Hate Crime
Verbal abuse, harassment, physical assault……..always report it!
Any incident which is perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated by prejudice
against someone's sex, racial heritage, religion, disability or sexual orientation is a crime. ‘Hate
Crime’ can include graffiti, offensive mail, assault, verbal abuse or offensive literature.
Harassment is a criminal offence and there are also specific laws against racially motivated violence,
abuse and harassment. This behaviour is not acceptable and will not be tolerated by the University,
the Students’ Union or by the local Police and Council.
Whether you’ve been a victim, or if you’ve witnessed this kind of behaviour towards someone else,
it’s really important that you don’t keep it to yourself. All hate crimes of this sort should be
reported. There is a lot which can be done to stop such behaviour, but action can only be taken if
incidents are reported. Within the University, you can report incidences confidentially* to:
 the Student Support Office - email: studentsupport@warwick.ac.uk or tel: 024 76575570
 the International Office - email: int.office@warwick.ac.uk or tel: 024 76 523706
 the Students’ Union - http://www.warwicksu.com/advice/crime/hatecrime/
 your resident tutor (where relevant)
If you are not sure whether you want to report an incident or not, you can talk to someone
informally about what your reporting options are - these vary from giving a full statement to the
Police to reporting the incident anonymously. Whatever you do……don’t keep it to yourself!
If you’d like to report the hate crime yourself on-line, you can do so on the Coventry City Council
website at:
https://coventry.firmstep.com/default.aspx/RenderForm/?F.Name=THJQfYVdAZu&HideToolbar=1
Personal Safety is crucial. Warwick’s Security services have written the following safety guidelines:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/campus-support/personalsafety
International Students:
The British Council has produced a booklet called ‘Safety First – A personal safety guide for
international students’. This guide contains really useful information about travelling and living
safely in the UK. You can read the guide on-line at: http://www.britishcouncil.org/safety_first.pdf
or you can ask the International Office for a copy.
Further contact details:
West Midlands Police (Coventry) –: http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/advice-centre/help-andadvice/hate-crime/index.aspx or the Safer Student website: http://saferstudents.westmidlands.police.uk/hate-crime/
Warwickshire Police (Leamington Spa) -: tel: 0845 129 2221
University Support Services- : http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/student-support-services
* Confidentiality - In general, all named services will not inform a third party of any details relating to
you without your explicit request or permission. There are, however, some situations in which
University/ Students’ Union employees may have to pass on personal information, which include:
-
when it is believed that someone is at serious risk, or
when required by law to disclose
NB: Consent to disclose any information is sought from the client if at all possible.