Hate crime refer to crimes where the motive for the crime is discrimination against individuals because of certain characteristics such as ethnicity or sexual orientation. Various pieces of legislation, such as the Equality Act and the Incitement to Racial Hatred and Incitement to Religious Hatred acts seek to control discriminatory behaviour. Furthermore, when prosecuting crimes such as assault, evidence of it being a hate crime is an aggravating factor when judges consider sentencing and should lead to a longer than average custodial sentence.