A report on Hate Crime in Scotland 2020-21 was published today. This brings together figures on race crime, and on crime motivated by prejudice related to religion, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity.
The main findings are:
- The total number of charges reported to COPFS containing at least one element of hate crime increased to 5,525 in 2020-21, 4% more than 2019-20.
- The majority of hate crime charges contain a racial element. However, the proportion that contain a racial element has generally decreased over the last ten years, from 75% in 2011-12 to 59% in 2020-21. The proportion of hate crime charges that relate to sexual orientation has increased from 11% to 29% over the same period.
- There were 3,285 charges relating to race crime reported in 2020-21, an increase of 6% compared to 2019-20. The number of charges has increased since 2018-19 but is still 28% lower than the peak in such charges in 2011-12, when 4,547 were reported.
- The number of charges reported with a sexual orientation aggravation increased by 5% in 2020-21 to 1,580. Except for 2014-15, there have been year on year increases in charges reported since the legislation introducing this aggravation came into force in 2010.
- There were 573 charges with a religious aggravation reported in 2020-21, 14% fewer than in 2019-20.
- The number of disability aggravated charges increased by 14% to 448 in 2020-21. With the exception of 2016-17, there have been year on year increases in charges reported since the legislation introducing this aggravation came into force in 2010.
- There were 46 charges reported in 2020-21 with an aggravation of transgender identity, compared to 47 in 2019-20.
Additional information:
- The figures quoted relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges. Where a charge has more than one hate crime aggravation, it is included in the overall figures for each type of hate crime into which it falls.
- The publication does not include information on convictions or conviction rates. Many of the charges reported in 2020-21 will not yet have reached conviction stage. The Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database is the usual source for convictions data, and they have published figures for years up to 2019-20 on people with a main charge proved with an aggravator recorded - see tables 12 and 13 at Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2019-20
- The full report can be accessed here: Hate Crime in Scotland 2020-21