What is the definition of hate crime? It is also known as bias-motivated crime which is usually highly motivated and prejudice-based. The victim is targeted merely because she or he belongs to a certain community or social group that the offender dislikes. The common examples of such social groups are: gender identity, language, ethnicity, physical appearance, nationality, religion or sexual orientation. The most usual ways of displaying hate against someone in this respect are: damage to property, physical and verbal assault, bullying, harassment, offensive letters or graffiti.
Speaking about main reasons why people commit hate crimes, one may differentiate the following: people are ignorant of the fact that others may have different opinions or beliefs; the need to look down on somebody in order to compensate for their own low self-esteem; they have been bullied or brutalized themselves and consider it to be only fair if they do the same to other people. The laws of the United States of America allow to federally prosecute people who commit hate crimes. One of the tasks of the U. S Department of Justice, the FBI and campus security authorities is to publish hate crime statistics. Want to find out more about hate crime in the US and all over the world? Go to …