This page provides information on the national frameworks to address hate crime in Belgium. The information provided here should be viewed alongside data presented on Belgium's hate crime report page.

Hate crime recording and data collection

The concept of a hate crime does not appear as such in Belgian legislation, but the Criminal Code provides for the possibility of applying an aggravating circumstance (a circumstance that increases the sentencing range) relating to a hateful or discriminatory motive – defined by law in relation to specified protected grounds – for a limited number of offences. Since December 2022, the Criminal Code has also provided for a general aggravating factor linked to a hateful or discriminatory motive for all offences. (A general aggravating factor is a factor that the judge takes into account when determining the sentence or measure and its severity, without being able to impose a sentence exceeding the maximum penalty provided for the offence.) The registration guidelines set out in the revised 2024 version of COL 13/2013 – the joint circular for police forces and public prosecutors on the investigation and prosecution of discrimination and hate crime cases – make it possible to distinguish hate crimes from other offences by means of a separate registered prevention code. It provides a policy framework to combat discrimination and hate crimes for police forces and public prosecutors.

With the entry into force of the 2024 version of COL 13/2013, the encoding rules have therefore been completely revised. One of the aims is to provide statistics in the context of hate crimes, including details of the discriminatory motive. The revised COL 13/2013 circular contains specific elements concerning the improved and more accurate recording of hate crimes by the police and the prosecutor's office. These new features were activated in police applications at the end of April 2024. More specifically, "hate crimes" are registered in data processing systems ("ISLP" for most local Police districts and "FEEDIS" for most entities of the Federal Police).

In Belgium, hate crime prosecution relies on certain criteria protected by law. The circular therefore provides specific guidelines for the identification and recording of the following bias motive categories: "racism", "religion", "sexism", "transphobia", "homophobia", and "disability". An additional "other" bias motive category is used to record incidents that do not correspond to the defined categories. These various motives are incorporated into the registration systems of the Belgian Police and the prosecutor's office. Thus, when the police detect indicators of a possible discriminatory motive for a "hate crime" offence, they prepare a report indexed according to the main offence in the usual list of registered prevention codes (or QLFs) and record the appropriate administrative legal note at the beginning of the report. For example, an intentional assault and battery committed with a racist motive against a Black person results in a police report indexed as 43 (the offence of assault and battery) with an administrative legal note indicating a "hate/discrimination motive, Racist: anti-Black". If multiple discriminatory motives are present, the police officer will select the one(s) that best corresponds to the perpetrator's motive.

The prosecutor's Office applies the same guidelines by recording a prevention code and a 'context tag' in the MACH/JUSTONE data recording system. This tool allows several 'context tags' to be selected. Accordingly, all relevant tags are recorded in cases where multiple elements are present.

The magistrate to whom the report is submitted checks to see whether the correct prevention code corresponding to the main event has been selected (for example, 43A for assault and battery). The magistrate then checks whether the correct context tag has been entered into the JUSTONE data recording system (for example, 'Col13/2013 hate/discrimination motive, Racist: anti-Black'). If the police service makes an error or forgets, the magistrate can select and record the correct context tag.

Statistical data concerning discrimination are collected and provided by the College of Prosecutors-General based on the JUSTONE data recording system used by the public prosecution.

Belgian equality bodies collect their own data on hate crimes:

• The Unia equality body records hate crime cases and collects data on hate crimes. The data are sorted by discrimination criteria (including sexual orientation, racial characteristics, disability, etc.), social areas (life in society, employment, police and justice, goods and services, etc.), and by the nature of the offences. Unia published its 2025 Annual Report in Dutch and French. 
• The Institute for the Equality between Women and Men is the equality body responsible for gender and gender-related crime. Victims of gender-based hate crimes can make a report to the Institute to obtain legal advice. The Institute records all of the reports it receives in its own database. Figures are compiled in a publicly available annual report to assess the prevalence of these phenomena. The 2025 Annual Report is available in Dutch and French.

There is no information-sharing agreement between local police forces and civil society organizations (CSOs), or between local police forces and Unia. However, Unia works with the police and CSOs on notices and recommendations. Some police zones focus on sharing contacts with various stakeholders of victimized groups. There is a co-operation arrangement between the Brussels-Capital Region and the RainbowHouse Brussels umbrella organization on the collection of data on violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. The competent Brussels public service, safe.brussels, analyses and publishes the collected data.

Safe.brussels, the public service responsible for crime prevention and security within the Brussels-Capital Region, conducts a survey on public feelings of security and victimization among the general public every two years. In the survey, questions are asked about perceptions of security and respondents' crime victimization. The survey does not focus on hate crime but does contain some related questions. Reports based on conducted in 2018, 2020 and 2022 have been published. The full report of the 2024 survey is not yet available, but some key results have been published. 

Hate crime victim support

Under Belgian law, victims of hate crimes do not have a particular status, rights, or entitlements different to those afforded victims of other types of crime. A special status is only provided for some categories of victims, such as victims of terrorism and juvenile victims. Under anti-discrimination legislation, victims of discrimination outside the workplace, including hate crimes, are entitled to compensation for the harm they have suffered.

When a victim reports a hate crime to the police, police officers are required to offer practical assistance and information, draw up a formal complaint, and refer the victim to the appropriate unit. The attending police officer is obliged to ask the victim if they would like the support of a specialized victim assistance service ("De Dienst Politionele Slachtofferbejegening (DPSB)/Service d’Assistance policière aux Victimes (S.A.P.V)". The service offers short-term assistance and psychological support at the time of the incident and immediately afterward, and can be automatically requested by the attending police team in emergency cases. The service also provides practical help with various administrative procedures. Following immediate assistance, the service provides referrals to specialized services, such as judicial and independent victim support services.

The police have standards in place on the sensitive treatment of victims of hate crimes, as well as policies on the investigation and prosecution of discrimination and hate crime cases. In some police districts, police officers use checklists to identify whether the act constitutes a hate crime. Some police districts provide template questionnaires to standardize interviews with the victim, witnesses, and suspects. The police force of Ghent has a designated desk for reporting hate crimes that co-operates with the public prosecutor's office, city services, specialized services such as Unia, and the Federal Institute for Human Rights (FIRM). This hate crime desk has led to an increase in the number of hate crimes reported within the police zone of Ghent. The Brussels-North police zone has set up a specific email address for victims wishing to report discrimination or hate crimes. This contact point facilitates direct access for victims to police officers who have received specialized training from Unia in handling offences of this nature. Victims in Brussels are offered medical, legal, and psychological assistance.

Hate crime victims can also report the incident to Unia, the Institute for Equality of Women and Men, or the Flanders' Human Rights Institute, depending on the case. Unia and the Institute for Equality of Women and Men provide information on the legislation and other legal assistance, accompany the victim during a reconciliation or negotiation procedure, and can also refer the victim to specialized social or legal services or organizations. The Flanders' Human Rights Institute also provides initial assistance, may propose mediation, or refer the victim to another competent body for further support.

The public stop-violence.brussels website is designed to help victims of violence, their relatives, and victim support practitioners to identify appropriate services. It includes information on the services available for people exposed to gender-based violence in the Brussels-Capital Region. In particular, it includes a mapping of specialized services and allowing users to filter the available support based on the type of violence, the kind of assistance needed (legal, psychological, etc.), as well as specific situations, such as the needs of LGBTI victims.

In addition, the Lawyers Victim Assistance project provides free legal assistance to victims of domestic and sexual violence. Launched in Brussels at the end of 2023 by the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking Bar Associations, the project establishes an on-call team of trained lawyers offering specialized legal support. Particular attention is given to providing multidisciplinary training for lawyers and to improving access to justice for victims. The project is funded by the regional government administration service, equal.brussels.

Judicial victim support services, in collaboration with the public prosecutor's office, offer victims and their relatives specialized assistance related to the judicial procedure. Their mission is to inform, assist, and accompany victims during the criminal proceedings. The justice assistants of these services can provide victims or their relatives with specific information regarding their individual penal case throughout the judicial procedure, from the complaint to the (conditional) release of the offender. They can offer necessary support during this procedure, such as by guiding a victim on the criminal file, supporting the victim when personal belongings that were subject to investigation are returned, and supporting the victim during the proceedings before the court. They can also refer victims to other specialized services or organizations, such as those providing psychosocial or legal help.

Judicial victim support services are free of charge. There is one judicial victim support service per judicial district. These services are part of the 'houses of justice', of which there are 13 in the French Community, 14 in the Flemish Community, and 1 in the German-speaking Community.

The victim support services organized within the three communities are the General Welfare Centers (Centra Algemeen Welzijnswerk) in the Flemish Community, the Victim Assistance Services (Services d’aide aux victims) in the French Community, and the Specialized Services for Victim Support (Spezialisierte Dienste für Opferhilfe) in the German-speaking Community. The general mission of victim support services is to provide social and psychological assistance to victims of crime and their relatives. These support services are independent of the police and judicial authorities. These services provide free social support aimed at restoring the living conditions of the victim and support the victim in various matters, such as in their interactions with the police and insurance companies, etc. They also provide psychological support tailored to the victims' needs and aimed at helping victims find a new life balance. This support can be short-term or long-term, depending on the needs of the victim. When the victim wishes so, they can be accompanied by a representative of the service for certain steps, such as visits to a doctor or police station. When needed, the victim is referred to more specialized organizations, such as for psychotherapeutic support.

Several civil society organizations (CSOs) support victims of hate crime, including the Collective against Islamophobia in Belgium (CIIB), LGBTQIA+ organizations running the RainbowHouse Brussels umbrella organization, and Jewish community associations. These organizations accompany victims of hate crimes and encourage them to file a complaint and seek support. In general, the work of CSOs is not formally integrated into the overall system of assistance to hate crime victims, although some CSOs have partnered with Unia. CSOs do not have structural subsidies to hire people to sustain their services and often rely on the help of volunteers.

Hate crime capacity building

Police officers take part in training courses on handling hate crime cases. These training courses are intended to make police officers aware of potential unconscious biases and the serious consequences these biases can have both for the public they serve and for their colleagues.

In line with COL 13/2013 – the joint circular for police forces and public prosecutors on the investigation and prosecution of discrimination and hate crime cases – basic training is provided regularly to new reference officers in co-operation with the equality body Unia and the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men. The training materials were updated following recommendations made in a 2020 study by the National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology on the under-reporting and dismissal of discrimination offences. 

The Co-ordinating Director (DirCo) of the Federal Police is informed about training courses on discrimination implemented in every police zone. The Charleroi police zone, together with Unia, the Institute for the Equality between Women and Men, and Rainbow Cops, has created a poster and folder with materials on combating hate crimes that are available for all police zones in Belgium.

The Belgian Judicial Training Institute (IGO-IFJ) is responsible for the training of reference magistrates and court staff. The magistrates in charge of each public prosecutor's office and each auditor's office have to take the basic training course organized by the IGO-IFJ. The magistrate in charge of each public prosecutor's office should also undertake an in-depth training course on combating hate crimes organized by the IGO-IFJ. COL 13/2013 also recommends that magistrates, lawyers, and criminologists within each public prosecutor's office and labour inspectorate should also follow the basic training in case they are required to handle or assist in the handling of discrimination cases. The Institute organizes a two-day specialized training course on discrimination and hate crimes on an annual basis. The training is mandatory for Belgian judicial trainees (future judges and prosecutors) in their second year and open to all interested magistrates. It was developed in collaboration with Unia and the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men.

A specialized training session on hate crimes and discrimination was organized in 2015 and 2017 and was open to all magistrates and judicial assistants of the public prosecutor's office and the court's office. A new edition of the training session is currently being developed and will aim to deepen participants' knowledge of hate speech and hate crimes.

A training session on diversity in the courtroom provides an overview of how representations, prejudices, and stereotypes can indirectly influence the judicial process. The training session has been organized since 2020 and is open to all interested judges.

Belgian judicial trainees visit the Kazerne Dossin (Memorial, museum and research centre on the Holocaust and Human rights) in Mechelen, together with judicial trainees from other EU Member States taking part in the AIAKOS programme (an exchange programme for judicial trainees in Europe). In Belgium, participation in the AIAKOS programme is obligatory for all judicial trainees.