Hate crime victimization is an issue that affects many societies worldwide. It may take many forms, which include verbal abuse, physical violence, vandalism, and other ways of intimidation. The victims that fall under hate crime are targeted because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, whereby they are motivated by hatred towards a particular group of people or individuals. The risk factors associated with hate crime are countless, and they vary depending on the kind of hate crime being committed.
Sexual orientation identifies an individual as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or straight. This has three components, which are sexual behavior, attraction, and identity. Sexual attraction or behavior means that a person is attracted to the same sex that they belong to (Burton et al. 2013). It neither defines a demographic population nor does it identify one as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. These people are at a very high risk of victimization at school and physical and sexual assault in adulthood.
Consequently, these people facing this kind of challenge end up having mental health problems, which will drain their daily activities. An individual may be attracted to the same sex as theirs because of a simple thing they like about the other person. Maybe because of how they attend to their duties, looks, and interact with others.
It’s shocking how human beings view each other in terms of race and ethnicity, whereby a person is subjected to a crime having not done it. Racial profiling is seen to be subjective because it is not easy to tell the racist attitudes that trigger some individuals who take part in accurate racial profiling. A particular group of individuals is almost certainly involved in unlawful activities based on their race, which has been proven to be an assumptions. Racial profiling has been happening over time. Sadly, it is now used by law enforcement officers even though it is unjust and unconstitutional as it violates the principles of the country as well as endangering the security and privacy of citizens. Many times, it leads to death because police officers kill unarmed black teenagers. Attempts to curb racial profiling have been made with no success. Nevertheless, if everyone chose to be human and value each other by ending discrimination, the racial and ethnic differences would ultimately come to an end.
People with disabilities are viewed negatively in the society. They are considered dependent, uneducable, unemployable, and unproductive. Therefore, they are mistaken to need care and particular welfare. This is considered to be a primary reason why they are discriminated against and disadvantaged in the community, leading to a motive for hate crimes. The victim may be afraid to report a crime involving a disabled person as it may not be taken seriously, and the law may not recognize it. Some people may try to take advantage of disabled people without knowledge of the fact that disability is not an inability where they can end up falling into a crime by themselves.
Race, disability, and sexual orientation cannot define a crime that an individual has committed. Investigations should always be done whenever a crime has been detected, instead of judging people wrongly who would prove to be innocent. People will always have opinions and perspectives about others, but the law has to be engaged in the presence of crime.
Reference
Burton, C. M., Marshal, M. P., Chisolm, D. J., Sucato, G. S., & Friedman, M. S. (2013). Sexual minority-related victimization as a mediator of mental health disparities in sexual minority youth: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of childhood and adolescence, 42, 394-402
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