Hate crime data

Participating States have committed themselves to pass legislation that provides for penalties that take into account the gravity of hate crime, to take action to address under-reporting, and to introduce or further develop capacity-building activities for law enforcement, prosecution and judicial officials to prevent, investigate and prosecute hate crimes. Specifically, states have repeatedly committed themselves to collect, maintain and make public reliable data on hate crimes, across the criminal justice system from the police to the courts. In recent years, participating States have consolidated their commitments on hate crime in recognition of the importance of a comprehensive approach in addressing the many facets of the problem.

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BIAS MOTIVATIONS

OVERVIEW OF INCIDENTS

Browse hate incidents reported by civil society by country, year, type of incident and bias motivation.

2023 Hate Crime Data

48 OSCE participating States have submitted hate crime information to ODIHR for 2023. Of these, 41 provided statistics, while 30 provided statistics disaggregated by bias motivation.

The official figures are complemented by reports on hate incidents from 125 civil society groups, covering 47 participating States. These contributions amount to 9,891 hate incidents, including 5,768 statistical incidents and 4,123 incidents for which detailed descriptions were provided. This information includes incidents provided by the Holy See, UNHCR and OSCE missions.

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General challenges to reporting hate crimes

This year, ODIHR observes an increase in the number of states that submit data for the Hate Crime Report, as well as an increase in the number submissions from civil society organizations (CSOs). At the same time, hate crime data continues to be obscured in states that do not distinguish hate crimes from other types of crimes, such as criminalized hate speech as well as acts of discrimination.

In this regard, ODIHR observes that many gaps remain in the prosecution of hate crimes. Incomplete or inadequate legislation is a major obstacle for prosecutors, and means that some hate crimes are not investigated as such or are incorrectly prosecuted as “hate speech” offences. This can render hate crimes invisible, leaving victims without support or access to their rights and leading to misinformed policy and legal responses

Comprehensive hate crime data enable states to identify the most vulnerable and targeted victim communities, while putting in place appropriate policies to effectively address hate crimes and support victims. In particular, hate crime data should be analysed to identify how to improve policing, prosecution and victim support.

ODIHR also observes that many countries would benefit from reviewing their existing legal framework to ensure that bias motivations can be effectively acknowledged and appropriate penalties can be imposed on the perpetrators. ODIHR also underscores the need to train prosecutors and the judiciary to prosecute and sentence hate crimes as a priority step in tackling hate crime. These measures would also allow states to gather more comprehensive and accurate data on hate crimes.

Despite the overall uptick in the number of civil society organizations reporting incidents to ODIHR, some victim groups are significantly under-represented in ODIHR’s report. This indicates that the capacity of some civil society organizations to monitor hate incidents and support vulnerable groups remains limited. It is essential that states remove barriers to the vital work of civil society groups by providing them with sufficient funding, scrapping repressive legislation, and engaging civil society actors in designing policies, strategies and programmes as part of a comprehensive approach to address hate crime.

For the 2023 Hate Crime Report, ODIHR also received a large number of incidents of verbal abuse, hate speech or discrimination, including approximately 70 per cent of all anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic incidents reported to ODIHR. These were excluded from ODIHR’s reporting as they go beyond the scope of the report, but indicate a need for other reporting efforts to capture the significant levels of non-criminal hate and abuse that communities experience.

ODIHR offers participating States a range of resources and tools to help them improve hate crime monitoring, collecting and recording practices, address hate crime victims’ needs, and strengthen co-operation with civil society.

Participating States