Marking the 40th Anniversary of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW), the Justice Department’s Hate Crimes Enforcement and Prevention Initiative announced newly translated hate crimes resources in eight languages for the department’s hate crimes website, www.justice.gov/hatecrimes.
The website, which has been visited by over one million users since launching in 2018, now features new pages in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, Arabic, and Japanese. These pages include basic information about hate crimes, in-language resources, and instructions on reporting hate crimes to the FBI Tip Line with assistance from qualified interpreters. Experience has proven that communicating in-language with people who are limited English proficient (LEP) is a crucial step to combating hate crimes nationally.
There has been an alarming rise in violence, harassment, and discrimination directed at the Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. The new in-language pages can help victims and witnesses who are limited English proficient recognize and report hate crimes. The website also has a new English language page with links to resources and news addressing hate targeting AAPI communities. www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/addressing-hate-crimes-against-AAPI. The page includes a link to the FBI’s Hate Crime Threat Guide. The Threat Guide, a single-page chart describing types of hate crime threats (physical, verbal, phoned, electronic, written, or visual), lists recommended responses, including steps to preserve evidence. The Guide is now available in Simplified and Traditional Chinese.
The Spanish language hate crimes site, www.justice,gov/hatecrimes-espanol, also has expanded content, such as up-to-date hate crimes statistics, case examples, Spanish language resources, and a map of which states have hate crimes laws.
“Supporting victims of hate crimes is an essential part of the department’s mission, and an important measure of our success,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela Karlan of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “People with limited English proficiency, and the advocates and community leaders who work with them, face additional barriers to seeking justice. We hope that these new in-language resources help the department and our partners more effectively support victims of hate crimes, build trust, and engage communities. We will continue to expand the number of languages on www.justice.gov/hatecrimes.”
The announcements are just one part of the department’s work to combat discrimination and violence through capacity building, training, support and outreach to our partners, including those that work with AAPI communities or members of the public who have limited English proficiency.
On Jan. 26, President Biden issued the “Presidential Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States,” which mandates that the Attorney General shall:
- explore opportunities to support, consistent with applicable law, the efforts of state and local agencies, as well as AAPI communities and community-based organizations, to prevent discrimination, bullying, harassment, and hate crimes against AAPI individuals, and
- expand collection of data and public reporting regarding hate incidents against such individuals.
For more information on the Justice Department’s work to combat and prevent hate crimes, visit www.justice.gov/hatecrimes, a one-stop portal with links to hate crimes resources for law enforcement, media, researchers, victims, advocacy groups, and other organizations and individuals. For more information about ensuring language access and the concentration of, and languages spoken by, persons with limited English proficiency in a county, state, or judicial district, visit www.lep.gov/
