Homophobic hate crime — findings from the Gay British Crime Survey 2008

There is a real paucity of evidence relating to homophobic hate crimes in Britain. This has hampered intelligence‐led approaches by the police and other criminal justice agencies in tackling the issues facing many lesbian, gay and bisexual people. This article reports on evidence generated by Stonewall's Homophobic Hate Crime: The gay British crime survey 2008 (Dick, 2008). In particular, it demonstrates the importance of good quality and up‐to‐date evidence by highlighting the fact that under‐reporting of homophobic hate crimes is caused by far more complex factors than previously assumed. Yet, numerous initiatives to tackle hate crime have been based on outdated assumptions around reasons for under‐reporting. The article also contends that the move towards a ‘cross‐strand’ approach and local priority setting threatens the embryonic work on homophobic hate crimes.