Hate Crimes

What is a Hate Crime?

A hate crime is any criminal act or attempted criminal act directed against a person or persons based on someone’s actual or perceived race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or gender. Hate crimes can include (but are not limited to) threats of violence, injury, and property damage.

From LA Stop Hate Club

Public Law No: 117-13 (05/20/2021)
COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act

This bill requires a designated officer or employee of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to facilitate the expedited review of hate crimes and reports of hate crimes.

DOJ must issue guidance for state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies on establishing online hate crime reporting processes, collecting data disaggregated by protected characteristic (e.g., race or national origin), and expanding education campaigns.

Additionally, DOJ and the Department of Health and Human Services must issue guidance aimed at raising awareness of hate crimes during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic.

The bill establishes grants for states to create state-run hate crimes reporting hotlines. It also authorizes grants for states and local governments to implement the National Incident-Based Reporting System and to conduct law enforcement activities or crime reduction programs to prevent, address, or respond to hate crimes.

Finally, in the case of an individual convicted of a hate crime offense and placed on supervised release, the bill allows a court to order that the individual participate in educational classes or community service as a condition of supervised release.

Know Your Rights & Bystander Intervention Training

Resources

Article: Hate crimes are on the rise in the U.S. What are the psychological effects? – Found at American Psychological Association

By Amy Novotney

Decades of research suggest hate crimes can lead to a wide range of mental health issues, including increased rates of depression, anxiety, and PTSD

Article: School Social Workers: A Call to Action in Support of Human Rights

The global climate of extremism and direct attacks on marginalized groups such as LGBTQI persons, Muslims, women, immigrants, and refugees creates a need at this critical juncture for school social workers to ground themselves in the international definition of social work, which defines social work as a human rights profession. While there are many challenges to upholding human rights conventions across the world, a human rights framework can assist school social workers in promoting human rights and advocating for vulnerable and marginalized populations. In the context of global migration, children can be especially vulnerable to human rights violations. A human rights approach calls on school social workers to practice in a way that allows for maximum participation of service users in decisions that affect them, addresses power differentials, considers the social context, and privileges an intersectional, strengths based, trauma informed, and recovery-oriented approach.

Article: The role of social work in tackling hate crime – Found at Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice

Research Article: Hate crimes and social work: An international perspective by Daniel Pollack

Preventing Youth Hate Crimes & Identity-Based Bullying Initiative

Social Work’s Call to Action Against Pandemic Othering & Anti-Asian Racism -Found at Society for Social Work and Research

Social Work’s Call to Action Against Pandemic Othering & Anti-Asian Racism

Find Out How Hate Crimes Can Be Prevented In Your Community -Found at United States Department of Justice