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Home Hate Crime 2012 Topic Pages Victims

Victims

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In the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, the victim of a hate crime may be an individual, a business, an institution, or society as a whole. In 2012, the nation’s law enforcement agencies reported that there were 7,164 victims of hate crimes. Of these victims, 13 were victimized in 6 separate multiple-bias incidents.

By bias motivation                                                                  

An analysis of data for victims of single-bias hate crime incidents showed that:

  • 48.5 percent of the victims were targeted because of the offender’s bias against a race.
  • 19.2 percent were targeted because of a bias against a particular sexual orientation.
  • 18.7 percent were victimized because of a bias against a religious belief.
  • 12.1 percent were victimized because of a bias against an ethnicity/national origin.
  • 1.4 percent were targeted because of a bias against a disability. (Based on Table 1.)

Racial bias

Among the single-bias hate crime incidents in 2012, there were 3,467 victims of racially motivated hate crime.

  • 66.2 percent were victims of an offender’s anti-black bias.
  • 22.0 percent were victims of an anti-white bias.
  • 4.4 percent were victims of a bias against a group of individuals in which more than one race was represented (anti-multiple races, group).
  • 4.1 percent were victims of an anti-Asian/Pacific Islander bias.
  • 3.3 percent were victims of an anti-American Indian/Alaskan Native bias. (Based on Table 1.)

Religious bias

Of the 1,340 victims of an anti-religious hate crime:

  • 62.4 percent were victims of an offender’s anti-Jewish bias.
  • 11.6 percent were victims of an anti-Islamic bias.
  • 7.5 percent were victims of a bias against groups of individuals of varying religions (anti-multiple religions, group).
  • 6.4 percent were victims of an anti-Catholic bias.
  • 2.6 percent were victims of an anti-Protestant bias.
  • 0.9 percent were victims of an anti-Atheist/Agnostic bias.
  • 8.6 percent were victims of a bias against other religions (anti-other religion). (Based on Table 1.)

Sexual-orientation bias

Of the 1,376 victims targeted due to a sexual-orientation bias:

  • 53.9 percent were victims of an offender’s anti-male homosexual bias.
  • 28.6 percent were victims of an anti-homosexual bias.
  • 12.7 percent were victims of an anti-female homosexual bias.
  • 3.0 percent were victims of an anti-bisexual bias.
  • 1.9 percent were victims of an anti-heterosexual bias. (Based on Table 1.)

Ethnicity/national origin bias

Hate crimes motivated by the offender’s bias toward a particular ethnicity/national origin were directed at 866 victims. Of these victims:

  • 59.4 percent were targeted because of an anti-Hispanic bias.
  • 40.6 percent were victimized because of a bias against other ethnicities/national origins. (Based on Table 1.)

Disability bias

Of the 102 victims of a hate crime due to the offender’s bias against a disability:

  • 82 were targets of an anti-mental disability bias.
  • 20 were victims of an anti-physical disability bias. (See Table 1.)

By crime category

Of the 7,164 victims of a hate crime, 55.4 percent were victims of crimes against persons, and 41.8 percent were victims of crimes against property. The remaining 2.8 percent were victims of crimes against society. (Based on Table 2.)

By offense type

Crimes against persons

In 2012, 3,968 victims of hate crimes were victims of crimes against persons. Regarding these victims and the crimes committed against them:

  • 10 persons were murdered, and 15 were raped.
  • 39.6 percent were victims of simple assault.
  • 37.5 percent of the victims were intimidated.
  • 21.5 percent were victims of aggravated assault.
  • Less than one percent (0.8) were victims of other types of offenses, which are collected only in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). (Based on Table 2.)

Crimes against property

In 2012, 2,993 victims of hate crimes were victims of crimes against property. Of these:

  • 75.6 percent were victims of destruction/damage/vandalism.
  • 9.4 percent were victims of larceny-theft.
  • 5.8 percent were victims of burglary.
  • 5.0 percent were victims of robbery.
  • 1.5 percent were victims of arson.
  • 0.8 percent were victims of motor vehicle theft.
  • 1.9 percent were victims of other types of hate crime offenses, which are collected only in the NIBRS. (Based on Table 2.)

Crimes against society

There were 203 victims of hate crimes that were categorized as crimes against society. (See Table 2.)