A hate crime can be committed against another person or property. It is a type of crime committed due to prejudice or hostility of the perpetrator towards the victim’s disability, religion or belief, ethnicity or race, sexual orientation, or transgender identity.
Anyone can be a hate crime victim. In fact, you don’t have to belong to the group that is the target of the hostility. A hate incident is not the same as a hate crime, although it may feel the same to the victim of a hate incident. After all, the incident is also based on a person’s prejudice over another person’s disability, religion, race, or sexual orientation. In many cases, a hate incident escalates into a crime or tension within the community. This is why such incidents are a matter of concern for the police, although no crime has been committed.
Effects of Hate Crimes
Because people are different, hate crimes affect them in various ways as well. It is important to remember, however, that any change that happens in how you feel may be due to the traumatic experience that you have experienced.
The fact that you know the act was deliberately done by another person makes the crime difficult to cope with. The perpetrator of a hate crime does it with the intention of causing some kind of harm on another, unlike an illness or an accident.
A victim typically experiences the effects of a hate crime for a long period of time, and it is not dependent on the severity of the crime. There are people who can cope very well with different types of horrifying crimes. On the other hand, some people can be extremely distressed even by a less horrific incident.
Following are some effects of experiencing a hate crime:
Final Word
A hate crime can have serious repercussions for the victim, and for the perpetrator as well. If you find yourself as the perpetrator of such a crime, Robert A. Dodell, Attorney At Law, can assist you with a criminal legal defense. This way, you can be sure that your rights are well-protected at all times and you may want to check out how to appeal a criminal conviction.