Moscow [Russia], October 16 (Sputnik/ANI): The police officers in England and Wales registered over 94,000 hate crime offenses in 2017-2018, which showed an increase of 17 percent compared to the previous year, according to a statistical bulletin released by the UK Home Office on Tuesday.

The Home Office and the Ministry for Communities, Housing and Local Government on Tuesday published an update to the Hate Crime Action Plan.

"In 2017/18, there were 94,098 hate crime offences recorded by the police in England and Wales, an increase of 17% compared with the previous year," the bulletin said.

According to the bulletin, the number of hate crimes has been steadily growing over the past years, with the number of such offenses have more than doubled since the year of 2012-2013.

The bulletin showed that the majority (76 per cent) of hate crimes in 2017-2018 accounted for race hate crimes, with a total of 71,251 cases having been registered. Sexual orientation hate crimes and religious hate crimes became second and third in terms of prevalence, amounting to 12 per cent and 9 per cent of the total amount of hate crimes, respectively.

"It is possible for a hate crime offence to have more than one motivating factor which is why the above numbers sum to more than 94,098 and the proportions to more than 100 per cent," the bulletin specified.

Despite the fact that the increase in the number of registered hate crimes can be largely explained by the improvements in police recording, the bulletin acknowledged that there had been hikes in the hate crime following the referendum on the United Kingdom's exiting the European Union and the 2017 terrorist attacks.

In a statement released by the UK government, the Home Secretary Sajid Javid said, "Hate crime goes directly against the long-standing British values of unity, tolerance and mutual respect - and I am committed to stamping this sickening behaviour out. Our refreshed action plan sets out how we will tackle the root causes of prejudice and racism, support hate crime victims and ensure offenders face the full force of the law."

Minister for Countering Extremism, Baroness Williams reiterated that while he is proud that the UK continues to be a tolerant country, he said, "We know that, sadly, there are pockets of people who attempt to intimidate religious communities through violence and abuse just because of their faith. The Places of Worship Scheme works to ensure religious freedoms are protected and I am pleased this funding can provide further reassurance to others that this government will support them."(Sputnik/ANI)

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