The definition of ‘hate crimes’ vary throughout countries, politicians and policies throughout, however the basic comprehension of what a hate crime is, is quite simple. “Hate Crime: a crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence”, is the definition from the Oxford Dictionary, however many states and countries interpret this differently.
Hate crimes cover a variety of aspects, many people believe it to be solely focused on racial and religion however discrimination of disability, gender and sexual preferences are also included. Being targeted for something that you are born with; emotionally or physically, is not fair and even more dangerous than a crime of passion. It spreads fear through the particular
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The Hate Crime Statistics Act in the United States, was first brought about and came to pass in 1990, the purpose of this was to have documentation on hate crime attacks; this would then be published annually across the country. Even though this particular law was highly significant to raise awareness of hate crime and the need for federal attention, obtaining data was far from easy. This is for many reasons, the main being it was not mandatory for the police to document any hate related crimes they did this voluntarily, inevitably making it extremely inconsistent.
Another law was passed four years later, The Hate Crime Sentencing Enhancement Act of 1994, this brought about the increasing sentences and consequences for hate crimes committed. This law covered majority of hate crime victim categories, such as race, religion, gender, disability and sexual preference. This to date is the broadest definition of hate crimes within the law and will serve as a criterial standing for future