Hate crimes: trends in Lithuania

Abstract

Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected. Everyone has the right to respect for his or her physical and mental integrity. [1] Hate crimes are crimes motivated by racial, ethnic, or religious hatred or hostility. Media regularly reports violence against certain ethnic groups. Lithuania, like other EU countries, applies EU law directly or transposes it into national law. These changes have also had an impact on the fight against hate crime, as this type of crime has received increasing attention from the international community in recent years. Crimes of this sort not only cause physical and mental suffering or economic loss but also lead to changes in relations between different social groups, mistrust, suspicion, and hostility. These crimes can also lead to armed conflicts, forcing many people to flee their homes and seek asylum abroad. The increase in the number of victims of these crimes is a breeding ground for radical extremism and even terrorism. Countries work on improving laws criminalising hate crimes. Over the course of writing the present article, the author held meetings with representatives of the Jewish and sexual minority (LGBT) communities, conducted 35 indepth interviews with representatives of each group, and examined the EU and Lithuanian case law. Possible hate incidents recorded in the study range from verbal abuse to assault and knife stabbing. It has been found that people belonging to the Jewish and LGBT communities feel hostility not only from strangers but also from co-workers and peers. The Jewish community daily face anti-Semitic stereotypes and jokes, whether spoken directly to them or behind their backs. LGBT people also experience hatred from family members and relatives who not only stop communicating with them upon learning about their sexual orientation but also make insulting comments.