New Home Office statistics have revealed Greater Manchester has the second highest numbers of reported hate crimes in England and Wales, only behind London.

This morning the Home Office released it’s annual report on hate crime, which showed a 10% increase of hate crimes in England Wales.

The largest increase in hate crimes being those against members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Salford itself has seen large increases in the number of recorded hate crimes.

In June, Greater Manchester police released a 3 month study which also showed a 10% increase in hate crimes in the area, after a 37% increase in another study by GMP 3 months before.

Whilst the Home Office’s report links events like the 2016 EU referendum and the 2017 Manchester bombing to the increase in reported hate crimes.

The report also said that the increase can also be attributed in some degree to the raised public awareness of hate crimes, as well as improvements by the police and other organisations in the ways we can report hate crimes.

However Kush Chottera, executive director of Europia, a non-profit dedicated to the development and integration of European expats in the Salford and Greater Manchester community, questions the figures from the Home Office:

“First of all, the numbers themselves aren’t accurate. We believe something like 75% of community members aren’t reporting hate crimes.

“People in communities don’t understand the definition of hate crimes. People come from different countries and cultures believed that getting a little grief is common. people need to know that it is not acceptable, and they need to stand up for themselves.”

Infographic on hate crime statistics using home office data and other sources. Credit: Ellis Hyde

The release of these new statistics by the Home Office coincided with UK’s Hate Crime Awareness Week, which runs in the UK from 12th to 19th October.

Tomorrow, Europia, a non-profit dedicated to the development and integration of European migrants in the Salford and Greater Manchester community, is hosting a hate crime awareness event at Eccles Town Hall.

To raise awareness of the week and the issue of hate crimes in the UK, Greater Manchester Police and other organisations across the country are sharing messages using the hashtag #westandtogether.

Main image credit: PA Images

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