Charities say education and young people can help drive down rising religious hate crime

Charities across the North West and Staffordshire say they're pinning their hopes on schools and young people to put an end to religious based hate crimes.

It's after Home Office figures showed a 25% increase in police recorded religious hate crime over the last year, up from 8,370 to 10,484 offences.

This is the highest annual count in these offences since the hate crime collection began in the year ending March 2012.

The increase in offences was driven by a sharp rise in religious hate crimes targeted at Jewish people since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Marc Levy is from the Jewish Representative Council in Manchester. He said many members of the community are living in fear and anxiety.

"We're hearing lots of Jewish people are concealing their identity out of sheer concern." he said.

"When Jewish school children are being asked to conceal the fact they're Jewish on public transport and Jewish people are concealing their identity in their workplaces, it has to set alarm bells ringing in society.

"It's when you show people from outside the community and they come in - you see their shock when they see we're living like this. It's not normal we're having to live like this.

Annually, there were 3,282 religious hate crimes targeted at Jewish people in the year ending March 2024, more than double the number recorded the previous year (1,543). These offences accounted for a third (33%) of all religious hate crimes in the last year. By comparison, the proportion in the previous year was 20%.

Barry Levene is the chair of the Merseyside Jewish Representative Council. He told us that education is key to tackling the sharp rise in religious hate crime.

"We host school groups that come in our synagogues and we have people going into schools. The more there is of that the less there is for opportunity for those who misinform through social media.

"I did say to somebody with all the wonders of the internet there's a feeling at times that we've opened Pandoras box. But we have to realise it's there and how and what we can do to counteract the misinformation."

There was also an increase in religious hate crimes targeted against Muslims since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict, with 3,866 offences in the latest year, up 13% from 3,432 recorded the previous year. In the last year, almost 2 in 5 (38%) of religious hate crimes were targeted against Muslims.

Lloyd Cooke is a Methodist Lay Preacher in Stoke-on-Trent and the Chief Executive of the charity Saltbox.

"Every time like we have a situation like we've had this year, we're reminded that we still have a long way to go. It's a bit like walking up a down going escalator.

"We hear just how frightened many people of colour and many people of faiths were, because they knew they were an easy target for people who wanted to express their hatred and prejudice.

"The hope is with the next generation. If you go to local schools you'll find they're multi-ethic and there's a great deal of tolerance. Often it's the older people who are the ones who use people from other countries as an excuse for their anger and angst.

"We've got to prioritise working with our children and young people to make sure what they see is a more cohesive community. At the same time we have to continue to speak out, especially when there's disinformation."

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