Study Shows Hate Crime Increase in UK

From Human Rights Watch -- Hate crimes against LGBT people in the UK have surged by nearly 80 per cent in recent years, according to a new detailed survey. The report by British group Stonewall, based on a survey of 5,000 participants, showed that 16 percent of LGBT people reported experiencing a hate crime, up from 9 percent in 2013. Only a small proportion of cases are reported to authorities.

Among the other survey results:

• Almost 60 percent of gay men feel scared to hold hands in public.
• Over one in five respondents were verbally insulted or physically attacked due to their sexual orientation or gender identity in the last year. Racial or ethnic minorities are even more vulnerable, and a disproportionate number of transgender people experienced hate crime.
• Hate crimes – which include physical assault, unsolicited sexual advances, harassment, intimidation, or insults – are dramatically underreported. Four in five LGBT victims of hate crimes or incidents in the past year failed to report it to the police, largely because they felt they would not be taken seriously by authorities.

A previous study had found hate crimes against LGBT people increased 147 percent in the three months after the Brexit referendum vote in June 2016.