Mate crime is a type of disability hate crime when someone pretends to be your friend and then they commit a crime against you. They may even persuade or trick you into doing things. A ‘Mate’ can be anyone.
They could be:
Not everyone is pretending to be your friend and is going to commit a crime against you. Most of them, if not all of them, will be good people. It is important you know who to tell if you are not happy with the way a friend is treating you. Mate crime starts with people saying they want to be your friend but moves to bullying and other behaviour that you do not want. Some people who are victims of mate crime are scared of losing their friends if they say ‘No’ to what is happening. Mate crime can happen in private so that it is not seen by others.
Some of the things that this friend may try to do is:
Talk to someone that can help:
The information on this page is available as a leaflet that can be downloaded and printed out.
Download the KBSP mate crime Leaflet
ARC (the Association for Real Change) have produced an easy read guidance booklet about hate crime and mate crime as part of their Safety Net Project.
