Indicator history

While robust evidence on the disproportionate extend of under-reporting among victims of hate crimes compared to the general average is lacking, both governmental bodies and civil society organisations assume that under-reporting is particularly widespread among ethnic minorities and immigrants. The Second Periodic Security Report, jointly compiled and published by the federal Ministries for Justice (BMJ) and of the Interior (BMI), states that immigrants are more often victims of right-wing attacks, but are less likely to report criminal offences to the police (BMI/BMJ 2006, p. 414). This is confirmed by the experiences of specialised NGOs offering support to victims of right-wing crimes (cf. Wendel 2007). Empirical research studies, in particular large-scale surveys, support these experiences: According to the findings of a large-scale survey among high-school students, crimes committed by a German perpetrator targeting a migrant victim are the least likely (18.9%) to be reported to the police (compared to any other victim-perpetrator constellation) (Baier et al. 2010, p. 321). The EU-MIDIS results also highlighted the very high level of under-reporting of victimisation among Turkish and ex-Yugoslavian migrants in Germany (ENAR 2009, p. 210).

Source:
European Network against Racism (ENAR), FRA 2009 Annual Report, September 2009.

Federal Ministriy for Justice (Bundesministerium der Justiz, BMJ)/ Federal Ministry of the Interior (Bundesministerium des Innern, BMI), Second Periodic Security Report (Zweiter Periodischer Sicherheitsbericht), November 2006.

Wendel, Kay (2007),  Rechte Gewalt – Definitionen und Erfassungskriterien, online document available at: http://www.opferperspektive.de/Chronologie/624.html (accessed on 12.12.2011).

Baier et al. (2010), Kinder und Jugendliche in Deutschland : Gewalterfahrungen, Integration, Medienkonsum: Zweiter Bericht zum gemeinsamen Forschungsprojekt des Bundesministeriums des Innern und des KFN (KFN-Forschungsbericht; Nr.: 109). Hannover: KFN, http://www.kfn.de/versions/kfn/assets/fob109.pdf (accessed on 12.12.2011).