THERE has been a 4% increase in the number of charges with at least one element of hate crime in Scotland in the last year, according to new figures.
Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC, who is soon to leave the position, vowed a robust approach from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) after the report on hate crime in Scotland 2020-21 was published yesterday. It shows the total number of charges reported to COPFS containing at least one element of hate crime increased to 5525 in 2020-21, 4% more than 2019-20.
Wolffe said: “Scottish prosecutors are committed to tackling crimes motivated by hatred and prejudice. Any victim of such offending should come forward and report it to the appropriate authorities. They can be confident that prosecutors will continue to respond to any such report robustly, appropriately and fairly. These crimes do not only affect individual victims; they have far reaching consequences for society as a whole.
“No-one should be targeted because of their race, religion, disability, transgender identity or sexual orientation and the Crown takes seriously its responsibility to protect the public from such offending.”
While the majority of hate crime charges contained a racial element, the proportion of race crime has decreased in the last decade from the peak of 75% in 2011-12 (4547) to 59% in 2020-21 (3285). But last year saw a 6% increase in race crimes compared to 2019-20.
The number of charges reported with a sexual orientation aggravation increased by 5% in 2020-21 to 1580, with the proportion of these increasing from 11% to 29% in the same decade. One fewer aggravation of transgender identity was reported in 2020-21 (46) compared to 47 last year. Religious aggravation charges also dropped 14% in the last year with 573 incidents recorded in the 2020-21 report. But the number of disability-aggravated charges increased by 14% to 448 in 2020-21.
Justice Secretary Keith Brown (above) said: “We recognise that hate crime has a hugely damaging effect on victims, their families and communities and we all must play our part to challenge it. These figures show there is more to do to tackle hatred and prejudice in Scotland and we will continue our work to ensure it will not be tolerated.
“As we press ahead with the development of our new hate crime strategy, which will include implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, we will consider how we can continue to raise awareness and encourage reporting. We will also consider how to more effectively break down barriers to reporting.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel