Hate crime and hate incidents
We do not allow hate crimes or hate incidents in any form. We want everyone to feel safe and secure in their home and neighbourhood. Any information you give us is confidential unless we are legally required to report it.
Reporting hate crime and hate incidents
We deal with all claims confidentially and as a priority.
To report hate crime and hate incidents, you can:
- call us on 0191 525 5000 and select option 4
- report hate crime online to the police
- fill in the report hate crime and hate incidents form
- visit your local office
If you need urgent support or are in an emergency, you can call the police on 999 or 101. You can also register with emergencySMS so you can send text messages to the police.
Protected characteristics
Nobody should be treated less favourably because of their:
- age
- disability
- gender reassignment
- marriage or civil partnership
- pregnancy or maternity leave
- race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin
- religion or belief
- sex
- sexual orientation age
Find out more about the different types of help and support we provide.
What we class as hate crime
Hate crime can happen to anyone who has a protected characteristic.
Hate crime is a criminal offence and it breaches the conditions of our tenancy agreements.
Hate crimes can include:
- abusive or threatening behaviour
- assault
- bullying and harassment
- inciting others to commit hate crimes
- physical violence
- property damage
- robbery
This often makes people:
- feel frightened for their own safety
- feel humiliated or ridiculed
- lose their self-confidence
It can also cause financial hardship if their home or belongings are damaged.
What we class as hate incidents
A hate incident is not a criminal offence but may feel one to those involved. A hate incident that includes harassment is a crime.
Hate incidents include:
- abusive phone or text messages
- hate mail
- hoax calls
- malicious complaints
- threats of violence
- verbal abuse like name calling and offensive jokes