Hate crime is always going to be a historically and culturally contingent social construct, such that the concept varies radically around the world. Although, the extent of hate crime is notoriously difficult to determine, in England and Wales, figures are collected on racially and religiously motivated offences under section 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991. Many theories from many different disciplines have been used to explain hate crime. For example, those of perceived Middle Eastern appearance suffered intense public, enforcement and media attention, plus a rise in victimization, after the Oklahoma City bombing and the bombing of the World Trade Center. We need to be critical of the term 'hate crime' even as an adequate descriptor of 'bias-motivated behaviour'. The key gap in knowledge is the failure to examine the specificity of the crime experiences of the diverse victims of 'bias crime' and the impact on society.