Hate-crime law covers victims targeted for perceived group membership

Evidence

The operational definition in England and Wales states that hate motivation is where: ‘Hate crimes and incidents are taken to mean any crime or incident where the perpetrator’s hostility or prejudice against an identifiable group of people is a factor in determining who is victimised’ (College of Policing, 2014: 3). The definition included here is broader in the sense that the victim does not have to be a member of a group. — Irene Zempi and Imran Awan, Islamophobia, 53

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes hate motivation from hate incident: the victim need not actually belong to the group, only be perceived as belonging.