A hate crime is any criminal act involving violence or specific threats against a person or their property motivated by prejudice against one or more of the following: race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation or disability. Hate crimes have a devastating impact far beyond the harm inflicted on individual victims. They contaminate communities, instill fear and create divisions. They also inspire terror in the group to which a victim belongs and lead others to believe that they could be next, which leads to further violence and more hatred.
While laws can help, they cannot solve the problem of hate and extremism alone. They must be coupled with other efforts to prevent and combat hate, such as providing education on the underlying issues, public condemnation of racism, intolerance and bigotry and fostering strong law enforcement-community partnerships.
If you are a victim of a hate crime or have information on hate incidents that have occurred, report it to the police right away. Even if it doesn’t seem like a major event, you should still report it because these incidents can grow and spread. It is important to keep records of any incident – this includes writing down what happened and taking photos of any damage to your home, car or business. You can then use this evidence to support a report to the police. Keeping records can also help you to get the support services you may need. If you don’t feel comfortable speaking to the police, try a victim support service.
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