One in five hate crimes committed in Spain between 2002 and 2021 (22.7%) targeted the sexual orientation and identity of the victims;
those committed due to their racial or ethnic origin represented 18.8%;
ideology, 15.3% and nationality, 10.2%.
These and other data appear in the study
Analysis of cases and sentences regarding racism, xenophobia, LGTBIphobia and other forms of intolerance 2018-2022,
presented this Wednesday by the substitute president of the General Council of the Judiciary, Vicente Guilarte.
The study, prepared by professors Andrea Giménez-Salinas Framis, from the Pontifical University of Comillas, and Jon-Mirena Landa Gorostiza, from the University of the Basque Country, has been carried out within the framework of the cooperation agreement in the fight against racism , xenophobia, LGTBIphobia and other forms of intolerance subscribed to by the CGPJ, the State Attorney General's Office, the Center for Legal Studies and the ministries of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts;
Inside;
Work and Social Economy;
and Culture and Sports.
The authors point out the importance of knowing precisely the reality of these criminal behaviors in order to prevent them, since they cause a “strong divisive impact on coexistence due to their enormous potential for poisoning peaceful coexistence between different groups.”
There is also a legal mandate by which Law 15/2022, of July 12, comprehensive for equal treatment and non-discrimination, entrusts the CGPJ and the Prosecutor's Office with the study of judicial and administrative resolutions.
The data provided by the report do not exactly coincide with the latest statistics released by the Ministry of the Interior, in January of this year, which indicated racism and xenophobia as the most common cause of hate crimes, followed by discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, by ideology or by reason of sex.
However, the report released this Wednesday was based on sentences, so it corresponds to cases that have already had a judicial process.
The analysis of sentences handed down between 2018 and 2022 and provided by the Judicial Documentation Center (Cendoj) allows us to visualize the map of hate according to the type of crime, the groups to which these aggressive behaviors are directed, the most punished behaviors and the profile of victims and aggressors, among other variables.
The most frequent cause of discrimination is the sexual orientation and identity of the victim, which appears in 22.7% of the events analyzed.
Also very common, although with a lower incidence, are racial or ethnic origin (18.8%), ideology (15.3%) and nationality (10.2%).
Less frequent are discriminatory acts motivated by the victim's disability (6.3%), his religion or beliefs (2.8%), anti-Semitism (2.3%), anti-gypsyism (1.7%) and aporophobia (0.6%).
The geographical distribution of hate crimes is uneven.
Catalonia stands out as the autonomous community where they are recorded most frequently (42% of the cases analyzed).
They are followed by Madrid (12.8%), Castilla y León and the Canary Islands (7%), the Valencian Community (6.4%) and Andalusia (5.25%).
By province, the highest number of cases analyzed occurred in Barcelona (38%), Madrid (12.8%), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (6.4%), Valladolid (5.2%), Tarragona and Valencia (4 .1%) and Navarra (2.9%).
The street is the most common scene of hate crimes (31.4%), especially those motivated by anti-gypsyism, religion, sexual orientation and nationality.
In second place is cyberspace or telecommunications (telephone, messages and social networks), with 18.9% of the cases, related to a greater extent with anti-Semitism and the ideology, nationality and sexual orientation of the victim.
Eight out of ten hate crimes (79% of cases) were committed in person, while 18% were committed virtually.
When the incident occurs in person, psychological violence is the most prevalent (70%) through intimidation or threats.
In the virtual environment, the most frequently used medium is social networks (16.4%).
The profile of the accused and the victims
The information about the accused has been obtained from the analysis of 296 individuals who, in 70% of the cases, act individually.
86% are men, compared to 14% women, and, almost the same proportion, 88% are adults and 12% are minors.
Although the exact age of the accused does not appear in the majority of the resolutions analyzed (the information regarding majority or minority does appear), the study can conclude that it ranges between 13 and 77 years, with the average being 32.3 years and the most common age, 21 years.
The information on the nationality of the accused appears in only half of the facts submitted to study (48%).
Within that number, 79.7% have Spanish nationality.
In relation to those cases included in the sentences from which data could be extracted regarding the accused's membership in a group or collective, the study indicates that the majority identify with an extreme right-wing ideology (54.3%).
They are followed by religious extremist groups (15.2%), extreme left groups (13%), pro-ETA groups (6.5%) and ultra Catalan independence groups (4.3%).
The victims
Unlike what happens with the accused, the majority of the victims (83.3%) are foreigners and come mainly from Latin American countries (Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia) and African countries (Morocco and Senegal).
The remaining 16.7% are Spanish.
68.7% of the victims belong to a specific group.
The most representative category is that of ethnic, religious minorities or vulnerable groups, to which 56.1% of the victims belong;
Behind them, the group of foreigners (33.8%) and political groups (5%).
Within the first category, 64.1% of the victims belong to the LGTBIQ group;
the cause of discrimination is racial origin for 16.7%;
For 12.8% it is belonging to a minority ethnic group (especially gypsy) and for 6.4% it is disability.
65% of convictions
In 65% of the cases analyzed, the sentences - handed down by provincial courts (81%), criminal courts (6.2%), Supreme Court (4.5%), National Court (2.8%) and juvenile courts (0.6%)—ended in conviction.
The resolution time (the time elapsed between the date of the events and the date of the resolution) is on average 1 to 3 years in 71% of the cases.
Ideological motivation is the one that accounts for the greatest number of convictions (18.4%), while the most frequent acquittals have to do with discriminatory acts due to sexual orientation and identity of the victim (26.2%) and belonging to a race or ethnicity (23.8%).
The aggravating circumstance of art.
22.4 of the Penal Code (“committing the crime for racist, anti-Semitic, anti-gypsy reasons or other types of discrimination regarding the ideology, religion or beliefs of the victim, the ethnicity, race or nation to which they belong, their sex, age, orientation or sexual or gender identity, gender reasons, aporophobia or social exclusion, the illness they suffer from or their disability, regardless of whether such conditions") has been applied in 16% of the cases, to a greater extent in cases hate based on the victim's sexual orientation or identity (22.7%), racial or ethnic origin (18.7%) and political ideology (15.3%).
The most frequent crimes contemplated in the sentences analyzed are crimes of incitement to hatred, violence or discrimination under article 510 of the Penal Code (what is called hate speech), which represent 62% of the total.
They are followed by the crimes of injuries of articles 147 and 148, with 10.6% and those of degrading treatment of article 173.1, with 10.2%.
The miseries
In a third of the cases analyzed (33.3%), the judicial body imposed prison sentences, with an average duration of 1 year, 1 month and 4 days.
The second place is occupied by fines (23%) and disqualification from voting (20.3%).
To a lesser extent, penalties of special disqualification (12.5% of cases) and prohibition of approach and communication with the victim or injured parties (7.7%), among others, were imposed.
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