People suffering hate incidents are being urged to report them to Kingston Citizens Advice Bureau as the charity marks Advice Week 2010.

A hate incident is when someone is targeted because of their disability, gender identity, race, religion or sexual orientation, and includes verbal or physical attacks.

Advice Week comes after many measures in the Equality Act 2010, which simplifies anti-discrimination legislation, came into force on Friday, October 1.

The charity is raising awareness of hate incidents and how to tackle them, including a film at youtube.com/user/citizensadvice and a podcast at http://advicepod.podomatic.com/rss2.xml

Bureau manager Pippa Mackie said: “We all have the right to live free from violence, harassment or hostility, but over the years we have seen cases of how devastating hate incidents and discrimination can be on individuals, families and the wider community.

“We want people to feel able to come in and tell us about any form of discrimination whether experiencing or witnessing hate incidents, and no matter how minor they might seem.

“Hate incidents are a form of discrimination and can be a consequence or underlying cause of other problems that people come to us for in search of advice.”

Staff from different agencies, including Age Concern Kingston and the Kingston Race and Equalities Council, will attend an awareness raising event about the Equality Act on Wednesday, October 13.

The bureau can be contacted on 0844 826 9701.