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Guide

If you're attacked in Poland for your origin: what to do

Updated

In Poland it is a crime to use violence against someone, threaten them or insult them because of their nationality, ethnicity, race or religion. Police and prosecutors must investigate it themselves, and reporting it costs nothing. This guide is for anyone attacked for where they come from or the language they speak.

Save these contacts now:

What Contact
Emergency: police, ambulance 112, free, 24/7
Helpline for crime victims: legal and psychological advice; Ukrainian, Russian and English available 116 006, free, 24/7 (from a foreign phone: +48 222 309 900)
Free lawyer for victims of violence over origin, skin colour, religion or language Stowarzyszenie Interwencji Prawnej: [email protected]
Psychological crisis support 800 70 2222, free, 24/7

During the attack

Safety comes first.

  1. Don't answer insults. Say once, calmly: "Proszę przestać" (Please stop). Then stop talking and move away. Attackers often want a reaction.
  2. Go where people are: a shop, a bus stop, a busy street. On a bus or tram, go to the driver. In a shop, go to the staff or security.
  3. Ask one specific person for help. A crowd tends to watch; a person you point at tends to act: "Pan w niebieskiej kurtce, proszę zadzwonić na 112!" (You in the blue jacket, please call 112!)
  4. Call 112 if you are threatened or hit. Say where you are, what is happening, what the attacker looks like and whether anyone is hurt. "Zostałem zaatakowany" (man) / "Zostałam zaatakowana" (woman) "Jestem przy…" (I was attacked. I am at…).
  5. You have the right to defend yourself. If you are attacked and can't get away, Polish law lets you fight back (Article 25 of the Criminal Code). Stop once the attack stops. Details in Self-defence below.
  6. Film if it is safe. You may legally record an event you are part of. But a phone held up to an attacker can make things worse.
  7. Remember details: face, clothes, tattoos, the exact words used, which way they went, a car's number plate.

Don't chase the attacker and don't threaten back.

Right after: collect proof the same day

What you save in the first hours decides whether the case moves.

  • See a doctor the same day if you are hurt, even for bruises. Go to a clinic or a hospital emergency department (SOR) and ask for a written description of your injuries. Keep every paper.
  • Forensic exam (obdukcja). A court trusts a forensic doctor's report most. Ask the police to send you for one: then you don't pay. Done on your own, it costs money.
  • Photos: injuries (again after 1–2 days, when bruises show), torn clothes, the place. Keep damaged items as they are.
  • Write it all down today: time, place, the exact words said (especially about your nationality or language), what the attacker looked like. Memory fades fast.
  • Witnesses: get names and phone numbers.
  • Cameras: note every camera nearby (shop, bus, tram, street, petrol station) and tell the police at once. Recordings are often deleted within days.
  • Your own video: keep the original file, don't edit it, make a copy. Give it to the police. Don't post it online before talking to a lawyer.
  • Keep receipts for medicine, doctors, taxis, damaged things and a lawyer. The court can order the attacker to pay them back.

Report it to the police

Report it even if the attacker ran away, and even if it was "only" words: threats and insults over nationality are crimes too.

Where: any police station or any prosecutor's office (prokuratura), no matter where it happened. The official "Moja Komenda" app shows the nearest station. Take your passport or ID, medical papers and your notes. You may bring a person you trust.

How:

  1. Say you want to file a report (zawiadomienie) and ask them to write a record (protokół).
  2. Say clearly that you were attacked because of your origin or language. Ask them to write down the attacker's exact words. Without this, it can be recorded as an ordinary fight.
  3. Ask for an interpreter if your Polish is not strong. It is free and it is your right. Everyday Polish is not enough for legal wording.
  4. Read the record before signing it. Ask them to fix mistakes. Don't sign what you don't understand.
  5. Ask for a confirmation of your report. You have a right to it, and it shows the case number.

What to say:

Situation Say in Polish Meaning
Filing Chcę złożyć zawiadomienie o podejrzeniu popełnienia przestępstwa. Proszę o sporządzenie protokołu. I want to report a crime. Please write a record.
The motive Sprawca obrażał mnie i groził mi z powodu mojego pochodzenia. Proszę dokładnie zapisać to w protokole. The attacker insulted and threatened me because of my origin. Please write this down exactly.
Interpreter Nie rozumiem języka polskiego w stopniu umożliwiającym złożenie zeznań. Proszę o tłumacza. My Polish is not good enough for a statement. I ask for an interpreter.
Confirmation Proszę o potwierdzenie złożenia zawiadomienia. Please give me a confirmation of my report.
Refusal Proszę o podanie podstawy prawnej odmowy na piśmie. Please give me the legal reason for refusing, in writing.

If the police refuse or talk you out of it: they must accept every report, spoken or written. Refusing is against the law. Go to another station, or straight to a prosecutor's office. Since March 2026, 50 prosecutor's offices have prosecutors trained for hate crimes.

In writing instead: a report in Polish, signed by hand, handed in at a station or prosecutor's office or sent by registered letter. For Ukrainians: Templates in Polish with a Ukrainian translation: oboviazkiiprawa.com (Embassy of Ukraine), section "Додатки".

Free help in the next days

You don't have to deal with this alone or pay for a lawyer.

First call: the victim helpline 116 006. It is free and open 24/7, with lawyers and psychologists; Ukrainian, Russian and English are available through interpreters. You can call before reporting to the police.

A free lawyer:

State victim-help centres (list by region): free legal and psychological help; they can also cover some costs, such as medical treatment.

Psychological help: 800 70 2222 (free, 24/7). In Ukrainian or Russian: Fundacja Ocalenie, +48 22 828 04 50.

Your consulate can follow your case and help you deal with the authorities. Its contacts are on your country's foreign ministry website. For Ukrainians: Embassy of Ukraine contacts.

If it happened to your child at school: tell the class teacher and the head teacher in writing and keep copies. If the school does nothing, complain to the regional education authority (kuratorium oświaty). Violence goes to the police. For Ukrainians: section 4 of oboviazkiiprawa.com has ready letters in Polish.

Self-defence

Polish law allows you to defend yourself. Article 25 of the Criminal Code says: fighting off a direct, unlawful attack is not a crime.

The rules:

  • Leave if you safely can. The law doesn't require you to run, but leaving is the safest outcome, including legally.
  • Defend only while the attack lasts. Once the attacker stops, runs away or is on the ground, stop. Hitting after that is revenge, not defence.
  • You may use your hands, pepper spray or objects at hand. You don't have to match the attacker's means. But the response must not be far out of scale with the attack. The court looks at how dangerous the attack was, how many attackers there were, the difference in strength and any weapons.
  • Fear counts. If you went too far because of fear or shock caused by the attack, the court does not punish you.

What you may carry:

Item Permit needed? Note
Hand-held pepper spray No The most practical option
Stun gun up to 10 mA (check the label) No Stronger models need a permit
Batons, knuckle dusters, blades hidden in objects May count as weapons that need a permit Don't carry them
Ordinary knife No Not a defence tool: a knife wound is serious harm, and the court will ask hard whether it was necessary

No pepper spray at stadiums, concerts, demonstrations or in a plane cabin.

Using pepper spray:

  • Keep it in your hand or an outer pocket, not deep in a bag. Check the expiry date.
  • Use it only when someone attacks or is about to hit you, never against words alone.
  • Aim at the face from 1–3 metres in short bursts, then leave and call 112.
  • Wind and closed spaces (bus, tram, stairwell) will blow it back at you.

After you defended yourself:

  1. Call 112 yourself at once. Say you were attacked and defended yourself.
  2. If the attacker is hurt, ask for an ambulance for them too. Not helping an injured person is a separate crime.
  3. Explain exactly why you felt in danger: how many attackers, what they did or said, weapons, why you couldn't get away.
  4. If the police treat you as a suspect, you may stay silent until you talk to a lawyer: "Korzystam z prawa do odmowy składania wyjaśnień do czasu konsultacji z adwokatem." If you are detained, ask them to tell your consulate: "Proszę niezwłocznie zawiadomić konsulat o moim zatrzymaniu."

Learn it: free courses run by the Warsaw city guard, WenDo workshops for women, and Krav Maga clubs in most cities.

Later: follow your case

  • Your rights as a victim (pokrzywdzony): see the case files, add evidence, have a lawyer act for you. Ministry of Justice explanation: in Polish, in Ukrainian.
  • No news 6 weeks after your report? You can complain to the higher prosecutor's office.
  • Case closed? You have 7 days from receiving the decision to appeal. Ask one of the free lawyers above to help.
  • Money for the harm: in the criminal case, ask the court to order the attacker to pay you compensation. Bring your receipts.
  • Complaints about the police: the police human-rights officer of your region, or the Ombudsman (Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich) at 800 676 676, free.

Tell monitoring groups too. It doesn't replace a police report, but it makes attacks visible.

Sources