There's Been a Dramatic Surge in Hate Crime in the UK and the Most Likely Victims are Muslim

Stark statistics have revealed that hate crimes in England and Wales have seen an unprecedented surge in the last year, with the vast majority of the attacks having been classed as racially motivated.

Government data revealed a spike of 18 percent in 2014-15, with 52,528 instances of hate crime being reported in the last year, including offenses motivated by disability, sexual orientation, and gender.

While all strands of hate crime saw noticeable rises, the greatest increase was in the number of religiously motivated offenses, which have intensified by 43 percent in the wake of soldier Lee Rigby's murder by two Muslim converts on a South London street in 2013.

Out of the thousands of reported hate crime incidents, more than 80 percent were racially motivated. The newly released data claimed there is "some evidence" that "specific highly publicized incidents," such as Rigby's attack, as well as the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza, can act as "trigger events" for a jump in racially motivated hate crime.

Joni Clarke, a 22-year-old Muslim from Penge in southeast London, told her story on YouTube, via the charity Fixers. "I experience discrimination on a day-to-day basis. I get called names, I've had cigarettes thrown at me and nearly been run over on several occasions," she said.

Clarke said the abuse intensified after Rigby's death. "After that the abuse got worse," she said, adding: "People seem to think that because I'm dressed this way and I'm Muslim, I'm associating myself with these people… I've been called a terrorist in the street, just because I'm wearing the niqab."

The Home Office responded to Tuesday's report by suggesting that the increase was due to more victims coming forward. But the jump in attacks come as a blow for UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who last week pledged at a Conservative party conference to create "the proudest multi-racial democracy on earth."

.— CCHQ Press Office (@CCHQPress)October 7, 2015

The Tory leader branded the surge in hate crime "unacceptable," on Tuesday and pledged that his government would do more to crack down on the escalating incidents, which include physical attacks, verbal abuse, criminal damage, and harassment.

Rising hate crime is unacceptable – we must do more to fight it which is why we will make sure police record anti-Muslim attacks.

— David Cameron (@David_Cameron)October 13, 2015

Home Secretary Theresa May also spoke out against the troubling numbers, calling the rise in offenses "deplorable." "Hate crime has no place in Britain and I am determined to make further progress to ensure we can eradicate this deplorable act," she said.

The news comes as Cameron announced on Tuesday that anti-Muslim hate crimes will be recorded as a separate category by all police forces in England and Wales, putting such crimes in the same category as anti-Semitic incidents.

The prime minister said this will reveal the true scale of religious hate crime in the UK and allow resources to be reallocated to fight racism and abuse across the nation.

Speaking today at the inaugural meeting of a new Community Engagement Forum to discuss countering extremism, Cameron said he wanted British Muslims to know the Government would "back them to stand against those who spread hate and to counter the narrative which says Muslims do not feel British."

"I want police to take more action against those who persecute others simply because of their religion," he said.

The move comes with the government due to publish a counter-extremism strategy in the coming days which will detail proposals for tackling radical ideologies which ministers argue put people on the path to violence, but which others say risk curbing free speech.

Reuters contributed to this report

Image via Flickr