User:Lena Khalidi

Psychological Effects
It has been long known that there are emotional and mental impacts on victims of hate crimes. In a British Crime Survey, data indicated that there is an elevated psychological damage to hate victims compared to non-hate crime victims. Research conducted in the US has indicated that the elevated damage includes anxiety, loss of confidence, depression, long-term post-traumatic stress disorder, and fear. Victims of bias-motivated hate crimes such as hate crimes against a disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity are more likely to experience these psychological effects that victims of crimes that are not motivated by bias. The following statistics, provided by the CSEW, show that hate crime victims :


 * were 36% more likely to say that they were emotionally affected and more likely to be 'very much' affected than victims of crime overall
 * were 44% more likely to say that they suffered a loss of confidence or had felt vulnerable after the incident than victims of crime overall
 * were twice as likely to experience fear, difficulty sleeping, anxiety or panic attacks, or depression compared with all victims of crime.

Disability hate crimes composed of 1.6% of total reported hate crimes in 2017. A survey conducted in 27 countries reported that 26% of 732 people with schizophrenia interviewed reported experiencing unfair treatment in their personal security which included physical or verbal abuse attributed to having a mental health diagnosis. 29% reported having been unfairly treated in their neighborhood. Furthermore, a survey conducted by mental health charity MIND reported that 50% of all respondents with mental health problems experienced harassment in the workplace or community. 71% of these respondents experience physical or sexual violence, theft, or mistreatment. People with learning disabilities or mental health problems within the disabled group were most likely to experience violence or hostility.

OPM's research report on violence and hostility against disabled people found that hate crimes have impacts that extend past the physical and emotional harm experienced by the victims. Family members who may not be disabled themselves can similarly be victimized. Furthermore, disabled people who may have not been a victim to a hate crime may restructure their lives in order to avoid putting themselves at risk. Members of the community in where the hate crime occurs often feel a sense of shame and anger. This same study found that people with learning disabilities found significant dissatisfaction with the way they have been handled by the police, stating that police officers were often felt to be 'patronizing' or 'rude' and did not know how to communicate with the victims in an appropriate manner.