OneWorld.net (U.S.)

OneWorld.net's take: European and North American governments are not taking sufficient action to stem rising rates of violent hate crimes -- fueled by racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and other biases, says an annual survey by a human rights monitor.

• One of many posters put up in Copenhagen asking for hate crimes to end. © Jacob Botter (Flickr)"Available data indicates that violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity bias is a significant portion of violent hate crimes overall and are characterized by levels of physical violence that in some cases exceed those present in other hate crimes," summarizes Human Rights First in an overview of the survey.

• In Bosnia, the activist group Citizens of Sarajevo is taking a stand against increasing violence aimed at sexual and gender minorities -- particularly attacks perpetrated at the capital city's recent Queer Festival -- and calling on the international community to do the same.

2008 Hate Crime Survey

From: Human Rights First

Hate crime continues to rise in many parts of Europe and North America according to our 2008 Hate Crime Survey, a second annual report examining bias-driven violence in 2007 and 2008.

The 2008 Hate Crime Survey includes sections examining six facets of violent hate crime in the 56 countries that comprise the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The Survey also examines government responses to violent hate crimes in sections on Systems of Monitoring and Reporting and The Framework of Criminal Law and includes a Ten-Point Plan for governments to strengthen their responses. The Survey also takes an in-depth look at the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and the United States and contains a Country Panorama section that profiles individual hate crime cases from more than 30 countries within the OSCE.

• Overview | PDF

• Recommendations | PDF

The Reality of Hate Crimes

• Violence Based on Racism and Xenophobia | PDF

• Antisemitism | PDF

• Violence Against Muslims | PDF

• Violence Based on Religious Intolerance | PDF

• Violence Against Roma | PDF

• Violence Against LGBT Persons | PDF

Country Focus

• Country Panorama | PDFThe Russian Federation | PDFUkraine | PDFThe United States | PDF

Government Responses to Hate Crimes

• The Framework of Criminal Law | PDF

• Systems of Monitoring and Reporting | PDF

[Evaluate] Government performances using HRF’s unique web-based Report Card

[Read] 2008 Hate Crime Survey Executive Summary Document [PDF ]

[Access] 2007 Hate Crime Survey

To read more about the 2008 Hate Crime Survery, visit Human Rights First.