Hate Crimes

Hate crimes (also known as “bias crimes”) are recognized as a distinct category of crimes that have a broader effect that most other kinds of crimes because the victims are not only the crime’s immediate target but also others like them. The FBI defines hate crimes as “criminal offense[s] against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.”[1]