Hate crimes can be considered to be the most severe form of discrimination. This means that hate crimes can be based on different grounds on which discrimination occurs but not all grounds of discrimination are applicable. Indeed, the French Criminal Code provides an exhaustive list of grounds for which the aggravating circumstance of biased motive is applicable. It is important to be well informed about these grounds to properly identify hate crimes.
When a hate crime is committed, the perpetrator has chosen the victim because of certain characteristics possessed by the victim. French Criminal Law considers the offenses to be hate crimes if they were committed because of a bias on the grounds of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, racial or ethnic origin, nationality or religion.
If a person becomes a victim due to the person’s racial and ethnic origin or nationality, this can be considered to be a hate crime.
Racial or ethnic origin refers to people who are defined by race, colour (darker or lighter skin), descent, national or ethnic origin. Sometimes this origin may be based on a shared understanding of history, territorial origin (regional or national), particular cultural characteristics such as a language or religion, or a shared sense of belonging to the same community, ethnic majority or minority. Examples of these may be Roma, Gypsy, Arab, Jewish, Muslim etc.
Nationality refers to a legal relationship between an individual person and a state. Some people are stateless, which means that the individual has no formal or protective relationship with any state.
example The perpetrators detonated a bomb in an airport because they hate all foreigners that enter the country. This attack can be considered to have an aggravating circumstance because of the hate motive.
example If an attack is made on a shop because of the shop owner’s nationality (for example because he is Algerian), it is an aggravating circumstance and is considered a “hate crime”.
Read more about discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin.
If a person is the victim of a criminal offence due to their religion or beliefs, this can be considered to be a hate crime. “Religion or belief” means that the person adheres to a particular religion (or not), has a religious background or has decided not to adopt a certain religion or beliefs.
example A mosque was attacked during the usual prayers. After the attack, police found anti-Islamic posters in the perpetrator’s flat. This attack will be considered to be a “hate crime”.
Read more about discrimination based on religion or beliefs.
If a person is the victim of a criminal offence due to their sex or gender identity, this can be considered to be a hate crime. ‘Sex’ refers to a person’s biological status. ‘Gender identity’ refers to a person’s personal and free attribution of a specific gender or not, in concordance or discordance with their biological sex (male, female, non-binary, neutral etc).
example A woman is physically attacked while walking alone in the street because of her sex, and the perpetrator insults her and women in general while assaulting her.
example A transgender man is murdered because of his gender identity.
Read more about discrimination based on sex and gender.
If a person is the victim of a criminal offence due to their sexual orientation, this can be considered to be a hate crime. Sexual orientation means a person’s attraction towards the opposite sex (heterosexual), their own sex (homosexual – gay or lesbian),both sexes (bisexual) or whatever the sex (pansexual).
example A gay couple’s apartment was broken into and trashed. The perpetrator left a note with homophobic slurs in it.
Read more about discrimination based on sexual orientation.
A person could become a victim due to a perpetrator’s bias on several grounds simultaneously.
example A Roma gay couple was attacked while walking in the park. The perpetrator shouted various slurs directed at the victims’ Roma origin, and their sexual orientation, before attacking them.