According to recent research, 9 out of 10 hate crimes and attacks in the EU appear to remain outside the reporting system. The main reason is the difficulties victims face when attempting to report them, with lack of trust in the police emerging as the leading factor, according to a new study by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).
The findings of the report, titled “Encouraging hate crime reporting: The role of law enforcement and other authorities,” published in July 2022, suggest that millions of people across EU Member States experience violence and harassment motivated by hate.
The 81-page report found that the COVID-19 pandemic in particular had exacerbated existing racism, xenophobia and related intolerance, and had triggered a surge in racist and xenophobic incidents targeting people of (perceived) Asian origin, Roma and migrants.
“EU countries have a duty to ensure access to justice for everyone. Yet far too many victims of hate crime do not report that they have been attacked, and far too many countries fail to properly record hate crimes,” said FRA Director Michael O’Flaherty.
“This must change. Countries should make reporting easier and improve the recording, investigation and prosecution of hate crimes in order to fully safeguard victims’ rights,” he added.
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Among its recommendations, the FRA urges EU countries to make it easier to report hate crimes by “allowing third-party or anonymous reporting.”
It also states that EU countries “should provide practical guidance and training to the police, establish specialised hate crime units, and ensure structured cooperation between law enforcement authorities, victim support organisations, civil society organisations and equality bodies.”
The report notes that among Black people, those who are Muslim experience racist harassment slightly more often than non-Muslims (24% compared with 20%). According to the study, minority groups are also twice as likely to experience harassment or violence.
Of the 8,709 respondents who provided details about the most recent bias-motivated incident they had experienced - and the 708 who reported the incident - only 13 contacted a national equality body, a human rights organisation, or an Ombudsman.
Meanwhile, even among the incidents that were reported, only 36% were reported to the police.
The majority of Jewish and Roma victims did not report the incident to the police or any other organisation because they were not convinced that reporting it would make a difference. Others said that the reporting process was too bureaucratic and time-consuming.
9% of all respondents had experienced physical violence in the five years preceding the survey, but this figure rose to 22% among those belonging to an ethnic minority and to 19% among those who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual. Meanwhile, 17% of people with a disability or health problem had experienced violence.
The European Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, has committed to strengthening its policies to combat racism and other forms of discrimination, unveiling the EU Anti-Racism Action Plan 2020- 2025 last year, alongside dedicated strategies on victims’ rights, gender equality, Roma equality and LGBTQI rights.
However, the overall lack of data collection across much of the EU, combined with the limited capacity of national equality bodies in many EU countries, has resulted in uneven levels of reporting.
The low level of hate crime reporting means that it “obscures the true extent of the problem and the urgent need for action. Victims who do not report such crimes will receive neither redress nor the necessary support,” the report states.
