Put Sexism, Racism an Homophobia in the trash. Kurt Löwenstein Educational Center International Team from Germany. Wikicommons. Some rights reserved.Last month, the UK Home Office released a disturbing report on hate crimes in the wake of Brexit. The Home Office reported, ‘The number of racially or religiously aggravated offences recorded by the police in July 2016 was 41% higher than in July 2015’.
Days earlier, the LGBT anti-violence charity Galop released its own post-Brexit hate crime figures. Compared to the support Galop gave to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people experiencing hate crimes in July, August and September last year, the charity reported a 147% increase in the same period this year.
If the first set of figures was expected by many, the second set was not. As the Guardian reported, ‘few analysts predicted a rise in hate crime based on victims’ sexual orientation’ and/or gender identity, especially a rise that ‘is proportionately higher than other hate crime rises in the wake of Brexit’. So what explains this rise?
