A leading Dorset charity has said they are saddened by a significant increase in hate crimes last year.

Newly released figures show there were more than 500 hate crimes in Dorset in 2021, an increase of 13 per cent on the previous year. 

Data giving a breakdown on the number of racially and religiously aggravated offences recorded by police forces in 2021 has been released by the Home Office.

It covers five types of offences, all of which have a specific racially or religiously motivated element.

According to the Home Office, “these racially or religiously aggravated offences are by definition hate crimes”.

The five offences are:

  • Racially or religiously aggravated assault with injury.
  • Racially or religiously aggravated assault without injury.
  • Racially or religiously aggravated harassment.
  • Racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage.
  • Racially or religiously aggravated public fear, alarm or distress.

Dorset Police recorded 467 aggravated offences in 2020 and 527 in 2021, a 13 per cent increase.

Chief officer at the Dorset Race Equality Council charity, Nathalie Sherring said: "We are really saddened but not surprised to see that the figures for racially or religiously aggravated offences have risen in Dorset from 2020 to 2021.

"We have been supporting many people who have been victims of those unacceptable offences. However, we are also conscious that many offences are still left unreported and people from different ethnic backgrounds continue to suffer in silence.

"The current general climate is very divisive and people from different ethnic backgrounds seem to be considered as easy targets.

"We are all responsible for challenging those offences as they happen. We can no longer be bystanders. If we do not individually and collectively become anti-racist, those offences will continue to happen, and nothing will change."

Of the 44 forces in England and Wales, 39 reported a rise in racially and religiously aggravated offences from 2020 to 2021, while 34 forces saw numbers last year reach a new high.

Superintendent Gemma Morris, of Dorset Police, said: “Dorset Police takes every report of crime seriously, especially hate crimes, which receive a heightened level of supervision and scrutiny.

“As a police force we are committed to supporting victims of crime and bringing offenders to justice. We work closely with the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure offenders who are prosecuted for a hate crime receive an increased sentence, in line with the legislation.

“From the Crime Survey for England and Wales we are conscious of hate crime being under-reported and we are focused on reducing the gap between the survey and reported crime by building trust and confidence with our communities and by ensuring that reporting methods are widely known.

“We will continue to engage with those communities in Dorset who are subjected to racially or religiously aggravated hate crime to ensure we understand any concerns and encourage reporting to the police."

She added: “The message is very clear, hate crimes are not tolerated in our communities."