Hate crime: Increase in reported cases across Wales

One man who's been a victim of hate crime, said he avoids going out alone, as the number of reported hate crimes in Wales hit a record high.

Gwion Williams, 19, from Cardiff, is transgender and has experienced hate crimes since he was at school.

During 2021-22, Welsh police forces recorded 6,295 hate crimes, an increase of more than 35% on the previous year.

The increase has been partly put down to improved crime recording, and more incidents after Covid lockdowns.

Hate crime increased by 26% across the whole of England and Wales, the Home Office statistics showed.

A hate crime is an offence targeting a victim's race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or disability and sometimes a person can be targeted for more than one thing at the same time.

Mr Williams, originally from Bridgend, said the abuse he suffered was "awful" and "not taken seriously".

He said: "I felt it set the stage for other things that have happened since, when I now visit my home town of Bridgend, I still get called those names."

He said it had a huge impact on him and he struggled to make friends, and be himself around friends.

He also said he struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts.

Mr Williams said he has had verbal assaults and has been sexually harassed when out because of his gender identity.

"I try and avoid going out on my own as I am worried it could escalate to something worse, and get physical," he added.

He added it was important to keep reporting hate crimes.

"Although the number of hate crimes is high, I think it is a lot worse than that as I think many people don't report it to the police for fear of not being taken seriously," he said.

The reported hate crimes against transgender people rose by 58% across England and Wales.

There were increases of 71% in reported disability hate crimes, a 50% rise in reported crimes based on sexual orientation and reported religious hate crimes rose by 51%.

Racial hate crimes accounted for about two-thirds of all those reported.

Gwent Police had the highest rate of all hate crimes recorded, across the Welsh forces, up 82%, from 677 in 2020-2021, to 1,234 in 2021-22.

North Wales Police saw an increase of 33%, while South Wales Police had an increase of 26%, and Dyfed-Powys Police 20%.

Overall, Wales' police forces saw recorded hate crimes increase from 4,654 to 6,295.

Noah Bear Nyle, 40, from Blackwood, Caerphilly, is also transgender and said he experienced a "barrage of hate-fuelled abuse" in the workplace.

He said he was "intimidated" and "scared" after abuse which was initially verbal but then became physical.

"The men felt like it was something they could get away with and have no accountability," he said.

He added he got support from his manager at work but did not report it to the police as he was worried he would not be taken seriously.

Mr Nyle said although the statistics were "horrifying", he hoped the increase was due to more people reporting crimes.

Jessica Rees, hate crime lead at Victim Support Wales said: "Hate crime is a very personal offence which can shatter victims' confidence and self-worth, making them feel unsafe and threatened - so any rise is seriously worrying.

"It is worth remembering, that this spike could be due to police improvements in recognising and recording hate crime or people feeling more confident to report it - both of which would be positive."

Christina Tanti, research and evaluation manager at Race Equality First, said: "Despite this rise in hate crime across Wales, prosecutions remain worryingly low - in 2018-19, just one in 10 cases resulted in a successful prosecution. There is a stark 'justice gap' in Wales for victims of hate crime.

"At Race Equality First, we see first-hand the severe impact that hate crimes have on victims.

"These people deserve justice and more needs to be done to increase hate crime prosecution rates and victim satisfaction with the criminal justice system."