Hate crimes against children have risen by 14% in a year, new figures reveal

Hate crimes against children have risen by 14 per cent in the last year, according to new figures released by the UK's leading children's charity.

The NSPCC said that calls to its Childline service spiked in the wake of prominent terrorist attacks. Children who called the 24/7 helpline said they had been driven to self-harm by the abuse, which included physical and verbal attacks as well as cyberbullying.

In all, 5,349 offences against under-18s were logged in 2016/17 which had religious, race or faith-based undertones. The data, obtained from 41 UK police forces through Freedom of Information Requests, represented a significant jump from 4,695 in the previous year.

Childline held 2,699 counselling sessions over the past three years with children who had been bullied for race of religion-based reasons, the NSPCC said – a quarter of which were with children aged 11 and under.

The number of calls rose by a third following last year’s attack on Westminster Bridge, compared to the previous month.

NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said: “It’s heartbreaking to think that some children are targeted by bullies because of their race, culture or nationality.

“Racist jokes and negative stereotyping can be hurtful and leave young people feeling isolated and ashamed of who they are or where they are from.”

Dame Esther Rantzen, president of Childline, said: “Bullying of any kind is vile, but targeting someone because of the colour of their skin, religious beliefs or their accent is simply unacceptable.

“Children are taking on board prejudices around race and religion in society and trading them as playground insults, with extremely harmful results."

One 11-year-old-girl who had been in touch with the charity said she had been called “a terrorist” by other children and believed that all her classmates hated her.

She said: “They bully me because of the way that I dress; I don’t want to wear my headscarf to school anymore because it makes me stand out, but I could never tell my parents that.

“I just want to make friends at school and for people to like me, but it’s really hard when I feel like an outsider.”

Childline is launching a new campaign called Understand Me to encourage youngsters to seek help if they suffer racial bullying and discrimination.

They have released a video highlighting how some young people are made to feel because of stereotyped views about their race or religion, with the aim of challenging xenophobia and prejudice and empowering young people to speak out.

The clip ends with a child saying: “Just because my skin is a different colour, doesn’t mean it’s any thicker.”

Children worried about bullying can call Childline 24/7 on 0800 11 11, while adults concerned about a child can call the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000.