On the 7th December 2021, the Law Commission published the final report on the Hate Crime consultation, along with their recommendations to parliament for amendments to legislation.
British Naturism have been major stakeholders throughout the process, contributing through both the pre-consultation and consultation phases. Author of the British Naturism submissions, President, Mark Bass points out that:
“The founding principle of Naturism is respect; respect for ourselves and respect for others. Hate-motivated criminal offences have had life-changing effects on many minority groups. Naturists have certainly suffered criminal aggression, but we consider our responsibilities to be much wider and that we should stand by and support all minority groups suffering criminal oppression”.
Hate crime legislation currently operates by identifying various characteristics that are considered worthy of special protection. These are called “protected characteristics”, and these currently are race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, transgender identity. Criminal activity motivated by hostility towards these protected characteristics is subject to tougher sentencing guidelines, thus discouraging the abuse of protected groups.
The British Naturism representation focused on two main features. We argued that the protected characteristics should be expanded to include Philosophical Belief amongst others. We also argued that all protected characteristics should be treated equally, unlike the current situations where “stirring up offences” only apply to a subset of the protected characteristics.
Dealing with the second point first, stirring up offences - the incitement of hate-motivated criminal acts (such as racial hatred) - are the most common form of trauma suffered by minority groups. Living in fear of harm fundamentally changes an individual’s behaviour and damages their mental wellbeing. Whipping up of hatred is frequently coordinated and on a large scale, often through social media, and seemingly without consequence to the perpetrator. A system where stirring up hatred against some of the protected characteristics is prohibited, but against other groups is not, creates an imbalance where certain minority groups are singled out for greater protection than others. Thankfully, the Law Commission have recommended that all protected characteristics be treated equally so that the law does not pick winners and losers.
Our second priority was that Philosophical Belief should be recognised as a protected characteristic. We have received legal advice that, as a philosophy that guides the behaviour of many Naturists and defines our identity, Naturism would qualify as a Philosophical Belief, a view that was backed by the Law Commission. British Naturism was able to provide considerable evidence and insight on why Philosophical Belief should be considered a protected characteristic and our contribution was recognised throughout the report. The crux of the matter is that both the Equality Act and the European Convention of Human Rights recognise “religion or belief” as a protected characteristic, but current Hate Crime legislation is restricted to “religion”.
The consultation recognised the similarity between religious and philosophical belief in the significance to an individual’s identity and way of life. The Welsh Government were of the view that the definition of “religion” under Hate Crime should encompass “religion or belief”. The Hate Crime Unit went as far as to say that failure to recognise Philosophical Belief would put Hate Crime Law out of step with equalities and human rights legislation. The Hate Crime Unit also points to empirical evidence of a rise in harassment that creates a need to protect individuals adhering to a Philosophical Belief.
Mark Bass argues that similar trends in acts of hatred have been experienced by Naturists:
“Persecution of Naturists has grown over the last few years with larger Naturist gatherings now requiring a significant police presence, including Police Liaison Officers, to deal with attempts by hate groups to cause criminal damage and assault Naturists.”
The British Naturism submission included 29 testimonies from victims of incidents that occured during the consultation period (2019-2020), and Mark Bass goes on to describe how these acts have created a culture of fear and forced individuals to conceal their belief:
“Naturists frequently suffer anxiety and conceal the characteristic due to constant fear of the targeted victimisation suffered by other victims.”
The need to conceal one’s belief is one of the most damaging consequences of religious persecution and the reason that religion is protected. Although a physical assault can be punished retrospectively, the insidious fear experienced by adherents to a belief is not handled by simple law and why the concept of Hate Crime exists. The fact that adherents to a Philosophical Belief are experiencing identical hostility towards their identity demonstrates that they require similar protection.
The Law Commission defined criteria under which a characteristic should require protection and shared details of how Philosophical Belief would meet these criteria, but unfortunately stopped short of recommending protection. A key criterion is that there should be ample evidence that a characteristic is criminally targeted. Philosophical Belief does not currently meet that test, in large part because such acts are not recorded as Hate Crime. This creates a paradox that Philosophical Belief could not be protected without better evidence, but evidence of criminal acts of hatred is not generated while the characteristic is not protected.
The second concern was whether the category could become too broad and how beneficiaries would be defined. This is not an obstacle that could not be overcome, as has been achieved in the Equality Act, but would require more work.
Therefore, the prospect of imminent legislative changes to discourage acts of hatred against minority groups has been set back for now. However, we know that by working with police forces and at a local level, improvements can be made, and tolerance can grow. The emerging status of British Naturism as an important stakeholder in parliamentary consultations means that we are in a position to exert influence for the good of all. British Naturism will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with any minority group that shares our priority of respect.
There is clearly more work to be done as we strive to make society better for all.