Recorded hate crimes in Scotland have risen by 63% since new legislation came into force, with officers saying the increase reflects greater public confidence that offences will be investigated.
Data shared exclusively with the Guardian reveals a significant rise in hate crime against disabled people, and also against elderly people, who are protected by the new law for the first time. Police Scotland says concerns about the impact on freedom of speech have not been borne out.
The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into force on 1 April amid fierce criticism, in response to which the author and activist JK Rowling dared police to arrest her for misgendering transgender women on X.
It consolidated the existing law on crimes that are “aggravated by prejudice”, adding age to other protected categories, and created an offence of behaviour that is “threatening or abusive” and “intends to stir up hatred”.
The Guardian understand nobody has so far been charged with a hate crime for misgendering or affirming biological sex online, nor has such activity been logged as a non-crime hate incident, as some gender-critical feminist groups had feared.
The deputy chief constable, Alan Speirs, said: “When there is increased public trust and confidence, people will speak out. I don’t think this rise suggests any community is less safe now than they were six months ago, but it does show more people are highlighting their concerns.
“We’re not seeing a lot of crime around stirring up hatred or gender-related matters, nor this impinging on an individual’s human right to express their views.
“What we are seeing is a much clearer picture of the challenges and tensions that exist within local communities.”
Figures reveal 5,437 hate crimes were recorded between 1 April and 1 October, a 63% increase from before the act came into force.
Speirs said that while there had been a “disproportionate focus” on gender identity in April, there were relatively few crimes relating to that protected characteristic. The “most significant rise” related to disability.
About 300 reported hate crimes related to age. There were also 679 hate crimes against police officers and staff while on duty, 12% of the total.
The Crown Office, Scotland’s prosecution service, confirmed that 468 charges had been reported to them since April, with some form of action taken in almost 94% of those cases, resulting in 42 convictions and 82% still in court.
Police Scotland cautioned against making direct comparisons with previous figures because of a combination of factors: a new national crime recording system that was being rolled out as the act came into force; the inclusion of additional protected characteristics and crime types in the new law; and increased public awareness.
Speirs also suggested that as officers put their training into practice they were more alert to a hate crime that was aligned to another crime. He gave the example of an elderly person who was a victim of vandalism but, as an officer took further details, it transpired this was as a consequence of their age.
He expressed frustration at what he described as vexatious and politically motivated reports to “flood our system” in the early weeks – the Observer reported how neo-Nazi and far-right networks were encouraging supporters to make vexatious complaints en masse.
“On reflection, perhaps we could have done more work quicker on our guidance, but I don’t think anything that we designed internally to equip our officers better would have impacted on the volume of people who were out to make mischief,” Speirs said. He added that an “enormous amount” of community engagement had been undertaken.
However, many groups have called for further awareness-raising. Asylum seekers and some black, Asian and minority ethnic women, in particular, faced language barriers when reporting and felt that they were not taken seriously.
Likewise, Nicola Livingston, the chair of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, said: “Our experience is still, ‘is there any point in reporting it?’”
Age and disability groups recognised the 63% rise as a positive: given the chronic under-reporting of hate crimes, this would give “a real baseline to start with”, said Adam Stachura of Age Scotland.
Lucy Hunter Blackburn, of the policy analyists Murray Blackburn Mackenzie, said it was too soon to talk about whether or not the first fears about the act had been realised. “The legislation was used to go after a lot of different things, some of which there’s wide agreement on, but elsewhere using the law to solve a social dialogue about the limits of free speech, and leaving the police to juggle that,” she said.
• The subheading of this article was amended on 4 October 2024 to better reflect the facts being reported.
