Closed petition Make hair colour a protected characteristic covered by hate crime legislation

Closed on 17 January 2024

We want hair colour to be made a protected characteristic to protect people with red or ginger hair from discrimination. Hate crime laws should also be extended to cover offences motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person's hair colour.

We believe current legislation does not adequately protect people with red or ginger hair, despite it being estimated that around 4% of people in the UK have hair this colour.

Too often people with ginger or red hair face prejudice, stereotyping and dehumanization.

For example, in response to an FOI North Yorkshire police disclosed that the words 'ginger', 'red hair' and 'redhead' appeared in crime reports 57 times from January 1 2021 to November 15, 2021.

There have been cases of hate crimes against redheads in the UK including stabbings, sexual harassment, groups attacks and targeting and abuse.