and will inform the development and evolution of our approach to tackling hate crime in the future. This will include the promotion of available reporting and recording mechanisms.

Commitment 2

We will regularly review and strengthen our activities that seek to address the various barriers to reporting.

Lead organisations: Police Scotland, Scottish Government

Reporting hate crime is important as it allows people to access effective justice. We know that not all incidents of hate crime come to the attention of the police and that hate crime continues to be underreported.

We understand that some communities face real and perceived barriers to reporting hate crime which often means that hate crimes will go unreported. Our lived experience engagement has highlighted some of these barriers, including: concern that the incident wasn't 'serious enough' to report; not knowing which of many incidents experienced to report; feeling that the situation may get worse if a report was made; concern about having to share personal details; and a feeling that little would come from reporting based on previous experience. Some communities also talked about mistrust of the police and the criminal justice system and that this would prevent them from reporting. Concerns were also raised in terms of accessibility, particularly for those for whom English is not their first language.

We will build on this understanding by bringing together existing feedback and evidence, to enable us to identify activity to address these barriers. There are a range of organisations which provide support to people who have experienced hate crime that can help us develop our understanding and use that understanding to develop workable solutions.

Addressing these barriers may take time, but we are committed to working with communities to address them. This will include ensuring all means of reporting are fully accessible and supportive.

Commitment 3

We will review third-party reporting arrangements, with a view to making reporting easier.

Lead organisations: Police Scotland, Scottish Government

We want people to report all hate crimes to the police, and for them to feel that the report will be taken seriously when they do. However, we know that not everyone feels able to do so directly, and may be more comfortable reporting it to an organisation they are familiar with. There is currently a network of third-party reporting centres across Scotland, with staff specially trained to provide support and assistance in submitting a report of hate crime to Police Scotland on a victim or witnesses' behalf, but we acknowledge that it is not operating as effectively as it could be.

We know from our lived experience engagement that communities affected by hate crime value the opportunity to be able to report instances without having to contact the police directly, but are not necessarily aware they could report through a third-party reporting centre, indicating a need for wider promotion of the service.

The HMICS Thematic Review of Hate Crime^[28] recognised difficulties with current third-party reporting arrangements and recommended Police Scotland accelerate its work with partners to make improvements, providing people with the opportunity to report a hate crime without talking to the police directly.

The delivery plan will set out how Police Scotland and the Scottish Government will lead a programme of work to renew and improve the effectiveness of third party reporting structures, to ensure that victims and witnesses using this service to report hate crime are supported as fully as possible.

Commitment 4

We will work to ensure person-centred and trauma-informed support for victims of hate crime, in line with the delivery of the Vision for Justice in Scotland.

Lead organisations: Justice organisations, Scottish Government

Reporting a hate crime and encountering the justice systems can be a daunting and sometimes retraumatising experience. The Vision for Justice in Scotland^[29] sets out the ambition that those in contact with the justice system be supported to understand the processes of justice, be treated as a person first, experience joined-up services and timely communication and ultimately be supported in their recovery.

We have heard that people often feel they do not receive enough information about what would happen next after reporting a hate crime, and that communication is not always accessible. Engagement also highlighted that people are not always offered support or aware of how to access it.

Ensuring the voices of those with lived experience of hate crime are reflected in policies and projects to improve the criminal justice system for victims and witnesses is crucial to ensuring a rights based approach.

To support victims in their journey to healing and recovery we must offer approaches to justice which place victims at the heart. This includes progressing forms of justice which allow victims to take a prominent role including, where appropriate and as services develop, using restorative justice.

We are working with NHS Education Scotland and the Criminal Justice Agencies to implement the Trauma Informed Justice for Victims and Witnesses Framework. This will support organisations to identify what their staff need to know to respond to victims and witnesses in a trauma-informed way and will inform development of consistent training in trauma-informed practice. We are also working with justice agencies to review and improve communications to be more person-centred.

The vision of a Bairns' Hoose in Scotland is that: "All children in Scotland who have been victims or witnesses to abuse or violence, as well as children under the age of criminal responsibility whose behaviour has caused significant harm or abuse will have access to trauma-informed recovery, support and justice." Bairns' Hoose will build on the work of the Scottish Child Interview Model (SCIM) for Joint Investigative Interviews, which aims to prevent retraumatisation of child victims and witnesses when recounting their experiences; and will be a core component of the Bairns' Hoose model. SCIM is currently being rolled out across Scotland with £2 million funding support from Scottish Government.

We do however recognise that not everyone will report a hate crime and that it is important that support available is signposted and available for people to access.

Additionally, we understand that people impacted by hate crime may also need help and support for their mental health and wellbeing. The Scottish Government will publish a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy in Spring 2023 which will set out plans for ensuring people across Scotland have access to the support they need to maintain good mental health. The strategy will also consider how the strategy can take account of social factors and inequalities that may impact a person's mental health and wellbeing.

Our delivery plan will set out in more detail how we will continue to support victims of hate crime.

Commitment 5

We will ensure clear guidance and consistent training across Scotland for police, COPFS and the courts to ensure effective implementation of the new Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021.

Lead organisations: Justice organisations, Scottish Government

Hate crime legislation is an essential element of our wider approach to tackling hate crime. As well as recognising the harm that hate crime causes, legislation sends an important message to victims, offenders and wider society that there are consequences for those that commit such crimes.

Our lived experience engagement consistently highlighted the value of effective equalities training for police officers, and others that may interact with those who have experienced hate crime, including an understanding of different types of prejudice, and how this can manifest.

It is important that the Hate Crime Act is implemented effectively so that, once in force, it offers robust protections to victims of hate crime and our delivery plan will set out the actions we will take to support this. A collaborative approach to implementation readiness is essential, including working with equalities organisations and justice bodies, as we take steps to ensure clear guidance and consistent training is in place.