Portugal
Portugal regularly reports information on hate crimes to ODIHR. The Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutor's Office collect data on hate crimes.
In 2018, the Ministry of Justice, ODIHR and the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights co-organized a workshop to improve hate crime recording and data collection, based on ODIHR's Information Against Hate Crimes Toolkit (INFAHCT). The workshop resulted in a set of recommendations for relevant state authorities.
Portugal has launched a series of action plans in recent years to combat discrimination, including a plan to combat racism (PNCRD 2021 - 2025), the National Strategy to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion, the National Strategy for Equality and Non-Discrimination (2018-2030), the National Implementation Plan of the Global Compact for Migration, the National Roma Communities Integration Strategy (2013-2022), and the National Programme on Holocaust Remembrance.
OFFICIAL DATA REPORTED BY STATES
| Year | Hate crimes recorded by police | Prosecuted | Sentenced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 421 | Not available | Not available |
| 2023 | 344 | 5 | 3 |
| 2022 | 270 | Not available | Not available |
| 2021 | 150 | 5 | 3 |
| 2020 | 132 | Not available | Not available |
| 2019 | 82 | - | - |
| 2018 | 63 | Not available | Not available |
| 2017 | 48 | Not available | Not available |
| 2016 | - | - | 0 |
| 2015 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| 2014 | 21 | 21 | Not available |
| 2013 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| 2012 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| 2011 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| 2010 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| 2009 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
About 2024 Data
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Police-recorded figures mainly consist of incidents of discrimination and incitement to hatred and violence, which fall outside the OSCE hate crime definition. While hate crimes may be included, they could not be identified in these statistics.
Records on prosecuted and sentenced cases were not available at the time of publishing ODIHR's 2024 Hate Crime Report.
Hate crime recorded by police
KEY OBSERVATION
ODIHR recognizes Portugal's efforts to report hate crime information and statistics to ODIHR. However, based on the available information, ODIHR observes that law enforcement agencies have not recorded the bias motivations behind hate crimes and that Portugal's hate crime statistics do not sufficiently distinguish hate crimes from other crimes. In addition, ODIHR observes that Portugal would benefit from building the capacity of criminal justice officials to address hate crime.
ODIHR recalls that in Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, OSCE participating States agreed to a definition of hate crime shared by all OSCE participating States, and committed to collecting reliable data and statistics on hate crimes, as well as to promptly investigating hate crimes and ensuring that the motives of those convicted of hate crimes are acknowledged. To that end, law enforcement agencies must first record the bias motivations behind hate crimes. Participating States also committed to introducing or further developing professional training and capacity-building activities for law enforcement, prosecution and judicial officials dealing with hate crimes.
ODIHR stands ready to support Portugal in meeting its relevant commitments through the provision of comprehensive resources and tailored assistance in the area of hate crime recording and data collection, as well as by providing further resources and tailored capacity-building assistance for police, prosecution, and judiciary.
OVERVIEW OF INCIDENTS REPORTED BY CIVIL SOCIETY
For 2024, ODIHR received reports of hate incidents in Portugal from the following civil society organizations:
The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC)
To learn more about this organization, visit the Contributors page.
All incidents submitted by the above organizations have been analysed by ODIHR. Those that were broadly considered to be hate crimes within the OSCE definition (criminal offence committed with a bias motive) are listed in the tables below according to the bias motivation category. Some incidents involved multiple biases and may be listed in multiple categories.
ODIHR’s insightsIn 2024, ODIHR received two reports of anti-Christian incidents that took place in Portugal. ODIHR observes that there is a lack of reporting from civil society on Portugal. It should be noted that ODIHR did not receive any reporting on Portugal relating to racist and xenophobic, anti-Roma, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, anti-LGBTI, gender-based, or disability hate incidents. This indicates potential gaps in the information reported here. |
Please note that incidents reported here are based on voluntary civil society submissions and as such do not reflect the actual number of incidents or the most targeted communities in Portugal.
To address under-reporting, ODIHR encourages any civil society organizations or groups that monitor hate incidents in Portugal to report these to ODIHR at hatecrimereport@odihr.pl.
To export an Excel sheet with summaries of all incidents from Portugal click here and search by year and country.
CIVIL SOCIETY INCIDENT SUMMARIES
Anti-Christian hate crime
| Date | Type of incident | Source | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-03 | Attacks against property | OIDAC
|
Show info |
| 2024-02 | Attacks against property | OIDAC
|
Show info |
INTERNATIONAL REPORTS
Anti-LGBTI hate crime
The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published relevant recommendations in its "ECRI Report on Portugal (sixth monitoring cycle)".