Mate crime is a form of hate crime and can be a very serious form of abuse.
The term mate crime describes when a vulnerable person is befriended with the intention of them being abused or exploited.
A vulnerable person can be someone:
- with learning disabilities
- mental health or substance misuse issues
- elderly or older
The abuse or exploitation can be:
- financial
- physical
- emotional
- sexual or otherwise.
In some cases, victims of mate crime have been significantly harmed or even killed.
Those that commit such abuse or theft are often referred to as ‘fake friends’.
There are different forms of mate crime, which can include:
- theft/financial abuse – the abuser might demand or ask to be lent money and then not pay it back or the abuser might take their benefits from them
- cuckooing – the abuser might take over the person’s home and visit or stay there, despite the person not wanting them to
- physical assault/abuse – the abuser might hurt or injure the adult which may ultimately result in death
- harassment or emotional abuse – the abuser might manipulate, mislead and make the person feel worthless
- this includes name calling and grooming the person for criminal activities
- sexual assault/abuse – the abuser might harm or take advantage of the person sexually.
Often, these different types of abuse do not happen in isolation – abusers may subject people to multiple forms of abuse at the same time.