Approximately one in 10 violent victimizations against LGBTQ+ people are hate crimes, according to a study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, which states that they are also nine times more likely to be victims of violent hate crimes.
The analysis specifies that victims of LGBT violent hate crimes are more likely to be younger, be in a relationship with their attacker, and have an attacker who is white.
The researchers defined violent hate crimes as victimizations on people's bodies (assaults) that were motivated by bias and involved hate language, hate symbols, or some confirmation by police as evidence that the incident was a crime. of hate.
The results showed that between 2017 and 2019, LGBTQ+ people experienced 6.6 violent hate crime victimizations per thousand people, compared to 0.8 victimizations per thousand people for non-LGBT people. LGBT victims of violent hate crimes were more likely than LGBT victims of violent hate crimes to report problems in their social life, negative emotional responses, and physical symptoms of distress.
However, a 2022 FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) annual report showed that hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community increased dramatically compared to the previous year, recording a 13.8 percent increase in complaints based on targeting. sexual violence and a shocking 32.9 percent increase in reports of hate crimes based on gender identity.
The FBI report noted that there were 1,947 incidents related to the sexual orientation of an alleged victim in 2022, compared to 1,711 the previous year, and 469 related to the gender identity of an alleged victim, compared to 353 the previous year. . The gender identity category included 338 cases that were specifically anti-transgender and 131 that targeted someone who was gender nonconforming.
Hate crimes motivated by race/ethnicity remained the largest category with 56 percent of all hate crimes. Hate crimes based on religion moved into second place, just ahead of sexual orientation.
Thus, more than 1 in 5 of any type of hate crime is motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ prejudice.
The UCLA study states that victims of LGBT violent hate crimes are more likely than non-LGBT victims to be under 35 years old (73 percent vs. 38 percent, respectively), to be in a relationship with their attacker (49 percent versus 11 percent, respectively) and having an abuser. who is white (88 percent vs. 54 percent, respectively).
LGBT victims of violent hate crimes are approximately five times more likely than LGBT victims of other types of violent crimes to feel angry, violated, and unsafe, and four times more likely to feel anxious, sad, or depressed, as a result of victimization. , the document points out.
Similarly, it explains that LGBTQ+ victims of violent hate crimes are six times more likely to have high blood pressure, five times more likely to have headaches, and three times more likely to have trouble sleeping as a result of the persecution.
Fewer than four in ten victims of LGBT violent hate crimes sought professional help for their emotional (39 percent) or physical (35 percent) problems related to their victimization.
This publication was supported in whole or part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the CaliFornia State Library.
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