In partnership with the local police constabulary and Lancashire Victim Services, the students' union is an official Third Party Hate Crime Reporting Centre.

A hate crime is defined as 'any criminal offence which is percieved by the victim, or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person's: 

• Disability 
• Race or Ethnicity 
• Religion or Belief (including non-belief) 
• Sexual Orientation
• Transgender Identity - this can be percieved or actual, for example if someone attacks another because they believe them to be transgender, when in actuality they are not, this does not matter. The motivation behind a crime is what constitutes it to be a hate crime.' 

Hate crimes typically fall into one of three main types: physical assault, verbal abuse, and incitement to hatred. The offence of incitement to hatred occurs when someone acts in a way that is threatening and intended to stir up hatred. This could be in words, pictures, videos, music, and includes information posted on websites. 

The Advice Service is a Third Party Hate Crime reporting centre. This means anyone, student or staff, can come to us and get support reporting a hate crime. We would ask that if anyone is worried that what has happened to them may not necessarily constitute a crime, but that it was enough to make them feel uncomfortable, that they come to us for support. There is no pressure at all from the Service for an indidivual to take any action and formally or informally report what has happened. However, if an inidividual did wish to report something, we can help them report this interally to the University, and formally to the Police. 

We can also help a student get the right support they may need during this time and explore those options with them. 

If you, or someone you know has been the victim of a hate crime or incident, contact our Advice team at advice@lancastersu.co.uk for confidential support, and to have it reported to the police through one of our advisors.