HRC calls for action on hate crimes in NZ
The current response to hate crimes is ‘‘insufficient’’ and more needs to be done to understand the extent of the issue, the Human Rights Commission says.
In a briefing to Justice Minister Andrew Little, the commission said ‘‘steps currently being taken by police are insufficient’’ when it came to dealing with hate crimes.
There was no central system for recording and collating details about crimes motivated by hatred and racism, which made it difficult to understand the extent of these types of crimes, and how to deal with the issue.
‘‘Unless these events are captured and analysed, the day to day victimisation experienced by people because of their ethnicity is largely invisible.’’
The commission urged the minister to put in place systems to gather data on hate-motivated crimes, disaggregated by race and other characteristics, to better understand the extent of the problem.
Media reports have highlighted seemingly isolated incidents, like the abuse of a Muslim woman in Huntly earlier in the year, which led to Megan Sarah Louise Walton pleading guilty to insulting behaviour and assault.
But the extent of the problem, and any trends, were impossible to identify without more data. In the United States, hate crimes are recorded by the FBI. It’s one of the questions police asked when responding to a job, and the data allowed officials to track trends.
Any crime motivated by biases based on race, gender, gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and ethnicity was considered a hate crime, and these were referred to the FBI.
The number of hate crimes in the US in 2016 was 6121 – about a 5 per cent jump from 2015.
University of Auckland professional teaching fellow and Islamic expert Zain Ali said New Zealand was not immune to this type of sentiment, largely thanks to the global society and social media.
‘‘There’s an assumption that New Zealand is a fairly welcoming and tolerant society,’’ Ali said.
And while most people were, there was no doubt some New Zealanders were victims of hate crimes – he pointed to Muslims being abused for wearing scarves, and so-called ‘Asian drivers’.
The current housing situation in Auckland was a potential breeding ground for xenophobic sentiment, with immigrants frequently being blamed for the housing shortage and high prices.
It was also possible the recent spate of dairy robberies included a racial element, he said.
Many dairy owners who were targeted by the robberies were Indian migrants. That thought would make people uncomfortable, Ali said.
However, a conversation about the issue needed to be had, and the only way to have an informed conversation was to properly track the data.
Police Commissioner Mike Bush has said police were considering whether hate crime legislation was needed. However, the former National government said it saw no need for new laws.
The commission also raised the related issues of religious diversity and the potential for violent extremism.