BY JACK WELCH

There are few entitlements most in society would accept without some kind of debate, but having a right to feel safe in the streets we walk, and freedom from danger when going into a setting as simple as a supermarket, must count as rights which do not need dispute.

Sadly, for many groups in our communities, the risk can become all too apparent when other people choose to turn their hidden prejudices into a hateful act that can manifest itself in a number of ways that can cause terrible distress upon victims.

Under the umbrella definition of a hate crime, the cases in which acts perpetrated typically affect people are because of race, sexuality, faith, disability or their personal gender identity.

That is not to say incidents of hate crime are exclusive to these categories alone, but they are areas which are, rightly, of biggest concern.

This week is National Hate Crime Awareness Week, which hopes to raise awareness of the importance of the scale of these problems, which, can often have unheard impact upon the lives of many people.

As part of the context with which the Home Office has released figures of hate crime incidents reported to police, there were over 50,000 reported in the years 2015/15 - compared to over 44,000 the year previously - totalling an increase of 18%.

As somebody with an invisible condition, there have been moments where I have not felt safe within Weymouth and following a recent incident on the underground in London, I made my first formal police statement because a minority feel harassment is acceptable.

From experience, there is no glory in being a silent victim or witness – take power back from the perpetrators. Visit www.stophateuk.org for more information