Asian Hate Crimes

“Hate crimes are the scariest thing in the world because these people really believe what they're doing is right,” said Cher.

A hate crime is a crime which typically involves violence that is motivated by prejudice on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation or other grounds. Since the beginning of the pandemic earlier last year there has been a dramatic increase in Asian Hate crime globally. Asian hate crimes have increased nearly 150% since the pandemic unraveled. Specifically, In Vancouver, BC, Asian Hate Crimes have increased by 717%. Asian Hate crime has been an ongoing issue around the world; however, these hate crimes have been fueled by the mislabelling of the Covid-19 virus with names such as “Chinese Virus”, inaccurately targeting a specific race instigating horrific crimes.

These crimes have resulted in profound and long-lasting impacts on the Asian community. Although, Anti-asian racism around Canada has always been present, the presence of Anti-Asian hate prior to and during the Pandemic was not recognised until after the deadly shooting in the United States. This shooting in Atlanta was motivated by racism and led to the death of eight individuals of asian descent, in two different locations. More than half of all these hate crimes against Asians occurred at public places, such as, parks, streets, and sidewalks. Numerous attacks also occurred in restaurants and grocery stores. Many of these cases involved people being coughed or spat on. 11% of these hate crimes involved unwanted touching or physical assault; some also resulted in death. Hate crimes do not only affect an individual physically, but they also take a toll on the entire community's mental health.

Even though many of these hate crimes took place in public places, with people present all around at locations they were unable to take any action in order to prevent them. Many times the hate crime takes place right in front of one's eyes but they are unable to recognize it or take any measures against it. If you believe that you are witnessing a hate crime there are steps that you can take: distract, delegate, document, delay and direct. If you are not present at any such location and do not directly witness such a crime, you could take some actions right now. You could reach out and offer support to friends and family, visit a racial trauma counsellor for professional support if you feel comfortable and spread awareness.