Hate crime and prejudice-based behaviours: The impact of hate crime

During the consultation phase for the Hate Crime Strategy, YouthLink Scotland held focus groups with different groups of young people. They were asked about the impacts of hate on the person experiencing harm and the impacts on the person causing harm. These are the impacts they identified in their discussions:

Person causing harm

·      Negative impact on education and future prospects

·      Criminal record

·      Poor mental health

·      Felt a rush from incident and escalates to more crime

·      Fall in with the wrong group and enter a cycle of hate

Person experiencing harm

·      Mental health issues, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

·      Self-harm and eating disorders

·      Financial impact due to needing to take time off

·      Negative impact on education

·      Converting faith to avoid future hate

·      Potential homelessness (e.g. as a result of being outed)

·      Potential to go on to cause harm (e.g. revenge)

·      Change in behaviour to avoid further incidents

·      Feelings of isolation

When considering this, the young people were able to identify more for the person harmed. These were groups of young people who were likely to have experienced hate in their lifetime, so it was naturally more difficult for them to identify impacts on someone causing harm.

There are, however, some clear similarities in relation to the impact on education and mental health. We need to remember that hate crime impacts those experiencing it, but it can also have an impact on young people causing harm. When working to address the issue in education settings, it is important that all young people can access support and therefore potentially prevent future incidents.

Other impacts that were not identified by young people could include impacts on family members, community, and wider society. High profile hate crimes can cause alarm for young people who see the coverage or hear about the crime through their community.

This ripple effect can result in fear especially for minoritised groups and people who hold the same protected characteristic that the victim did. In addition, the person causing harm could be vulnerable to radicalisation.

The importance of reporting includes ensuring that the person causing harm can get support too and is given an opportunity to change their behaviour.

Free speech

Hate crime legislation does not pose a risk to freedom of speech, and it does not prevent people expressing controversial, challenging, or offensive views. It does not seek to stifle criticism or debate, and there are protections for freedom of expression built into the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021.

The Act is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which protects everyone’s right to freedom of expression, including expressing views even if they shock, offend, or disturb others.

It is important to recognise the right to freedom of expression is not without limit and we must strike an appropriate balance between respecting freedom of expression and ensuring that victims are sufficiently protected through effective laws that protect people from the harm caused by, for example, stirring up hatred within communities.