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What are hate-motivated crimes?

New Zealand Police(external link) identifies a hate-motivated crime as occurring when two things have happened:

  1. a crime has been committed (for example an assault, damage to property or threatening behaviour)
  2. the person(s) committed the crime because of hate (bias or prejudice) towards the victim’s race, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, age, or any other part of their identity.

Any crime can have a negative impact but when someone is targeted because of their faith, disability, race, ethnicity or nationality the effects of the harm can increase and quality of life, happiness, and feelings of safety can suffer.

Standing against hate

The Te Raranga Advisory Group have some great resources on their website that can help you to:

  • recognise hate-motivated behaviour
  • know what to do if it is happening now
  • know what to do if you, or anyone you know, has been impacted
  • understand the different reporting and support channels and where to access more information.

They've also created a series of videos that tell the stories of five different people based in Aotearoa New Zealand and their diverse experiences.

Reporting hate-motivated crimes

If someone is in danger or an incident is happening now, call 111 immediately.

There are many places you can report hate crimes to, where you can speak-up safely and anonymously.

NZ Police

  • If an incident has already happened and no one is in immediate danger, call 105, or report it online at police.govt.nz(external link)(external link). Make sure that you and any other affected people are in a safe place, away from the offender.
  • If anyone thinks the incident was motivated by hate towards a person or group’s identity (such as their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or age).

Crime Stoppers

Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission

  • The Human Rights Commission offers a free, confidential service to help with enquiries and complaints about unlawful discrimination, sexual and racial harassment, and harmful speech. Visit their website(external link)(external link)or call 0800 496 877 for more information.

Netsafe