ABSTRACT
The author of this chapter has led the United Kingdom Cross-Government Hate Crime Programme since 2007 and was the co-author of the 2014, College of Policing Operational Guidance for Hate Crime. He will assess the progress in the Criminal Justice System responses to hate crime and will make comparison between anti-Muslim and the other monitored strands of hate crime. There are many characteristics of hate crime, which are consistent to all victims and to each of the recognised ‘strands’ of hate crime. However, each victim group has its own unique challenges, needs and historical context. This chapter will explore the nature of contemporary hostility towards Muslims and the unique challenges of meeting the needs of Muslim victims, including the conflation of race and religious identities in the minds of perpetrators, the issue of intra-group hostilities and the task of building the confidence of victims to come forward to report their attacks. The chapter will plot some of the key policy and legislative developments and will explore the progress made by criminal justice organisations.
