Hate crimes can be considered to be the most severe form of discrimination. This also means that hate crimes can be based on all the grounds on which discrimination occurs. It is important to be well informed about these grounds to properly identify hate crimes.
When a hate crime is committed, the perpetrator has chosen the victim because of certain characteristics possessed by the victim. Croatian law considers the offenses to be hate crimes if they were committed because of a bias on the grounds of age, sex (gender), disability, racial or ethnic origin, nationality or religion.
Meanwhile, Croatian law also recognizes that hate crimes with a motive to incite social hatred or enmity may be committed because of a bias on other grounds not exclusively listed in the law. These grounds should be thoroughly investigated by the public authorities in each individual case. Such other grounds may be, for example, a person’s sexual orientation, social status or language.
If a person becomes a victim due to the person’s racial or ethnic origin or nationality, this can be considered to be a hate crime.
Racial or ethnic origin refers to people who are defined by race, colour (darker or lighter skin), descent, national or ethnic origin. Sometimes this origin may be based on a shared understanding of history, territorial origin (regional or national), particular cultural characteristics such as a language or religion, or a shared sense of belonging to the same community, ethnic majority or minority. Examples of these may be Serbian, Bosnian, Jewish or Roma, etc.
Nationality refers to a legal relationship between an individual person and a state. Some people are stateless, which means that the individual has no formal or protective relationship with any state.
example The perpetrators detonated a bomb in an airport because they hate all foreigners that enter the country.
Read more about discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin.
If a person becomes a victim due to the person’s religion or beliefs, this can be considered to be a hate crime. “Religion or belief” means that the person adheres to a particular religion (or not), has a religious background, other (usually philosophical or political) beliefs, or has decided not to adopt a certain religion or beliefs.
example A mosque was attacked during the usual prayers. After the attack, police found anti-Islamic posters in the perpetrator’s flat.
Read more about discrimination based on religion or beliefs.
"Sex" refers to the designation assigned at birth. "Gender" refers to social expectations and roles associated with sex. "Gender expression" is the way a person expresses his gender through appearance, clothing and behavior.
example A person was attacked for wearing a skirt in a country where skirts are usually worn by another gender.
Read more about discrimination based on sex and gender.
If a person becomes a victim due to the person’s (dis)ability, this can be considered to be a hate crime. Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments (for example, as a result of a curable or non-curable illness).
example A person with mental impairments was attacked in a public space. During the attack, the perpetrator shouted slurs refering to people with mental disabilities.
Read more about discrimination based on disability.
If a person becomes a victim due to the person’s sexual orientation, this can be considered to be a hate crime. Sexual orientation means a person’s attraction towards, for example, the opposite sex (heterosexual), their own sex (gay or lesbian) or both (bisexual).
example A gay couple’s apartment was broken into and trashed. The perpetrator left a note with homophobic slurs in it.
Read more about discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Language refers to a person’s native language, their knowledge of or proficiency in the official (state) language and proficiency in other languages. This also can refer to someone’s use of language and the characteristics of their speech such as accent, size of vocabulary, and syntax.
example A person was attacked in a public space for speaking in the ekavian dialect, widely spoken in Serbia.
Read more about discrimination based on language.
A person could become a victim due to a perpetrator’s bias on several grounds simultaneously.
example A Roma gay couple was attacked while walking in the park. The perpetrator shouted various slurs directed at the victims’ Roma origin, and their sexual orientation, before attacking them.