Equality and Human Rights Commission

• Q: Who is protected from hate crime?
• Q: What rights do we all have to be protected from harassment?
• Q: I’ve just started work as a trainee car mechanic. I’m finding it hard because my supervisor makes nasty remarks about anyone who is different, and I’m a transsexual young man. Is there anywhere I can turn for help?
• Q: I am constantly being bullied by other kids from my school outside of school hours because I am a goth. Is it true that my school says they can’t do anything because the bullying is outside of school hours?
• Q: I am deaf and was recently picked on by a gang outside my school. When I stood up for myself, they started throwing stones and I got cuts and bruises. Who can I turn to for help and protection? Victim Support?
• Q: I'm twelve years old and, after being assessed by a specialist for several years about my gender issues, I’ve started to go to school as a girl.   I don’t think my school is doing enough to protect me. Some of the kids are bullying me a lot. How can I get help?
• Q: I'm seventeen, at Sixth Form College,  I want to have gender reassignment surgery once I’m old enough. My friends and the college are cool about this but I was beaten up on the bus home recently, by youths who called me a 'tranny' and a 'queer poofter'. What can I do? 

Q: Who is protected from hate crime?

A: Hatred is a strong term that goes beyond simply causing offence or hostility. Hate crime is any criminal offence committed against a person or property that is motivated by an offender's hatred of someone because of their:

• race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality or national origins
• religion
• gender or gender identity
• sexual orientation
• disability

Hate crime can take many forms including:

• physical attacks, such as physical assault, damage to property, offensive graffiti, neighbour disputes and arson
• threat of attack, including offensive letters, abusive or obscene telephone calls, groups hanging around to intimidate and unfounded, malicious complaints
• verbal abuse or insults - offensive leaflets and posters, abusive gestures, dumping of rubbish outside homes or through letterboxes, and bullying at school or in the workplace.

You can find out more about hate crime on the Home Office website.

You can find out more about young people and racial hate crime on DirectGov.

Q: What rights do we all have to be protected from harassment?

A: You are now protected from harassment on the grounds of your gender, race, disability, gender identity, age, sexual orientation or religion and belief. If you are employed and are sexually harassed by a third party, you are also protected. For example you are a support worker and go into someone’s home to assist them. If they harass you then your employer must take action to prevent this from happening again. (You must have been harassed on more than two occasions, but it does not have to be by the same person).

Q: I’ve just started work as a trainee car mechanic. I’m finding it very hard because my supervisor makes all sorts of nasty remarks about anyone who is a bit different. He doesn’t like gays or disabled people.  I’m a young trans man and would be very scared to be open about it here. Is there anywhere I can turn for help?

A: If you would like to talk about anything regarding transgender issues you could also contact the Gender Trust Helpline.  You could also contact the organisation Press for Change who campaign to achieve civil liberties and respect for all trans people. There is also an organisation called Gendered Intelligence which carries out work specifically aimed at younger people under the age of 25.

If you are intending to undergo, are undergoing or have undergone gender reassignment then you are protected from unfair treatment by the Gender Reassignment Regulations. The regulations updated the Sex Discrimination Act from April 1999 so that it is unlawful for any employer to treat you less favourably than a non-transsexual person if you are planning to undergo, undergoing or have undergone any part of gender reassignment treatment. (This includes any kind of medical support you’ve had and doesn’t require you to have had surgery or even be taking hormones).

If your employer treats you poorly by making unpleasant remarks or creating a hostile or intimidating environment for you on the grounds of your trans status, then this type of treatment could be regarded as harassment. This would be covered under the Sex Discrimination Act and is unlawful. Both the employer and employees concerned are liable.

As with any situation where you are on the receiving end of unwanted hostile treatment, you should keep a record of the comments that are made, who has made them and when. This can serve as evidence at a later stage if the matter needs to be investigated.

Read more information about transgender rights.

Q: I am constantly being bullied by other kids from my school outside of school hours because of the way I look, dress and the music I listen to (I am a goth). This is making me depressed. My school says they can’t do anything because the bullying is outside of school hours. Is that true?

Schools can take action against bullying on the journey to and from school so if the bullying is carried out by pupils in school uniform your school should be prepared to take action to prevent it. Unfortunately, they are not responsible for pupils’ actions outside of school time .

Under the Human Rights Act, you have the right to freedom of expression, which may include freedom to choose how you look and dress. You could also explain this to your school.

For further information on bullying go to our bullying in education section or find more information on direct.gov.uk.

You can find a list of organisations that can offer support at Teachernet. 

Q: I am deaf and was recently picked on by a gang outside my school. When I stood up for myself, they started throwing stones at me and chased after me. Unfortunately, they caught me and have given me some nasty cuts and bruises. Who can I turn to for help and protection?

A: Hate crime is any incident, which constitutes a criminal offence, which is seen by the victim or any other person as being motivated by prejudice or hate.

This means that you should go to the police if you are a victim of hate crime.

If you're uncomfortable about going directly to the police, you can report hate crime anonymously through one of the following organisations, which will also be able to provide you with practical and emotional support:

• Your local Citizens Advice Bureau

See also questions about disability.

Q: I’m twelve years old and, after being assessed by a specialist for several years about my gender issues, I’ve started to go to school as a girl. My parents are supporting me but I don’t think my school are doing enough to protect me. Some of the kids are bullying me a lot. They call me names, try to look up my skirt, and I’m afraid of being beaten up all the time. How can I get help?

A:  Mermaids is is a family support group for Children and Teenagers with Gender identity Issues and they have a lot of practical experience of these kinds of problems. Gendered Intelligence may also be able to help the teachers and pupils at your school to understand more about how to educate your fellow pupils, so they understand what is happening to you, and why it’s not appropriate to say or do bad things. See the support groups page for details.

Another organisation that may be able to help the teachers themselves is 'School’s Out'. For instance, they provide guidance on how to prevent and respond to bullying in schools.

If the school is unable to deal successfully with the bullying you experience then the experience of other families suggests that you might benefit from a transfer to a smaller school or (in extreme circumstances) home tuition. However, unless you desperately want to get out of the current situation then it would be far better if the school can seek the expert help they may need to end the bullying and support you properly. For instance, it may help for your school to train someone to be your mentor and to take part in meetings with you, your parents, the gender clinic, and the local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) team, so that you all work together to deal with the issues that arise.

Q: I’m seventeen, at Sixth Form College, I’ve been taking hormones for a year and I dress androgynously as I want to have gender reassignment surgery once I’m old enough. My friends and the college are cool about this but I was beaten up on the bus home recently, by youths who called me a 'tranny' and a 'queer poofter'. What can I do?

A: Regardless of who you are and how you dress you have the right to report a violent crime like this to the Police. The bus operators and local council may be able to help the Police to investigate and track down your attackers using CCTV recordings, or witness evidence from the driver and regular passengers on that route.

The fact that your attackers described you in the way they did also makes an event like this reportable as a hate incident. If suspects are identified and charged it also becomes a hate crime.

Until recently Police forces didn’t separately record transphobic incidents. Recent changes mean that many of them now do so, however. Forces also have officers trained to understand specifically about LGB and trans experiences, and to support you if you’ve experienced violent crimes like these.

Remember that it’s worth reporting an experience like this even if you don’t think the perpetrators can be caught and brought to justice. The fact that your experience is counted helps to build a better picture of where problems exist and how serious they are. Measures can then be planned to try and eliminate such violence in the future.

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