1. Defining Hate Crimes
     What Makes Crime a Hate Crime?    Hate Crime Statistics  

2. Hate Crimes in Youth

3. Preventive Measures
     Educating Individuals    Law Enforcement Agencies    Mental Health Clinicians  

4. References

Youth Hate Crimes are a societal problem in which young people turn extremist ideas into acts of violence.^[1] This is a societal problem in which youth must be properly aware about it and how it is committed so that this would be properly addressed and take preventive measures on it. Hate-motivated crimes and incidents have a stronger impact on victims than “ordinary” crimes. They send a message to entire communities that youth can also commit crimes because they are motivated of bias against another person of other race and ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity, or persons of disability.

Most of hate crimes are everyday occurrences and have a less extreme form of expression such as vandalism or offensive language and gestures; therefore, it is crucial to address and prosecute such bias motivated offences.^[2]

Defining Hate Crimes

The precise definition of hate crime varies from state to state.^[3]  Some states define a hate crime as any crime based on a belief regarding the victim's race, religion, color, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, or ancestry.  Some states exclude crimes based on a belief regarding the victim's sexual orientation.  Others limit their definition to certain crimes such as harassment, assault, and damage to property.

In a more specific sense, according to Aoife O’Neill, hate crime is defined as “any criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards someone based on a personal characteristic.”  This common definition was agreed in 2007 by the police, Crown Prosecution Service, Prison Service (now the National Offender Management Service) and other agencies that make up the criminal justice system.  There are five centrally monitored strands of hate crime: race and ethnicity, religion, sexual and gender identity, or disability.

What Makes Crime a Hate Crime?

Was the crime motivated by a bias against the victim’s race, religion, sexual orientation, or other protected aspects of their identity? Hate crime laws are usually designed to go hand-in-hand with the actual offense the person is charged with, such as assault or murder, putting greater severity on the crime due to its hateful motivations.  If you go so far as to punch someone because of your racial bias, the crime becomes much more serious in the eyes of the law.

According to the Offices of the United States Attorneys: "The fact that the victims of such crimes are selected based on characteristics such as their race or religion can cause all those in the community who share that characteristic to experience similar feelings of vulnerability and secondary victimization.  In its impact on the community, the fear of becoming a victim of violence can be nearly as debilitating as suffering through an actual crime.  The message of intolerance that is communicated through a hate crime can have broadly disruptive social effects as well, and can lead to greater distrust of law enforcement or friction between racial or religious communities.”^[4]

Hate Crime Statistics

One of the hate crimes committed in the Philippines is the acts committed against gender identity.  The Philippines, known to be one of the most "tolerant" countries in Southeast Asia on the issue of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) rights, has still the need to achieve true equality and acceptance.  While we certainly allow LGBT people to go and live freely with their lives, the people in this community still lives in fear of being subject to hate crimes, discrimination, and oppression.  According to statistics, the Philippines has one of the bloodiest records of violence against the LGBT community.  For transgender alone, the murders of 29 trans people have been documented in the Philippines since 2008, according to a project that monitors and analyzes cases of transphobia around the world.  Another hate crime happened in the Philippines is the killing of priests due to religious beliefs.^[5]

Hate Crimes in Youth

Among hate crime offenders, juveniles and young people appear to be disproportionately represented. However, the lack of definitive data collection regarding juvenile hate crime activity has limited the development of an evidence base. Data from victims’ reports in a study of jurisdictions in New York City and in Baltimore County (Md.) have suggested that offenders in bias crimes are even more likely than offenders in nonbias crimes to be young and male.^[6] Nationally, the majority of bias-motivated offenders are young men in their late teens and early 20s. A full understanding of the scope of this problem must be developed in order to devise targeted remedies for adolescents and young adults; this understanding can be gained in part by detailed tracking of hate crimes throughout the country.^[1]

Preventive Measures

While responding to hate crime involves working or dealing with offenders or victims once a crime has happened, preventing hate crime focuses on making appropriate changes in society that would prevent future violence related to hate and bias.  Since it is known that individuals are not born with prejudice, bias, or hate, it becomes obvious that these harmful attitudes and feelings can be prevented. 

Educating Individuals

Educating individuals to value and embrace diversity would work to reduce prejudice and bias.  Several anti-hate organizations have developed in response to hate crime in order to track these crimes and offer prevention services.^[7]

Law Enforcement Agencies

Researchers have concluded that society can intervene to reduce or prevent many forms of violence, especially among young people, including the hate-induced violence that threatens and intimidates entire categories or groups of people. To prevent future hate crimes, law enforcement agencies, state and federal agencies, public interest groups, and schools have been working together to identify and track hate crimes and to mitigate the conditions that foster them. A number of programs to combat and prevent hate crimes have been instituted, while others are still in the development stages. Protection of society’s most vulnerable members—children—needs to become a central tenet of hate crime prevention efforts; primary prevention of hate crimes has yet to be developed. Although existing programs appear to be yielding positive results, very little work, to our knowledge, has been done to evaluate these initiatives systematically and longitudinally.^[8]

Mental Health Clinicians

It is imperative that psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health clinicians develop an understanding of the nature of prejudice and hate crimes. Clinicians need to ask about hate-motivated acts of violence, as such background is typically not revealed without this inquiry. Only heightened clinical awareness and earlier identification will lead to appropriate interventions. Antibias teaching should begin in early childhood and continue through high school. At present, vertical and interdisciplinary training is lacking; students, teachers, and administrators all need help to respond appropriately when they see abuse occurring in the classroom or on the playground. Further research and data collection on hate crime activity, with particular attention to youth perpetrators, are needed.^[1]

References

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• LHX3 (gene)
• LHX4 (gene)
• LHX6 (gene)
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• L Hydrae
• L'Hymne à l'Amour
• L'Hymne à l'amour
• L-Hyoscine Hydrobromide
• L'Héritier (1973 film)
• L'Hôpital de la Charité
• L'Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpétrière
• L'Hôpital (disambiguation)
• L'Hôpital Français de Hanoi
• L'Hôpital Lariboisière
• L'Hôte
• L'Hôtel des Invalides
• L'Hôtel national des Invalides
• Li.
• L.i.
• Li-11
• Li2C2
• Li2NH
• Li-2P
• Li2SO3