LGBTQ+ hate crimes on the rise in Norfolk
Nearly 200 hate crimes relating to sexual orientation were recorded up until August this year
Reports of homophobic and transphobic hate crime offences have been on the rise in Norfolk.
New analysis shows Norfolk Police recorded 179 sexual orientation hate crimes from January to August 2021, that's only slightly less than the 194 recorded in the whole of 2019.
While there were a total of 229 in 2020.
Some 31 transphobic hate crimes were also reported in the county in 2019, that dropped to 65 in 2020, and then again to 51 between January and August this year.
The highest number of sexual orientation hate crimes in a calendar month across this period was 28 in July 2021; for transphobic hate crimes it was 11 in May 2020 and August 2021.
Meanwhile, a total of 97 violence against the person sexual orientation hate crimes were recorded in Norfolk in 2019, with 134 in 2020 and 102 from January to August 2021.
While, there were 16 violent transphobic hate crimes recorded in 2019, 31 in 2020 and 30 in January-August 2021.
The highest number of violent sexual orientation hate crimes in a calendar month in our county was 21 in April 2021; for violent transphobic hate crimes it was seven in December 2020 and August 2021.
Nationally 14,670 sexual orientation hate crime offences were recorded from January to August 2021 across the UK, compared with 11,841 in the same period of 2020 and 10,817 in 2019.
While offences averaged 1,456 a month from January to April this year, they jumped to 2,211 on average from May to August.
There is a similar trend for transphobic offences, which averaged 208 a month from January to April, but 324 for May to August.
The figures were obtained by the PA news agency, based on freedom of information responses from 37 of 46 police forces.
However, many cases of homophobic and transphobic hate crimes during that period were under-reported.
LGBTQ+ people "still at risk of attack because of who we are"
Charity Stonewall described the rise as "worrying" and said the figures are a "stark reminder" that LGBTQ+ people are "still at risk of attack because of who we are".
The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) strongly encouraged victims to come forward and said officers are highly trained and will "treat everyone with respect and dignity and handle cases sensitively".
Details from the figures:
- 24 forces recorded their highest monthly number of homophobic offences since the start of 2019 during the period May-August 2021
- Some 2,129 transphobic offences were recorded in January to August this year - well above the equivalent period in 2019 (1,602) and 2020 (1,606)
- At least 6,985 homophobic hate crimes classed as violence against the person were recorded from January-August 2021 - almost matching the whole of 2019 (7,078) and close to the 2020 total (7,944)
- Violent transphobic crimes are also on course to exceed previous years, with at least 1,207 recorded to August 2021 compared with 1,216 and 1,354 for all of 2019 and 2020 respectively
Leni Morris, chief executive of Galop, the LGBT+ anti-abuse charity, said it launched its hate crime helpline in February 2021 "because we saw a real impact on the community from the pandemic itself".
She said same-sex couples were more visible when out in public during periods of restrictions, and others faced "escalating violence" when locked down with homophobic or transphobic neighbours.
"We have some people who were victims of abuse and attacks because of being blamed for the pandemic itself, either because perpetrators thought the pandemic was an act of God - because of the existence of LGBT+ people - or because of the community's association with the last major pandemic in people's minds, and that's the HIV Aids pandemic."