- Home /
- News /
- 2016 /
- August /
- UK: Equality and Human Rights Commission: research reports on prejudice and unlawful behaviour: hate crime
UK: Equality and Human Rights Commission: research reports on prejudice and unlawful behaviour: hate crime
01 August 2016
The UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission has recently published two reports, looking at research on "the relationship between prejudiced attitudes and behaviours" and "hate crime in Great Britain, what causes it and what we know about who commits it."
Prejudice and unlawful behaviour
"The Equality and Human Rights Commission (‘the Commission’) is interested in exploring the relationship between prejudiced attitudes and behaviours in order to identify what can be done to prevent and respond effectively to unlawful behaviour in England, Scotland and Wales (GB). To inform this work this report was commissioned to summarise and integrate evidence from research in GB between 2005 and 2015. The aim was to address three fundamental questions:
1.What is the nature of the relationship between prejudiced attitudes andunlawful discrimination, identity-based harassment and violence?
2.What is the extent and prevalence of unlawful behaviour based on prejudicedattitudes in GB?
3.What is known about how to prevent or respond to unlawful behaviour relatedto prejudiced attitudes?
These questions are explored in relation to all of the characteristics protected under the Equality Act 2010 (age, race, sex, disability, religion or belief, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity). We refer to these as ‘protected characteristics’.1 This approach allows us to look at differences as well as commonalities between the protected characteristics, giving the Commission insight into where levers for change may be generally effective or specific to the experiences of discrimination, identity-based harassment and violence of those people with and who share particular protected characteristics."
See: Equality and Human Rights Commission:
Prejudice and unlawful behaviour: Exploring levers for change (pdf)
And:
Research report 101: Prejudice and unlawful behaviour, exploring levers for change (EHRC, link)
Hate crime
"This report is the result of work commissioned by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC, hereafter the Commission) on the causes and perpetration of hate crime in Great Britain. The Commission seeks to understand the causes and motivations of hate crime perpetration for the different protected characteristics included as ‘strands’ under current hate crime legislation:
Race
Religion
Sexual orientation
Disability
Transgender
This is the first time that evidence and emerging insights on the causes and perpetration of hate crime has been brought together in this way, with insights from the law, policy and social science.
This work complements the Commission’s other evidence-led work to understand effective levers, tactics and intervention approaches, to respond to and reduce identity-based harassment and violence. This report provides an oversight of the evidence on hate crime with the intention to inform criminal justice agencies in their approach and use of preventative measures."
See: Equality and Human Rights Commission:
Causes and motivations of hate crime (pdf)
And:
Research report 102: Causes and motivations of hate crime (EHRC, link)