Hate incidents The University considers a Hate Incident to be an incident which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice, based on a person's:
- disability or perceived disability;
- race or perceived race;
- religion or perceived religion;
- sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation;
- transgender identity or perceived transgender identity.
Where there is evidence that an incident is found to be motivated by hostility or prejudice, the University will treat this an aggravating factor in considering any appropriate action to take. Hate incidents may also be crimes and consideration should be given to reporting such matters to the police.
The incident can take many forms, and be perpetrated by either an individual or group, including:
- physical attacks, such as physical assault, damage to property, offensive graffiti, neighbour disputes and arson
- threat of attack, including offensive letters, abusive or obscene telephone calls and other intimidating behaviour
- verbal abuse or insults, abusive gestures
- other abuse, such as offensive leaflets and posters, unfounded and malicious complaints and bullying.
Please see our harassment section for a more detailed breakdown on the different types of harassment.