The official report for hate crimes committed in 2021 in Toronto, Canada has officially come out. And so far, results have shown that the Jewish community is the most targeted group. There has also been a notable increase in attacks toward Asian people.
The Annual Hate Crime Statistical Report presented to the police board indicated that up to 257 hate-motivated incidents happened last year. This number shows an increase from the 210 hate crimes committed in 2020. Of those incidents, 75 crimes were motivated by religious beliefs, 57 by national or ethnic origin, 54 by race, and 26 by sexual orientation. “These increases are believed to be attributed to international and geopolitical events, including the COVID-19 pandemic,” the service said in its report.\
Police have noted that 56 of the 75 hate crimes motivated by religion happened to people of Jewish descent. “This is something that is of great concern to the Jewish community,” Mostyn said.“The increase in violence to the Jewish community last year is something that really has shaken our community in Toronto and across the country.”
The most prone groups to hate incidents apart from Jewish communities include Black, East and Southeast Asian and the LGBTQ2S+ communities. “In all of these assault occurrences, the victims were subject to derogatory comments and were either punched, pushed, or spat on by the suspect(s) during the assault,” police said in the report. Police also shared that mischief to property was the leading form of attack, with 111 cases occurring throughout the year. There were also 86 assault charges and 31 verbal threat accusations.
Hate crimes have been on the rise in Toronto over the past few years. In 2020, there was a 24$ increase noted. This year, the report shows another 33 percent increas. “The number of reported hate crimes targeting individuals on the basis of ethnic or national origin was higher in 2021 than in any previous year since the Toronto Police Service began collecting this data in 1993,” the report adds.
