A hate crime is a criminal offence. This is because the incidents themselves are prosecutable offences like physical assault, burglary, threats on social media, vandalism on your property, hate mail or fraud. What makes it a hate crime is the perception of the victim or witnesses of it being motivated by prejudice or hate based on one of the nine protected characteristics in the Equality Act (2010), mentioned above.
All forms of hate-motivated abuse are upsetting and traumatic. Experiencing hate crime can be a particularly frightening experience, as you've been targeted because of who you are, or who or what your attacker thinks you are. Unlike non-identity related offences, the attack is very personal as you’ve been specifically targeted. This can be harder to cope with than a crime that is motivated by money, for example.