View information in Lithuanian<\/a>, English<\/a>, Russian<\/a>\u00a0languages.<\/em><\/p>\n A tagged car, a broken store window or a stolen cane may at first all seem like random acts of violence until we look at the <\/span>motivation behind them<\/b>. The car that was tagged, belonged to a lesbian couple known in the neighborhood; the store is owned by a Turkish man and is a meeting place for the city’s Muslim community; and the cane was taken from a blind person to have a little laugh over his confusion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n All these acts have something in common: they are motivated by <\/span>prejudice, bias and hostility<\/b> against a certain group of people. They are acts that attack one’s <\/span>core identity<\/b> \u2013 something that they can’t necessarily change or hide. Parts of core identity are for example <\/span>skin color, ethnic origin, nationality, language, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability or age.<\/span><\/p>\n When these kinds of acts constitute a crime, they are called <\/span>hate crimes<\/b>, but more broadly, we can refer to them as <\/span>bias motivated incidents<\/b>. These incidents have a deep impact on the survivors, as their core identity is attacked. You can replace your stolen wallet with a new one, but you cannot alter who you are – and why should you do that in the first place? This is why hate crime needs special attention.<\/span><\/p>\n Incidents motivated by homophobia, racism, xenophobia, religious intolerance or other prejudice happen more frequently than we realise. For example, in Europe, as many as 1 out of 4 LGBT people say they have been attacked or threatened with violence in the past five years, while almost 30% of Jewish people feel they have been harassed.<\/span><\/p>\n Imagine having to fear for your safety or the safety of your loved ones every time you step outside…<\/span><\/p>\n And bias motivated incidents also <\/span>affect society<\/b> as a whole. The more we look away, the more we normalise prejudiced and hateful behaviour. Without condemnation and real consequences, what begins with an angry slur, can escalate into acts that are much worse \u2013 property damage or even physical attacks. Hostile attitudes destabilise society and make it <\/span>more unsafe for everyone.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n So next time you see or experience something that you think might be a hate crime or a bias motivated incident, <\/span>let someone know.<\/b> Report it to the police or notify the human rights organizations.<\/span><\/p>\n Because if you don\u2019t, perpetrators will walk away with a little bit of extra assurance that they can carry on like that.<\/span><\/p>\n