Menu

Argument: Transgender people need protections against hate crimes

Issue Report: Hate crime laws

Support

  • Rebecca Stotzer. “Comparison of Hate Crime Rates Across Protected and Unprotected Groups”. The Williams Institute. June 2007 – “EXTENDING HATE CRIME TRACKING LAWS TO INCLUDE GENDER IDENTITY Despite issues of underreporting from law enforcement agencies, some additional data suggest that hate crimes against transgender people are a significant problem. Community organizations and other interested groups have been tracking hate crimes against transgender people for several years. In particular, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) includes transgender people in their collection of hate crime data against sexual minorities.
When examining reports on 14 major cities, 5 states, and one multi-state region since 1997, the NCAVP reports an average of 213 hate crimes per year against transgender people. In 2004, the NCAVP reported the highest number of hate crimes against transgender people: 321 hate crimes.6 Nationally, this level of violence is comparable to the level of violence perpetrated against Muslims since 2002. Thus, the inclusion of gender identity in the categories reported in the Uniform Crime Reports and in the new National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) system would allow for more tracking of this serious problem.”