Homophobic hate crime reports reach record heights following Brexit vote

New statistics have revealed a huge surge in homophobic hate crime reports in England and Wales following the Brexit vote.

Released yesterday (October 17) by the Home Office, the data shows all types of hate crime have surged within the last year, from 62,518 in 2015/2016 to 80,393 in 2016/2017.

Racism remains to be the most commonly recorded type of hate crime followed by homophobia, as reports of hate crimes relating to sexual orientation rose by 27% in one year, from 7,194 to 9,157.

The Home Office report revealed that police recorded 9,157 sexual orientation crimes in 2016/2017, followed by 5,949 religious hate crimes, 5,558 disability hate crimes and 1,248 transgender hate crimes.

However, the Home Office report also suggested the increase is a result of the police “improving” their recording of hate crimes, as well as more people coming forward to report the offences rather than an actual increase in hate crimes.

“Sexual orientation hate crime was the second most commonly recorded hate crime in the vast majority of forces (37 of 44). Transgender identity hate crime was the least commonly recorded hate crime in 39 of 44 forces.”

The new stats have led LGBT+ organisations to urge the government to do more to help fight the rise of hate crime.

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