A review of hate violence in the united states from 1992 to 2002 and its implications for emergency physicians

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Study objectives: Hate violence is a criminal offense that is motivated by bias against race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. Many hate violence victims have great psychologic sequelae for as long as 5 years after the incident has occurred. Victims of hate violence commonly present to the emergency department (ED) for evaluation of their injuries. If emergency physicians fail to evaluate the events surrounding the assault, hate violence victims may be overlooked and improperly treated. Only scant information on hate violence is available in the medical literature. This study is designed to analyze the prevalence and affected groups of hate violence in the United States during an 11-year period. Methods: This study is a descriptive epidemiologic 11-year analysis of hate violence derived from the Federal B ureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reports from 1992 to 2002. The yearly data were aggregated, allowing the analysis and review of hate violence offenses according to year, bias motivation group, subgroup, and offense type for crimes against persons during an 11-year period. This study focused only on crimes against people and does not include crimes against property or society. Results: During 11 years, 71,185 acts of hate violence were reported to the Uniform Crime Reports. Intimidation (54%) and assaults (46%) accounted for the bulk of reported hate violence offenses. The analysis showed that 62% of reported hate violence was motivated by race, with antiblack bias accounting for 40% of all hate violence offenses. The next largest bias motivation was sexual orientation, encompassing 15% of the total, predominantly against male homosexuals. Hate violence offenses toward ethnicity accounted for an additional 14%, with Hispanics being the primary target. Although acts of hate violence against religion composed 9%, 78% of this amount was due to anti-Semitism. Also, an alarming trend emerged after September 11, 2001, with anti-Islamic violence growing by 2,061% from 2000 to 2001. Although 156 homicides and 93 sexual assaults composed a smaller amount of the total, the heinous nature of these hate violence offenses should not be disregarded. Conclusion: Hate violence permeates every facet of society, with only a fraction of offenses being reported (estimated 1 in 9). Many of these victims present to the ED; thus emergency physicians are likely to serve as the initial foundation of safety and advocacy for hate violence victims. The scope of the problem and psychologic sequelae caused by hate victimization must be understood to effectively manage care in the ED.