Thank you, you've been the first person who's listened and helped us to move forward with this. I now know who to report to and am more confident with the process.

Have you experienced hate crime or been targeted because of your race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity?

We can help by:

Listening to you and understanding what you are going through
Helping you to get information about your rights and options
Supporting you to report hate crimes if you want to
Helping you to be heard and deal with others (e.g. the police, housing, medical services)
Taking your side

I am so honoured to have been looked out for by you... Your unconditional help will be staying with me for as long as I am recovering from this ordeal.

Hate crimes include:

Verbal abuse
Harassment
Physical attacks such as hitting, punching, pushing or spitting
Threats of violence
Abusive phone or text messages or hate mail
Damage to property or graffiti
Online abuse, for example on Facebook or Twitter
A single incident, or repeated incidents from the same person or people (e.g. neighbours)

Who can use our hate crime advocacy service?

Anyone affected by hate crime who is aged 16 or over, and lives in Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, North or South Tyneside, or Northumberland.

I could open my heart and share my feelings because I knew there was help, and they would listen and not just shrug their shoulders. Great service

If you would like to make a referral for yourself or someone else to this or any of our other advocacy services please go to our Referral section

Hate Crime Films - watch now

The barriers to reporting Hate Crime have been captured in a series of short films as part of Sunderland University's Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries' annual Police Projects. We're pleased to be able to present all five films below, including the winner, 'Silent Treatment'. This work was funded by the Northumbria Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and created in collaboration between Sunderland University, NOPCC, Northumbria Police and Connected Voice Advocacy. Please be aware that the films depict scenarios of unacceptable behaviour to dramatise the impact of Hate Crime and the barriers people face - viewer discretion is advised.

Watch 'Silent Treatment' below:

Watch 'Trapped Within' below:

Watch 'Locked On' below:

Watch 'Behind Closed Doors' below:

Watch 'Dragged Down' below:

Hate Relationships

We have been involved in research by Durham and Northumbria Universities into the concept of 'Hate Relationships'. This suggests a new way of thinking about some experiences of hate where:

the perpetrators live near and are known to those they target
there are repeated experiences of hate that are not all physical violence
the impacts for those targeted are profound for their physical and mental health and wellbeing
victims and their families feel entrapped and isolated

To find out more:

Read the first research report, Exploring ‘hate relationships’ through Connected Voice’s Hate Crime Advocacy Service
Read the second research report, Improving responses to Hate Relationships or read a short summary of the report here

Join us in our Hate Relationship pledges:

We are continuing to work with the research team at Durham and Northumbria Universities to develop a toolkit for practitioners to use to identify Hate Relationships and support people who are experiencing them. We will let circulate the toolkit widely when it’s finished, but in the meantime, you can join us in working together to stop hate relationships by doing one or more of the following

Become a Hate Crime Champion where you work and/or live by committing to do some of the above actions

Law Commission Hate Crime Report

We responded to the Law Crime Commission consultation about Hate Crime in 2020, giving our views based on our experience of supporting victims of hate crime. These included:

Whether the characteristics protected under hate crime legislation should be expanded to include sex or gender and ag
Whether the current legal position where the commission of a hate crime can be satisfied through proof that the defendant demonstrated hostility towards a protected characteristic of the victim should be maintained.

The Law Commission has published their report which includes recommendations to: