Hate crime rates higher among youth

Data from police show that youth (12 to 17 years) were more likely than older age groups to be accused of a hate crime.¹ The rate of persons accused of a hate-motivated offence in 2006 peaked among 12 to 17 year-olds and gradually decreased with increasing age. The 120 youth accused in 2006 accounted for more than one-third (38%) of all those accused of a hate crime, double the proportion of youth accused of committing a non-hate crime (18%).

Victims of crime are identified for incidents that involve the use or threat of violence. According to the 2006 police-reported data, the highest rates of hate crime were found among 12 to 17 year-olds and 18 to 24 year-olds (Chart 5). Findings from the 2004 GSS on victimization are similar and show that young people (15 to 24 years) were more vulnerable to being victimized by a violent hate crime than adults 25 years and older (1,675^E versus 428^E per 100,000 for 25 years and older²).

Chart 5
Victims and persons accused of police-reported hate crime, by age group, Canada, 2006

Both police-reported data and victimization data show that males experience higher rates of hate crime victimization than do females. In 2006, police reported that the rate against male victims (1.8 per 100,000 population) was about two and a half times higher than the rate against females (0.7 per 100,000 population). Victimization data from 2004 also showed that violent hate crimes were more often committed against males (68%). These results differ from overall violent crime which is generally committed against males and females at fairly similar rates.

Notes

1. Age and gender characteristics of perpetrators of hate-motivated crimes are not available from the GSS.
2. Generally, rates of victimization from the GSS are published according to the number of incidents per 1,000 population. For the purposes of comparability with police-reported statistics, this report presents rates of victimization per 100,000 population.