Gaps in how justice system responds to hate crimes need to be addressed, report finds

Of note:

Numerous gaps in how the justice system responds to hate crimes must be addressed with more strategic investment to help police, and also legislative reform, a federal watchdog’s report concludes.

The Office of the Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime released its latest report Tuesday, saying the under-resourcing of police hate crimes units, victims’ hesitancy to report crimes and failures in successfully prosecuting or deterring crimes create a system where victims feel left behind.

“The justice system fails survivors consistently. It validates hate and feelings of exclusion,” said Benjamin Roebuck, the victims’ ombudsperson.

The report discusses the impact of hate on Indigenous, Black, Asian and LGBTQ+ communities, and discusses gender-based hate as well as hate targeting people with disabilities, seniors, those of different economic classes and those who don’t have homes….

But, in the study’s detailed review of how hate affects different communities, it leaves out explicit discussion of the group that police say has become the most targeted in Canada for the last two years: Jewish Canadians.

Police-reported hate crimes rose 32 per cent in 2023 compared with 2022, an increase police agencies across the country link explicitly to the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel in October, 2023. There were 900 crimes targeting Jews in Canada in 2023, compared with 527 the year before.

Data collected by Statistics Canada so far in 2024 show Jews remain the most targeted group this year. Black Canadians are the second-most targeted, followed by those targeted on the basis of their sexual orientation….

Source: Gaps in how justice system responds to hate crimes need to be addressed, report finds

Report link: Strengthening Access to Justice for Victims of Hate Crime in Canada