Report a hate crime or incident

Find out what a hate crime or incident is and how to report one.

Hate crimes and incidents

You are a victim of a hate crime or incident if someone has targeted a crime at you or behaved badly towards you because of your:

  • race or ethnicity
  • disability
  • religion or belief
  • sexual orientation
  • transgender identity

These are known as protected characteristics.

Even if you do not have a protected characteristic, you could still be a victim of a hate crime or incident if someone targets you because they think you belong to any of these categories.

You should contact the police for any crime, including if someone:

  • was violent towards you
  • threatened you
  • intimidated you
  • harassed you
  • damaged your property

Report a hate crime by calling the police on:

101 (or 999 in an emergency)

Incidents you can report include if someone:

  • verbally abused you
  • made negative comments about you (including on social media)
  • directed antisocial behaviour at you
  • was hostile towards you

You can also report a hate incident if you were a witness and not the victim.

Report a hate crime or incident

Reporting to Leeds City Council

When you make a report to us, we will ask you:

  • when and where the incident happened
  • details of any witnesses
  • anything that would help us identify the person who targeted you
  • whether the person that targeted you is under 18

Online

Report a hate crime

Phone

0113 222 4402 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm)

In person

You can also make a report in person at any hate incident reporting centre.

Hate incident reporting centres

Community hubs and libraries

You can make a report at any of the Leeds City Council community hubs and libraries:  

Third Party hate incident reporting centres

You can also make a report in person at the following organisations who act as Third Party hate incident reporting centres:  

Reporting to West Yorkshire Police

To report to West Yorkshire Police:

Stop Hate UK

Stop Hate UK:

  • is a leading anti-hate and anti-discrimination organisation for corporate, statutory, and community sectors
  • offer a dedicated 24-hour anti-Hate Crime reporting service for all monitored strands of a person's identity or perceived identity
  • help you report a hate crime, receive support before, during and after and to help you understand the process

You can report a hate crime online.

True Vision

True Vision is police-funded website where you can report a hate crime. The police will record and investigate this offence even if you do not want to give your details.  

Through the Community Security Trust (CST)

If you are the victim of an antisemitic incident or you have information regarding an antisemitic incident that happened to somebody else you can contact CST.  

An antisemitic incident is any malicious act aimed at Jewish people, organisations or property, where there is evidence that the incident has antisemitic motivation or content, or that the victim was targeted because they are (or are believed to be) Jewish.  

CST has a dedicated team that deals with antisemitic incidents and provides victim support, while respecting confidentiality at all times. CST can liaise with the police and other bodies to help ensure that any incident is dealt with properly.  

Tell Mama

Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks (MAMA) is a secure and reliable service that allows people from across England to report any form of Anti-Muslim abuse.  

Tell Mama have created a unique portal where you may address your concerns and record any incident that you experience as a result of your Muslim faith or someone perceiving you to be Muslim.  

Reporting an incident can be done by phone, email, text, Facebook or Twitter. Once your information is secured, a trained case worker will call you to discuss the issue further and ensure they all the details they require to record the incident accurately and offer support. Report to Tell Mama online.  

Leeds GATE

If you are a Gypsy or Traveller and you have been a victim of a hate crime or hate incident, Leeds GATE have a dedicated Criminal Justice and Hate Crime worker who can support you on what to do next and how to report.  

Contact Leeds GATE on 0113 240 2444 to speak with our team, or email contact@leedsgate.co.uk.

Hate incident reporting in schools

Schools and learning settings can report hate incidents to Stop Hate UK who are commissioned by Leeds City Council.

Reporting hate incidents and crimes in schools remains very important and helps to reinforce the city’s commitment to addressing discrimination and intolerance and our commitment to being a Child Friendly City.

Stop Hate UK have created a referral form schools can use for the purpose of hate incident reporting.

If you have reported a hate crime and want to know how it is being dealt with, you can request a review known as the ASB review process.