Hate crime is a serious and growing problem in Europe. Motivated by bias and prejudice, such crimes not only cause immeasurable harm to victims, but also threaten the stability and cohesion of entire communities and societies. To act effectively in response to hate crime, we need accurate and reliable data on where and when such incidents are happening – but data collected by national governments is often incomplete.
In order to tackle this problem, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) calls on civil society organisations to submit data for inclusion in its annual Hate Crime Reports. The official call for submissions to ODIHR’s report on hate crime in 2016 will be sent out in February 2017, and ODIHR encourages civil society organisations all over Europe to get ready to submit their data.
Why submit data for ODIHR Hate Crime Reports?
Accurate and reliable data is essential if we are to come up with effective responses to the problem of hate crime in Europe. In order to compile its annual Hate Crime Report, ODIHR collects data submissions from national governments – but this data often comes up short, and does not give the full picture of hate crime in OSCE member states.
For a more complete picture of the situation, ODIHR also calls on civil society organisations in OSCE member states to actively monitor hate crimes and submit data for inclusion in its annual Hate Crime Report. ODIHR’s Hate Crime Report 2015 included incidents reported by three international organisations and 113 civil society groups. Thanks to this crucial data, ODIHR is able to shine a light on under-reported hate crimes throughout the OSCE region.
How can my organisation help?
ODIHR welcomes submissions of data from all organisations active in monitoring hate crime in OSCE member states. Submitting your data is easy through the ODIHR online portal, which will be open once the official call is sent out in February 2017. In the meantime, you can prepare data for submission by collecting information on hate crimes that occurred in your country during 2016. For more information on what qualifies as a hate crime, and what kind of information to collect, you can refer to the ODIHR hate crime website, or UNITED s infobooklet Hate Crimes in the OSCE Region: Incidents and Responses .
