Research has established that substantial numbers of youth are exposed to bias-based bullying and assaults and that these victimizations negatively impact victims’ emotional and physical well-being.
Hate crimes impact children and families both directly and indirectly by increasing fear in whole communities. It is important to understand as much as possible about the extent that hate crimes and bias victimization affect vulnerable children, youth, families, and communities. We define bias victimization as harassment, bullying or criminal victimization, including hate crimes, where individuals are targeted or demeaned because of personal characteristics such as race, ethnicity, skin color, immigrant-status, religion, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, or disability. Hate crimes are defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) as a criminal offense 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 (https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/civil-rights/hate-crimes).
