Underreporting Of Hate Crime Essay

Improved Essays
Whilst Scotland is well on its way to tackle hate crime, most policies focus on the perpetrators and the criminal justice response. Twenty five years after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, there are still issues of underreporting, victims that fall between the cracks of current legislation, and lack of support for certain victims (Amnesty International UK, 2017, Kevin Kane, 2017, Nottingham Women’s Centre, 2018). Furthermore, Brexit and the recent terrorist attacks, such as the London Bridge terrorist attack, have caused a rise in hate crime (Forster, 2016).

Underreporting of hate crime
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) published the number of hate crimes reported during the 2016-2017 period, whether they were dropped, convicted or acquitted of by court. In total, 5,325 charges were made in relation to sexual orientation, transgender, race, religion, and disability hate crimes. 5,708 when offensive behaviour at football and threatening communications were included (COPFS, 2017). However, official statistics rarely represent the reality of the crime levels. An increase in reporting does
…show more content…
Racism and hate crimes against white minority groups, such as gypsies, asylum seekers, and eastern European immigrants, are often not given adequate attention. The number of hate crimes against Polish people in the UK has increased by ten times from 2004 to 2014, due to political stereotyping and negative media coverage and moderated by government austerity and lack of job opportunities (McDevitt, 2014). After Brexit, Polish people living in Britain are too anxious about remaining that they do not report hate crimes according to the Polish Social and Cultural Association. Home Office recorded an increase of racist and religious hate crimes by 41% in England and Wales after the EU referendum (Forster, 2016). Yet, Police Scotland reported that there was no rise in racial crimes after Brexit (Hamilton,

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    We need to be certain that all states and all jurisdictions are providing data to the F.B.I and unfortunately, within the policy itself lies a weakness, reporting is voluntary and not a mandate of the law. Some police agencies do not collect or disclose the data and as a result some states have never reported a hate crime against LGBT people to the F.B.I. Currently, seventeen states have hate crime legislation that includes both sexual orientation and gender identity, thirteen include only gender identity, sixteen do not include sexual orientation or gender and four states have no hate crime legislation on their books at all. Without federal mandated reporting in addition to state legislation in place, it is unlikely that statistical data is a true reflection of the violent crimes committed against LGBT…

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Unconstitutional Movie

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This has led to countless arrests which are made on the basis of stereotypes, rather than on…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    So I am really glad that chapter 9 branched out of the states of New York and California. I think it is really interesting that CFV had so much sway for a group of people that were basing their hatred on stereotypes and hearsay. When the Amendment 2 unexpectedly pass, a team of lawyers were ready to fight. Amendment 2 left the gay community in an awkward state. They were already abandoned by the federal government in the ruling of Bowers that said that sodomy laws could be kept intact and overturning Amendment didn't seem that promising.…

    • 692 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The purpose of this documentary is to illustrate the severity of racial discrimination against people from Asia in Australia. The main message is to heighten awareness (recognition) to the public about the racism society held towards Asian and hopefully abate prejudice since no media work has been produced on this subject. The intended audience range for this documentary is teenagers and the general public in Western countries, especially, Australia where 10% of the population are from Asia, whilst 80% of racial attacks against Asians are ignored. In order to inform the viewers the nature of the problems, choices of archived footage and actuality, interviews of racially attacked victims, statistical evidence and interview from a commissioner of the Australian Human Rights Commission will be displayed.…

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Sikhs are one of the brown, dark skinned people who have been the targets of anti-Muslim hate crimes. They have been misunderstood because of their beard and turban. In a 2013 survey made by Stanford University and by the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, it was found that 49 percent of Americans think that the religion of Sikhism is a section of Islam. Sikhism and Islam are two separate religions. In this survey it was also concluded that some Americans tend to mix Sikhs and turbans with al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, The Islamic state or with the Taliban.…

    • 1449 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Solutions To Hate Crime

    • 134 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Any arguments supporting hate crimes is weak because they are morally wrong and they do not lead to any progress. Hate crime is wrong, and we have to take action to stop this because it divides society, vilify innocent people, and lower academic achievement which is not good because we need to make our country successful by acting with solidarity. Solutions to hate crime is stronger penalties, include not judging people based on their race, religion, and political beliefs. People should also train their brains to condemn stereotypes and seek media messages that are accurate, sensible and positive. Hate crime can cause low self-esteem and self-confidence issues.…

    • 134 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The relationship between hate crimes and inequality is that hate crimes are often used as a means of continuing the oppression and suppression of minority groups. Hate crimes assert the imagined “dominance” and “control” of the individual who commits them. Hate crimes are meant to instill fear into minority communities while trying to prevent them from working against systems of inequality. Whether committed as a form of “retaliation” or as a means of An example of a hate crime committed in this context would be the Charleston, South Carolina shootings committed by Dylan Roof.…

    • 150 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Hate Crimes: Typology

    • 1072 Words
    • 5 Pages

    All over the word hate crimes are a problem, people need to become more educated on how hate crimes negatively impact people's lives. If society becomes further educated on the negative emotional and criminal effects of hate crimes, then the overall percentage of hate crimes will decrease. A hate crime is defined as an offense motivated by hatred, bias, or prejudice, based on the race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation of another individual or a group of individuals (Schmalleger, 2015). Hate crimes have always been an issue in America; however, following the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, hate crimes became more prevalent.…

    • 1072 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Having this act passed gives spectators the opportunity to see the effectiveness of hate crime laws. The National Crime Victimization Survey released statistics in 2014 that stated a decrease from 63% in 2003-2007 to 54% in 2007-20011 of hate crimes being race related (“By the Numbers”). This decrease shows the effectiveness of hate crime laws as well as the Hate Crime Statistics Act. A few years later the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act was passed, and included the Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act of 1994, to define a hate crime and establish increased sentencing for a crime proved to be motivated by prejudice. These two acts opened the door for hate crime awareness and led to opportunities for making a difference in the United States…

    • 1650 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Especially in South Carolina with the recent hate crime committed by Dylann…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Darwinism And Racism

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages

    1. In what ways have Darwinist theories encouraged racist thinking? Darwinist theories saw that the human race is similar to the animal species, in terms of “the survival of the fittest”: the rising of the superior creatures and eventually inferior others will become extinct (Jeynes, 2011). In Darwin’s observation of other races around the world, he concluded that some races are savage and cannot be civilised.…

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Racial Profiling In Canada

    • 1292 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Over the past couple of years, Canada has witnessed the issue of racial profiling gain increasingly amount of prominence from the public, as an increasing number of minorities reside in urban cities, while at the same time becoming targets by the police force on the account of their race. Despite the fact that this is a vital issue that several modern policing agencies face, they have been robust in denying even the mere thought of racial profiling. Rather, they have insisted on not targeting “who”, but criminal behaviour, a statement that contrasts deeply with research completed by scholars. In addition, this essay will also analyze the data suppression of race in crime reports, and, in the end, it will be clear that the police force has indeed…

    • 1292 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hate Crime Laws

    • 2025 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The community that are the most biased will be the one who will most be worked on. Everywhere there is hate crime there is someone hurting and scared these people are so afraid they cannot speak up and when they do they are looked down on. Hate crime is mostly caused because people are afraid of a culture is going to do with there way of living. In an article named “Haters of Hate Crime Laws” where a journalist named Jay Dixit took a novel approach to join an internet chat with white racists to see their attitude towards people. the journalist states “ The more extreme responses seemed to be about a threat to their culture integrity” these people are afraid that they will change the way the have grown to believe.…

    • 2025 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Racial Profiling Essay

    • 1451 Words
    • 6 Pages

    As Anna Amberg, writer of “Racial Profiling - It Works,” claims, “If we look at the number of homicides committed in the United States between 1974 and 2004, 52% of offenders were black and 46% were white… The kicker is that blacks made up only 12% of the total population during this time period, while whites made up 80%. This shows that your average black person was much more likely to commit a homicide than your average white person” (¶ 3). While the statistics that Amberg uses are incontrovertibly true, she fails to consider a crucial aspect which is the social cost. It is not as easy as using a policy that is convenient and most likely to produce correct answers because falsely identifying someone based on his or her racial profile has a high cost.…

    • 1451 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A hate crime is an offense, usually violent, motivated by the prejudice of one specific status a single individual holds, i.e., sexual orientation, religion, gender, ethnicity, ect. These crimes are driven simply because of the hatred one person feels towards another. An individual is targeted because of something about themselves a single person or group of people do not approve of. Hate crimes are the highest priority of the FBI’s Civil Rights program and each year an estimated 1,200 crimes are reported, however, the number is most likely higher due to underreported cases. In 2012, an astonishing 5,796 were committed.…

    • 1239 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays