Who Is Victimized by Hate and Bias Crimes?

Hate and bias crimes impact the victims and other community members who identify as part of a targeted group.

Although hate and bias crimes happen every day, crimes targeting members of protected groups often increase because of national and international events. For example, there was a dramatic increase in Anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020, often attributed to rhetoric surrounding the global COVID-19 pandemic.

It is difficult to find accurate statistics on hate and bias crimes. The federal government uses data gathered by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), which is reported by law enforcement agencies that track hate and bias crimes. Data gathered by the FBI in 2022, reports that more than 11,613 single-bias hate crime incidents and 346 multiple-bias hate crime incidents, the highest number since the FBI started tracking hate and bias crimes in 1991.

Many experts believe that hate crimes are significantly underreported both to law enforcement and by law enforcement. Victims of hate crimes may have different reasons for not reporting. For example, some victims may be concerned that their immigration status would be scrutinized if they report hate crimes. Other victims may avoid law enforcement due to lack of trust in the system.

Even when an incident is reported, law enforcement does not always accurately label the conduct as a hate crime. Law enforcement may fail to accurately designate conduct as a hate crime for many reasons. Oregon is an example of where underreporting may be happening. In 2022, 290 bias crimes were reported to law enforcement, but 890 matters were reported to the Oregon bias hotline (723 of which were motivated at least in part by bias against a member of a protected group).

Who Are the Victims of Hate and Bias Crimes in the United States?

The most recent FBI data shows that the majority of hate and bias incidents were motivated by bias based on race, ethnicity, or ancestry. The next largest group of crimes was motivated by bias based on religion, followed by sexual orientation. Hate crimes motivated by Anti-Black or Anti-African American bias was the largest number, consisting of 29.4% of all single-bias incidents when categorized by protected groups. Anti-Semitic (anti-Jewish) incidents accounted for 9.7% of other hate and bias incidents, and Anti-Gay (Male) incidents accounted for 9.3%.

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FBI Statistics Collected for 2022: Bias Motivation Categories for Victims of Single-bias Crimes. Information from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Data pulled 8/6/24.

Who Are the Victims of Hate and Bias Crimes in Oregon?

According to the FBI, in Oregon in 2022, 290 bias crimes were reported to law enforcement, a slight increase from the previous year. Incidents based on bias motivated by race, ethnicity, and national origin made up more than half of the reported incidents. The top three groups who were targeted include: Anti-Black or Anti-African American bias crimes (31.7%), Anti-Hispanic or Latino bias crimes (12%), and Anti-Gay (Male) bias crimes (8.3%).

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Information from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Data pulled 8/6/24

During this same time period (2022), 2887 reports of hate and bias crimes and incidents were made to the Non-Emergency Bias Reporting Hotline in Oregon. Of those 2887 incidents, 890 were classified as bias crimes, and 723 were based on bias against a protected group. As with the statistics captured by the FBI, the most common types of bias were based on race, ethnicity, and national origin, followed by sexual orientation and religion.


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Oregon Bias Hotline Statistics Collected for 2022: Bias Motivation Categories for Victims of Single-bias Incidents. Information from the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission’s Bias Crimes (2022) Report. https://www.oregon.gov/cjc/CJC%20Document%20Library/SB577ReportJuly2023.pdf

Who Are the Perpetrators of Hate and Bias Crimes in the United States?

Persons who commit hate and bias crimes have varied backgrounds and motivations. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Southern Poverty Law Center have compiled detailed information about persons who commit these crimes and the activity of hate groups.

Amir's Story

Amir seeks the assistance of an attorney after law enforcement refuses to return his calls to learn more about hate and bias crimes and his rights.

Read and Listen to Amir's Story

References

  1. See Kimmy Yam, Anti-Asian hate crimes increased by nearly 150% in 2020, mostly in N.Y. and L.A., new report says, NBC News (March 9, 2021, 12:37 PM PST), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/anti-asian-hate-crimes-increased-nearly- 150-2020- mostly-n-n1260264.
  2. The FBI collects data about single-bias and multiple-bias hate crimes. A single-bias incident includes one or more offenses that were motivated by the same bias. Incidents that include two or more identified types of bias are described as multiple-bias incidents. For more information, see U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Fed. Bureau of Investigation, Hate Crime Stat., https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/more-fbi-services-and-information/ucr/hate-crime#:~:text=Bias%20Motivation:%20Incidents%20may%20include,by%20two%20or%20more%20biases.).
  3. Press Release, U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Fed. Bureau of Investigation, FBI Releases 2022 Crime in the Nation Statistics (Oct. 3, 2023), https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-releases-2022-crime-in-the-nation-statistics.
  4. See generally Frank S. Pezzella, Matthew D. Fetzer & Tyler Keller, The Dark Figure of Hate Crime Underreporting, Am. Behav. Scientist (2019), https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0002764218823844?casa_token=Ggq2zO6dWEwAAAAA:B_DK1X1TE1_nE7M6dTJ4fCjtGgA3DvAkjWW_JbjF2FLyqBtexG7F0_MBVniYfJqPNqXLGkq5JA.
  5. Michael Shively, Rajen Subramanian, Omri Drucker, Jared Edgerton, Jack McDevitt, Amy Farrell & Janice Iwama, Understanding Trends in Hate Crimes Against Immigrants and Hispanic-Americans (2014), at 62, https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/understanding-trends-hate-crimes- against-immigrants-and-hispanic.
  6. See generally Pezzella et al., supra note 4; Neil Chakraborti, Responding to hate crime: Escalating problems, continued failings,18 Criminology & Crim. Just. 4, at 387-404 (2018), https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1748895817736096?casa_token=seJD85oOt8wAAAAA:d0bles7CYvdve_JV4lH2dBDcfVaIzBzV1D9bSSZ4E4csOdaSd9l5QLworfBXAizTf4SbXFGeTA.
  7. See Tanner Stening, Why hate crimes are underreported–and what police departments have to do with it, Northeastern Global News (August 23, 2021), https://news.northeastern.edu/2021/08/23/why-hate-crimes-are-underreported-and-what-police -departments-have-to-do-with-it/.
  8. The data in this paragraph is derived from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer Dashboard, https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/explorer/crime/hate-crime.
  9. The data in this paragraph is derived from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer Dashboard, https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/explorer/crime/hate-crime, and the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission’s Bias Crimes (2022) Report, https://www.oregon.gov/cjc/CJC%20Document%20Library/SB577ReportJuly2023.pdf.