Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle transphobia in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

The cross-Government action plan on hate crime outlines the areas in which we are taking action. In particular, we are encouraging people who are victims of hate crime to report it in order to better focus resources to tackle its
causes. In 2013-14, 555 transgender hate crimes were recorded by the police, an increase of 54% from 361 recorded in 2012-13.

Since the action plan was launched, the Government has also amended section 146 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 to include transgender-identity in the suite of aggravating factors, whereby courts have the power to increase the sentence
length for crimes motivated by hostility towards the victim based on a personal characteristic. In addition, the Government held a national seminar in November 2012 of transgender organisations to identify ways of improving communications
and to increase reporting. In April, the Crown Prosecution Service launched educational resources for schools to address hostility towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.