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REPORT ON HATE INCIDENTS IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY 2021

12-04-2022

The Basque Country recorded 279 hate incidents in 2021, the vast majority of which were injuries based on the victim's ethnicity or sexual orientation.

277 hate crimes were recorded in the Basque Country in 2021. The vast majority of them are of a racist or xenophobic nature, 58.48% (162 cases, +38.4% compared to 2020). But the ones that grew the most with respect to the previous year (+46% with respect to 2020) were those related to sexual orientation and gender identity, which accounted for 26.3% (73 cases). In fact, this typology is already consolidated as the second most common cause of these crimes. The report speaks of a "stabilisation of the target groups" in the Basque Country.

At a great distance, other reasons for crime against vulnerable groups are recorded, such as sex (17 cases, 6.1%), functional diversity (10 cases, 3.6%), ideology or political orientation (10 cases, 3.6%), beliefs and religious practices (3 cases, 1%), and aporophobia (2 cases, 0.7%).

the number of crime incidents has increased exponentially in the last two years. As we explained in the previous report, the experience of previous years in the collection and recording of data, the joint work of the Ertzaintza and the University of the Basque Country, together with the intensification of training has made it possible to change and improve the detection and centralization of the information regarding this type of incidents. This scenario was already forecast in the previous reports: it is a sought-after scenario, since the report aims, amongst other things, to improve the awareness and the technical skills of those who carry out the proceedings regarding these incidents in order to reveal the dark figure. The increase, which is due to an improvement in the police activity onsite and the recording system, is positive and encouraging, to the extentthat it allows bringing into light a more realistic picture that would otherwise remain hidden, with the resulting defencelessness and victimization of the target groups.

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