NCJ Number
152619
Journal
Current Issues in Criminal Justice Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (November 1993) Pages: 160-172
Date Published
1993
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This article describes outcomes of the National Inquiry into Racist Violence (NIRV), established by the New South Wales (Australia) Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in response to widespread community perceptions that both verbal and physical racially motivated violence was increasing in Australia.
Abstract
The Inquiry found that many victims of racist violence and harassment were reluctant to discuss their experiences or report them to the police, social workers, or other public officials. While racist violence in Australia is lower than that in many other countries, people of non-English-speaking backgrounds were often subject to racist intimidation. To implement recommendations put forth by the Inquiry, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission developed a database model for use by police in the collection of information nationally, both as a social indicator and as a source of information on policy development in preventive police strategies. A pilot study initiated in the New South Wales Police Service confirmed that collecting, collating, and analyzing data on hate crimes is possible at the local level. The model for the implementation of data collection on the incidence of hate crimes should be restricted to violence motivated by racial or ethnic background, religion, sexual preference, or other easily identifiable sources of prejudice. 22 notes