Media and Victims of Hate Crimes
Discussion
The term hate crime refers to a criminal offense that is committed against members of a society or an individual due to the offenders bias against a religion, race, ethnicity national origin, sexual orientation or disability. Poor media coverage on the victims of hate crimes can be attributed to various factors.
One major reason is lack of accurate information provided by law enforcement authorities on hate crimes. Though the authorities provide reports on hate crime, the reported cases are considered to be below the actual number of hate crime incidences. The reports fail to give a true picture on incidents of hate crimes. The issue of hate crime has become a major problem in Europe, North America and other nations all over the world. Based on status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion, some individuals becomes victims of murder, physical assault, arson and vandalism. Lack of media reports on the crimes and unreliable data has resulted to the escalation of the problem without being effectively addressed. For example, the FBI has been accused of providing inaccurate statistics on hate crimes. The media is expected to rely on accurate information hence lack of accurate information undermines media focus on the issue. Hate crimes have serious psychological effects on the victims (Herek, 1992).
For example, victims may develop anger, get depressed while others become stressed. Victims of hate crimes in most cases are not willing to report when they are assaulted due to the fear of victimization (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2010). For example, members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) have become victims of hate crimes due to negative stereotyping of individuals of this group. Anti-gay hate crimes result from stereotyping and stigmatization of the members when their sexual orientation is considered unreligious, or abnormal. Many victims of anti-gay hate crimes therefore keep information of their attack discrete. Some victims may intend to keep information on their sexual orientation secret to their families hence they never report cases of crime to the media or law authorities. Even in cases where the crimes are reported, fear of being exposed discourages the victims of crime to disclose personal information to the media to prevent further attacks (Schwartz et al, 2006).
When a particular group of people feels unwelcome in the society, the members of the group who experience hate crimes tend to keep their presence secret. For instance, illegal immigrants from a particular religious or ethnic group whose presence may be unlawful fear being apprehended by the law enforcement authorities. When the individuals are exposed to hate propaganda or crimes perpetrated by law abiding citizens, they avoid reporting at all costs. The media fails to receive any information on hate crimes because the victims try hard to keep it a secret. Hate crimes have long-term effects on the victims together and the family members. Sometimes family members feel that they failed to protect their loved ones when they become hate crime victims. As a result, the members feel helpless and isolated. Therefore, when the victims family members consider media coverage to interfere with personal issues in the family, they avoid media coverage on the victims. Sometimes the family may even deny cases of crime on a member when approached by the media. In the US, majority of hate crimes are motivated by the victims race and sexual orientation. For instance, racial tensions lead to conflicts between the African Americans, whites or Jews Hate crimes are meant to intimidate individuals as well as the other members of a community. Sometimes some members of the community may have experienced assault in the past and because past experiences make the victims angry and fearful, the incidents are never known to the authorities or the media. Lack of good track on crimes that are based on gender identity has had many cases of gender bias go unreported.
Victims of hate crimes can be from various ethnic, religious or racial groups based on the motivation of the crime. The US Congress in 1990 enacted the Hate Crime Statistics Act to address the mounting concern about these form of crime. In 2004, about 9,528 of victims of hate crime were identified. More than a half (53.8 per cent) of the cases involved racial prejudice, 16.7 percent of the cases related to religious intolerance while 15.6 per cent of the victims were attacked due to the sexual orientation. Cases of hate crimes directed towards lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals have been increasing in the last five years. In addition, the controversy surrounding the issue of sexual orientation has resulted to anti-gay sentiments and campaigns. Victimization of gay men and lesbians has promoted anti-gay violence. Many victims of anti-gay violence fear discrimination if they are exposed in the media. The victims are likely to seek help from organizations that are engaged in anti-violence project to protect the rights of gays and lesbians. These organizations keep the true identity of the victims discrete. To make the matters worse, hate crimes against gay people are now perpetrated by the peers hence victims avoid betraying their friends through the media. .
Racial stereotyping and discrimination has had certain members of racial groups attacked or their property destroyed (Hate Crime, 2010). Racial prejudice in the US is still common and racial motivated violence has made it difficult for people from different racial groups to interact. Students in schools, colleges and universities are common victims of hate crimes from fellow colleagues who may have a different racial background. Victims of hate crimes are tortured or bullied. Severe psychological effects of violence on the victims can be attributed to cases of hate crime perpetrated by gangs whereby a group of people torture individuals. Sometimes victims of hate crimes may belong to an ethnic or racial group whos growing economic power threaten the perpetrators of violence. In US schools, hatred between black, white and Hispanic students has had young people involved in hate crime, hate propaganda and gang-violence.
In 2004, the hate crime program reported about 7,649 bias-motivated incidents (US Federal Bureau of Investigation. Hate Crime Statistics, 2010). The offenses targeted about 9,528 victims and were perpetrated by about 7,145 offenders. Single-bias incidences accounted for 52.9 per cent of the total number of incidents. More than half of the single-bias cases were motivated by racial prejudice. Furthermore, about 18 per cent of the incidents were based on religious background, 12.7 percent due to national or ethnic origin while 15.7 per cent incidents resulted from the victims sexual orientation. Majority number of offenders were white (4,327) followed by African Americans (1,408), American Indians (48), individuals from Asian or Pacific Island (70), those from multiple races (357) and those of unknown race (925). About 62.4 per cent of the offenses were directed towards individuals, 36.9 per cent against property while 0.7 per cent towards a society. Some of the ways through which the crimes were committed included intimidation, assaults, vandalism, and destruction of property, rape, murder, and arson and property theft. California had the largest number of hate crimes that were reported in 2004 (1,393) while Mississippi had only two reported cases. In a total population of 1,012,911 (2004) in Mississippi, this figure has raised questions on the accuracy of the number of hate crimes that are reported to the law enforcement authorities. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation data, about 7,163 hate crime incidents in 2005 were reported. About 6,800 offenders were identified. Of the total 7,160 single bias incidents, about 54.7 per cent were racially motivated, 14.2 per cent due to sexual orientation bias, 17.1 per cent due to religious background, 13.2 per cent due to ethnicnational origin while 0.7 per cent due to disability bias. In 2006, a total of 7,722 hate crime incidents were recorded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. About 7,330 offenders and 9,652 victims were identified. Racially motivated crimes accounted for 4,000 incidents while cases that were related to religion totalled 1,462. The numbers of incidents due to the victims sexual orientation were 1,195, those due to ethnicity or national origin 984 and 79 incidents related to disability .In 2006, reports by the FBI indicated that hate crime incidents had increased from 7,163 to 7,722. A large number of the attacks targeted property and victims. Statistics provided by the FBI in the previous years were considered to be flawed because of only 12,600 federal agencies out of 17,000 agencies participated in the program. For example, in 2006, Alabama reported only one case of hate crime. This is an indication that some states barely participated in the data collection program. Many critics of the data state that the FBIs statistics provide false data on the hate crime incidents in US. Some individuals argue that the real statistics countywide could reach 190,000 incidents annually. Based on statistics collected in 2008, about 7,783 hate crime incidents that involved 9,168 offenses were reported. About 7,780 incidents were single-bias. There were 6,921 offenders and 9,683 victims were involved. In addition, of the 3 multiple-bias incidents that were reported, 6 offenders and 8 victims were identified. About 4,704 offenses were single-bias hate crime incidents and a total of 1,617 offenses were based on sexual orientation. In addition, an estimated 1,606 offenses were due to religious bias, 1,148 due to national or ethnic origin and 85 based on disability. It was estimated that 60.4 per cent of the 9,168 of hate crime offenses were directed towards individuals while 39.4 per cent against property
The victims of hate crimes together with the family members are affected mentally, physically and financially (Perry, 2001). Hate crimes are perpetrated through harassment, cross burnings, arson of business and homes, homicides, destruction of religious property and personal assaults. Hate crimes have in the recent past been increasing. The use of verbal threats, weapons, vandalism and physical violence instill fear on the victims of hate crimes leaving them helpless, fearful and alienated. Victims also become angry and frustrated. Although the media has in the recent past focused on hare violence in campuses and colleges, the victims of the crimes are not informed by the media. Victims develop fear for future victimization, injury or death. Victims experience feelings of hopelessness and lack trust in other members of the community. Community relations agencies often receive information of hate crimes from the victims. Victims experience emotional trauma and low self-esteem. Family members of the victim feel guilty because they feel that they did not assist the victim when heshe was attacked. When offenders are not punished, the victims lack trust in the law enforcement authorities. Victims of racism and other forms of hate crimes feel isolated, terrorized and frustrated. Hate crimes affect a community a as a whole. Family members get depressed and hence perform poorly at work. The murder of hate crime victims affects the family members mentally and emotionally. In most cases, murders involving gay men and lesbians over the years are considered to be underreported. Verbal harassment from non-family members and colleagues at school is experienced by targets of hate crime. Use of physical violence and intimidation of victims using weapons affect victims emotionally and psychologically. Victims may experience agitation, headaches, sleeping problems and depression. As compared to other forms of hate crimes, the most sever psychological effects on victims are witnessed in victims of crime due to sexual orientation. Victims of hate crimes feel insecure and powerless especially when surrounded by potential attackers. Clinical depression in victims of hate crimes who experience physical attacks is common. Women have become victims of rape or are physically assaulted. Victims of hate crime endure suffering but trauma on the family members remains for long.
Hate crimes have devastating effects on victims, family members and the community. The crimes cause fear among members of a targeted group who lack confidence to report the crime incidents to law enforcement authorities. The crimes lead to fear, mistrust, suspicion and alienation of certain individuals in the society. In the society, hate crimes undermine unity and harmonious living because they put emphasis on differences instead of common characteristics. In addition, the crimes promote exclusion, isolation and create barriers of communication in the society due to the tension created between members of different backgrounds or sexual orientation. Racially motivated hate crimes against immigrants and minorities in the US is an indication of how racial hostility in the country has led to divisions in the society. As a result, the problem of hate crime has become a significant national concern because it increases vulnerability of targets to stigmatization as well as isolation of the victims and their family members from the society. The members of minority communities feel isolated when hate propaganda is used against them by members of a group with majority numbers in the society. Victims and their families often experience emotional trauma (Confronting the New Faces of Crime Hate Crimes in America 2009, 2010). Furthermore, hostility between members of different groups in the society leads to frictions between people hence it undermines harmonious living of society members from diverse backgrounds and cultures. Victims of hate crimes may become withdrawn when they feel guilty about what they undergo when assaulted and the humiliation they experience when attacked or insulted. Studies have shown that the families of victims of hate crimes who are murdered tend to lose about 90 per cent of their friends. This is because their friends do not want any association with the family to avoid being victimized too. Within the communities, the negative impact of hate crime goes beyond the victim. Because the members of a targeted group live under fear, in most cases they fail to report to the law enforcement agencies about crimes perpetrated against them. This increases incidents of crime in the society where the offenders go unpunished. Consequently, lack of good morals, indiscipline and injustice are witnessed in the society. Trauma and distress experienced by the victims of hate crimes affect the quality of life in the whole society. Property damage, arson and vandalism all lead to financial losses. The destruction of important facilities in the society undermines good quality of life. For example, destruction of buildings or vehicles can lead to huge financial losses to the owners of the property.
To prevent ethnic and racial conflict, civil disorders and hate violence, the US Department of Justice has an arm referred to as the Community Relations Service (CRS).The CRS is a specialized federal reconciliation service available to both local and state officials. The CRS has the responsibility to work with the local officials to develop solutions to the root causes of conflicts and violence that threatens the security of a community. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has the responsibility to conduct investigations and report all cases of hate crimes. Based on the statistics, the CRS then works with representatives from schools, law enforcement agencies and community organizations to provide long term and short term strategies that prevent occurrence of hate crimes. In addition, the CRS also conducts reconciliation meetings between the victims of hate crimes and other members of the society. Numerous non-governmental and community based organizations have been involved in campaigns that aim at increasing public awareness on the rights of victims of hate crime regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation (Levin and Mcdevitte,2002). The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community has put into place measures that increase public awareness on the rights of its members as one way of ending hate crime against their members. When people understand that members of this community should have their rights respected, anti-gay violence is minimized.
In the US, hate crime laws have been enacted and implemented to protect all citizens against hate crime (Schwartz et al, 2006). Although state laws that address this problem vary. However, all statutes permit the prosecution of perpetrators of hate crimes. The US Department of Justice works together with the FBI and security authorities that are expected to collect and publish hate crime statistics to provide accurate data. This is important in ensuring that lack of information does not compromise security of some society members. Example of legislation that addresses this problem includes the 1969 Federal Civil Rights Law, Violent Crime Control and the 1994 Law Enforcement Act. The Matthew Shepard Act was signed by President Obama into law on October 28, 2009.This Act has expanded the definition of hate crime in existing federal hate crime laws to include crimes motivated by ones gender, identity, sexual orientation and disability .The Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990 allows the Attorney General to collect data on hate crimes. The data is then used to develop measures to address the problem of hate crime. Other Acts that ensure that hate crime statistics are available to the public include the Campus Hate Crime Right to Know Act of 1997 and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.The Hate Crime Statistics Improvement Act of 2009 is meant to allow the Attorney General to acquire data on hate crimes relating to gender so that gender-related crime is curbed. Workshops and conferences that increase awareness on the issue of hate crime are organized by state and non-governmental organizations. These efforts have been instrumental in minimizing hate and tension between members of different groups.
Conclusion
Hate crimes have detrimental effects on the victims, family members and the society as a whole. Hate crimes have been on the increase in the US despite the lack of or little coverage of this form of crime by the media. Victims of hate crimes are assaulted due to their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or disability. Perpetrators of hate crimes often believe that they have the support of their community and easily get involved in physical assault, property damage, and murder and hate propaganda directed against their targets. Fear of victimization, lack of confidence in law enforcement authorities and feelings of hopelessness in victims of hate crimes encourages the victims to keep information on attack a secret.
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