For Immediate Release April 25, 2003 RELEASES REPORT ON HATE INCIDENTS IN 2002
New York –
Today, the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project (AVP) released its annual report on violence against lesbians, gay men, transgender individuals, and bisexual people. The report contains information, narratives and data on hate-motivated incidents both nationwide and in New York City. The report was also released in eleven other locations across the country that participated in the production of the report.
There were 477 incidents reported to AVP in 2002, down 13% from 2001. There were also 13% decreases in both the number of victims reporting incidents and offenders. AVP's report identified two factors that may be partly responsible for the decrease in reported incidents. "For the first time in a long time, there may have been an actual decrease in the number of anti-LGTB incidents in New York," said Richard Haymes, AVP's Executive Director. Haymes continued, "and that decrease would coincide with the overall and tremendous decrease in criminal activity in general since September 11, 2001. Additionally, we know anecdotally that our community is much more reluctant to report incidents since September 11th, particularly if they are less violent incidents such as verbal abuse, harassment, and intimidation, since victims will often rationalize their experience away by comparing it to larger world events."
Despite the overall decline in reported anti-LGTB violence, the number of assaults reported to AVP rose 3%, from 234 in 2001 to 241 in 2002. Further, while simple assaults actually decreased, assaults involving weapons rose 11%. "Over 50% of all reported anti-LGTB incidents in New York now involve assault," said Basil Lucas, AVP's Senior Bias/Victim Advocate. "Last year, slightly more than 40% involved assault – so if you experience an anti-LGTB incident today, you are more likely than ever to be assaulted," said Lucas.
As a result of the increased prevalence of assaults, 81% of victims who came to AVP in 2002 needed some level of medical attention.
New York also shared the experience of much of the rest of the country with respect to dramatic increases in reports from young people. There was a 6% increase in the number of victims under the age of 22 reporting to AVP, and a 64% increase in reports from victims aged 18 and under. "The rise in reports from young people is a result of the groundbreaking work done by our Community Organizing Department's Youth Initiative to build connections between AVP and youth-serving agencies to address the epidemic of violence in young LGTB people's lives," said Haymes. "We are finally able to present a picture of that experience, but this is only the beginning of that dimension of our work and we anticipate ongoing reporting increases in subsequent years as a result of the Initiative," concluded Haymes.
The report also indicated that 11% fewer victims chose to report incidents to the police. This is a potentially disturbing statistic – particularly when the report also shows that of those that did try to report their attack to the police, there was a 56% increase in their complaint being refused.
The majority of cases outlined in AVP's report (52%) occurred in Manhattan. Another 18% took place in Brooklyn, while Queens was the location of 10% of incidents. The Bronx and Staten Island had 7% and 3% of cases, respectively. Another 2% of cases occurred in unspecified areas within New York City. Long Island, New York's northern suburbs and New Jersey together accounted for the remaining 8% of cases.
Both AVP's Hate Violence Report and the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Program's report covering hate-related incidents in eleven other regions across the country are available at www.avp.org, or by calling 212-714-1184, x55.
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AVP provides free and confidential assistance to crime victims through our 24-hour bilingual hotline (212-714-1141).
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