Assessing the Impact of Hate: Findings from a Large-Scale Hate

Crime Victimisation Survey

Jon GarlandDepartment of Sociology, University of Surrey

@Jon_Garland67

Outline

• Framing the Research

• Aims and Objectives

• Methodology

• Some Tentative Findings

The Leicester Hate Crime Project

Framing the Research

• Moving beyond the five recognised hate crime victim groups

• Hearing the voices of those at the margins

• Understanding victim needs

The Leicester Hate Crime Project

• Received £370k of ESRC funding• Two-year project based in Leicester• Very small research team• Involvement of outside agency

The Leicester Hate Crime Project

Aims of the Project

• To establish the nature and impact of victimisation directed at people because of their identity, perceived vulnerability or ‘difference’

• To identify commonalities, differences and intersections within the experiences of victims of hate crime

• To assess hate crime victims’ expectations & experiences of agency responses

• To inform the quality of service provision offered to victims of hate crime

The Leicester Hate Crime Project

Methodology• Large-scale quantitative survey of victims of targeted violence

from all sections of Leicester’s diverse population (online and hard copy)

• Semi-structured interviews and focus groups with victims of targeted violence

‘It’s just part and parcel of my everyday life’

• Experiences of hate crime often normalised to the extent where they become a routine part of people’s lives

• ‘Low-level’ harassment not regarded as especially harrowing to some victims• Asylum seekers and refugees

‘They don’t belong here’

• Not uncommon for members of minority groups to express hate, prejudice and bigotry towards other minority groups

• Resentment towards new or emerging communities ‘legitimised’ by some of the more established minority groups

• Historical and cultural tensions also evident

‘Why doesn’t our pain count as much as theirs?’

• Some of the most harrowing experiences of hate have been suffered by victims on the margins of policy and conceptual frameworks• Homeless people• People with mental health issues• The ‘others’

‘There’s nowhere I feel safe’

• Hate acts committed in a variety of different settings• At home or nearby• Public transport• Public spaces• City centre• At or near places of worship• In cars• On the internet• Via text messages

‘How I dress and what I look like makes all the difference’

• Findings so far suggest that dress and appearance play a key role in victim selection• 34% of our initial sample of respondents were concerned

that their dress or appearance might make them a victim of hate crime

• 28% believed that they were targeted specifically because of their dress or appearance

‘Not knowing what they look like makes things so much worse’

• Online abuse commonplace for younger victims• Experienced through social networking sites, apps and

abusive texts• Described by many as being more damaging than physical

attacks

Next Steps

• Continue data analysis• Produce a number of outputs• Conference 5 September

Email: uolhatecrime@le.ac.ukTel: 0116 252 3784 Mobile: 07795 826 061Website: www.le.ac.uk/leicesterhatecrimeproject