Victims

Download Printable Document



In the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, the victim of a hate crime may be an individual, a business/financial institution, a government entity, a religious organization, or society/public as a whole. In 2017, the nation’s law enforcement agencies reported that there were 8,828 victims of hate crimes. Of these victims, 335 were victimized in separate multiple-bias incidents.



The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, 18 U.S.C. §249 required the FBI to collect data concerning hate crimes committed by or directed against juveniles. Beginning in 2013, law enforcement began reporting the number of victims who are 18 years of age or older, the number of victims under the age of 18, and the number of individual victims. Of the 5,803 individuals for which victim age data were reported in 2017, 5,125 hate crime victims were adults, and 678 hate crime victims were juveniles.

In 2013, the national UCR Program began collecting revised race and ethnicity data in accordance with a directive from the U.S. Government’s Office of Management and Budget. The race categories were expanded from four (White, Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Asian or Other Pacific Islander) to five (White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander). The ethnicity categories changed from “Hispanic” and “Non-Hispanic” to “Hispanic or Latino” and “Not Hispanic or Latino.” (See the Methodology for more information about this program change as well as others.)



By bias motivation

(Based on Table 1 .)

An analysis of data for victims of single-bias hate crime incidents showed that:

59.6 percent of the victims were targeted because of the offenders’ bias against race/ethnicity/ancestry.

20.6 percent were victimized because of bias against religion.

15.8 percent were targeted because of bias against sexual orientation.

1.9 percent were targeted because of bias against disability.

1.6 percent were victims of gender-identity bias.

0.6 percent (54 individuals) were victims of gender bias.

Further examination of these bias categories showed the following details:



Among single-bias hate crime incidents in 2017, there were 5,060 victims of race/ethnicity/ancestry motivated hate crime.

48.6 percent were victims of crimes motivated by their offenders’ anti-Black or African American bias.

17.1 percent were victims of anti-White bias.

10.9 percent were victims of anti-Hispanic or Latino bias.

6.3 percent were victims of anti-American Indian or Alaska Native bias.

4.5 percent were victims of bias against a group of individuals in which more than one race was represented (anti-multiple races, group).

3.3 percent were victims of anti-Asian bias.

2.6 percent were victims of anti-Arab bias.

0.4 percent (18 individuals) were victims of anti-Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander bias.

6.4 percent were victims of anti-Other Race/Ethnicity/Ancestry bias.

Religious bias

(Based on Table 1 .)

Of the 1,749 victims of anti-religious hate crimes:

58.1 percent were victims of crimes motivated by their offenders’ anti-Jewish bias.

18.6 percent were victims of anti-Islamic (Muslim) bias.

4.3 percent were victims of anti-Catholic bias.

3.3 percent were victims of bias against groups of individuals of varying religions (anti-multiple religions, group).

2.3 percent were victims of anti-Protestant bias.

1.8 percent were victims of anti-Other Christian bias.

1.5 percent were victims of anti-Eastern Orthodox (Russian, Greek, Other) bias.

1.5 percent were victims of anti-Sikh bias.

0.9 percent (15 individuals) were victims of anti-Hindu bias.

0.9 percent (15 individuals) were victims of anti-Mormon bias.

0.7 percent (13 individuals) were victims of anti-Jehovah’s Witness bias.

0.7 percent (12 individuals) were victims of anti-Buddhist bias.

0.5 percent (8 individuals) were victims of anti-Atheist/Agnostic bias.

4.9 percent were victims of bias against other religions (anti-other religion).

Of the 1,338 victims targeted due to sexual-orientation bias:

57.8 percent were victims of crimes motivated by their offenders’ anti-gay (male) bias.

24.9 percent were victims of anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (mixed group) bias.

12.3 percent were victims of anti-lesbian bias.

2.8 percent were victims of anti-heterosexual bias.

2.2 percent were victims of anti-bisexual bias.

Of the 160 victims of hate crimes due to the offenders’ biases against disabilities:

123 were targets of anti-mental disability bias.

37 were victims of anti-physical disability bias.

Of the 132 victims of gender-identity bias:

119 were victims of anti-transgender bias.

13 were victims of anti-gender non-conforming bias.

Of the 54 victims of hate crime motivated by offenders’ biases toward gender:

28 were categorized as anti-female.

26 were anti-male.

By crime category

(Based on Table 2 .)

Of the 8,828 victims of hate crime, 57.6 percent were victims of crimes against persons, and 39.7 percent were victims of crimes against property. The remaining 2.7 percent were victims of crimes against society.



By offense type



Crimes against persons

(Based on Table 2 .)

In 2017, 5,084 victims of hate crimes were victims of crimes against persons. Regarding these victims and the crimes committed against them:

44.9 percent of the victims were intimidated.

34.3 percent were victims of simple assault.

19.5 percent were victims of aggravated assault.

0.5 percent (23) were victims of rape.

0.3 percent (15) were murdered.

1 individual was a victim of human trafficking, commercial sex acts.

0.5 percent (27) were victims of other types of offenses, which are collected only in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).

Crimes against property

(Based on Table 2 .)

In 2017, 3,506 victims of hate crimes were victims of crimes against property. Of these:

73.7 percent were victims of destruction/damage/vandalism.

10.8 percent were victims of larceny-theft.

5.3 percent were victims of burglary.

4.9 percent were victims of robbery.

1.7 percent were victims of arson.

1.3 percent (44) were victims of motor vehicle theft.

2.4 percent were victims of other types of hate crime offenses, which are collected only in NIBRS.

Crimes against society

(See Table 2 .)

There were 238 victims of hate crimes categorized as crimes against society. Crimes against society (e.g., weapon law violations, drug/narcotic offenses, gambling offenses) represent society’s prohibition against engaging in certain types of activity; they are typically victimless crimes in which property is not the object.

