Despite the growing number of bias-motivated violence studies, the evidence available remains limited, and there are several gaps in our understanding of the complex relationship between negative a...

Is There Such a Thing as a Hate Crime Paradigm? An Integrative Review of Bias-Motivated Violent Victimization and Offending, Its Effects and Underlying Mechanisms.

The underreporting of hate crime is recognised as problematic for jurisdictions across Europe and beyond. Within the UK, the landmark inquiry report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence 25 years ago...

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Reality versus rhetoric: Assessing the efficacy of third-party hate crime reporting centres:

Previous research has identified numerous barriers to reporting hate crimes. However, high variability exists in the outcome measures considered across multiple studies, including whether hate crimes encompass non-criminal behaviours, whether victims’ perceptions are considered bias indicators, and whether the incident is reported to police or to other organisations. These inconsistencies prevent an understanding of whether different barriers relate to different types of hate crimes. This article presents the results of an exploratory empirical study with a convenience sample of members of minorities facing hate crime victimisation in Victoria, Australia (N = 260). Our study participants experienced different types of barriers regarding incidents with different levels of perceived severity. Internalisation and lack of knowledge were more relevant to the underreporting of incidents perceived as less serious—verbal assault. Fear of consequences, lack of trust in statutory agencies, and accessibility were more relevant to the underreporting of incidents perceived as more serious—physical violence and property destruction.

Hate Crime Reporting: The Relationship Between Types of Barriers and Perceived Severity

The paper reflects on academic literature on the international normative and institutional framework related
to hate crimes. Various theoretical and pragmatic issues have been discussed by academic authors, such as
the challenges coming with the obligation of states to record hate crimes or to conduct efficient investigation,
the limits of the potential impact of international review mechanisms, or the aims and content of resolutions
adopted by international institutions and judgments delivered by the European Court of Human Rights.
However, a wide range of practical and conceptual issues related to the existing international standards and
the efficiency of international review mechanisms remain to be discussed in the academic sphere.

Hate crimes and international institutions: A literature review

The appropriate recording of hate crime by state authorities (most usually by the police) has been recognized internationally as important to addressing hate crime. However, little scholarly attention has been paid to the role played by civil society in monitoring hate crime. This article will elaborate a range of purposes fulfilled by civil society organisations in collecting data on the extent and motivations of hate crime occurring in a given jurisdiction. Drawing on in-depth interviews with civil society organisations engaged in conducting third party monitoring of hate crime in one such jurisdiction, we will document the manner in which such monitoring systems (a) provide a means of reporting hate crime; (b) provide minority communities a means of reporting hate crime; (c) serve as a comparator to potentially unrepresentative official statistics where these are collected; (d) provide an evidence base for legislative change; and (e) provide a platform to affirm victims’ naming of their experiences as hate crimes. This internationally transferable taxonomy of the functions of civil society monitoring systems, is complemented by additional insights into the particular significance of such mechanisms in jurisdictions in which the construct of hate crime is not acknowledged in the justice system. On a critical note, the article will identify victim support as a natural extension of hate crime recording systems, noting that civil society organisations collecting data on hate crime in Ireland do not fulfil this remit. In summary, we argue for the value of civil society hate crime reporting systems as a source of challenge to otherwise hegemonic state constructions of jurisdictional hate crime. We advocate for international bodies to incorporate the financial support of civil society organisations into their monitoring functions on this basis.

Emma Marie MacIntosh

Papers

What is Measured Matters: The Value of Third Party Hate Crime Monitoring