Recorded hate crimes in Scotland have risen by 63% since the law was introduced in April | Hate crimes

Recorded hate crimes in Scotland have risen by 63% since the law was introduced in April | Hate crimes

Recorded hate crimes in Scotland have risen by 63% since the new legislation came into force. Officials said the increase reflects greater public confidence that crimes are being investigated.

Data shared exclusively with the Guardian shows a significant rise in hate crimes against people with disabilities and older people – who will be protected under the new law for the first time – while Police Scotland says concerns about the impact on freedom of expression have not been confirmed.

The Hate Crimes and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into force on April 1 amid widespread criticism. In response, author and activist JK Rowling called on police to arrest her for mistreating transgender women on X.

It consolidated the existing law on offenses “aggravated by prejudice,” added age to other protected categories, and created an offense for conduct that is “threatening or abusive” and “intended to incite hatred.”

The Guardian understands that no one has yet been charged with a hate crime for misgendering or affirming biological sex online, nor has such activity been logged as a non-criminal hate incident, as some gender-critical feminist groups had feared.

Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs said: “As public trust increases, people will make their voices heard. I don’t think this increase indicates that a community is less safe today than it was six months ago, but it does show that more people are voicing their concerns.

“We don’t see many crimes involving incitement of hatred or gender-related issues, nor any interference with an individual’s human right to express their opinion.

“What we are seeing is a much clearer picture of the challenges and tensions that exist within local communities.”

The figures show that 5,437 hate crimes were recorded between April 1 and October 1, a 63% increase compared to before the law came into force.

Speirs said that while there was a “disproportionate focus” on gender identity in April, there were relatively few crimes related to this protected characteristic. The “strongest increase” was in disability.

About 300 age-related hate crimes reported. In addition, there were 679 hate crimes against police officers and personnel while on duty, accounting for 12% of the total.

The Crown Office, Scotland’s public prosecutor, confirmed that 468 charges had been reported to it since April and action had been taken in almost 94% of those cases, resulting in 42 convictions and 82% still before the courts.

Police Scotland warned against making direct comparisons with previous figures due to a combination of factors: a new national crime recording system that was just being introduced as the law came into force; the inclusion of additional protected characteristics and crime types in the new law; and increased public awareness.

Speirs also pointed out that the more officers put their training into practice, the more alert they were to a hate crime that was related to another crime. He gave the example of an elderly person who was the victim of vandalism, but when an officer took further details it turned out it was due to their age.

He expressed frustration at what he called offensive and politically motivated reports that “flooded our system” in the first few weeks – the Observer reported how neo-Nazi and far-right networks encouraged their supporters to file offensive complaints en masse.

“If we think about it, perhaps we could have worked more quickly on our guidance, but I don’t think anything we developed internally to better equip our officers would have had an impact on the number of people wanting to cause mischief.” said Speirs. He added that a “tremendous amount” of community engagement had been undertaken.

However, many groups have called for further awareness. Asylum seekers and some black, Asian and minority ethnic women in particular faced language barriers when reporting and felt they were not taken seriously.

Likewise, Nicola Livingston, chair of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, said: “Our experience is still: ‘Is there any point in reporting this?'”

Age and disability groups recognized the 63% increase as a positive: Given the chronic under-reporting of hate crime, this would provide “a real starting point”, said Age Scotland’s Adam Stachura.

Lucy Hunter Blackburn of political analyst Murray Blackburn Mackenzie said it was too early to talk about whether initial fears about the act had come true or not. “The legislation has addressed many different things, some of which there is widespread agreement on, but in other cases the law has been used to resolve a societal dialogue about the limits of free expression and the task has been left to the police,” she said.