Hate crimes can be considered to be the most severe form of discrimination. This also means that hate crimes can be based on all the grounds on which discrimination occurs. 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. Lithuanian law considers the offenses to be hate crimes if they were committed because of a bias on the grounds of age, sex (gender), sexual orientation, disability, racial or ethnic origin, nationality, language, social status, religion, or beliefs.
If a person becomes a victim, due to the person’s age, this can be considered to be a hate crime. Age refers to being of a certain age or within a certain age bracket, or being young or old.
example During an attack on a youth club, the perpetrator shouted ageist slurs at the attendees, who were mostly young students.
Read more about discrimination based on age.
If a person becomes a victim due to the person’s sex, gender or gender expression, this can be considered to be a hate crime. ‘Sex’ refers to a person’s biological status. ‘Gender’ refers to the roles that are given to people in society based on their sex. ‘Gender expression’ refers to a person's behaviour, mannerisms, interests, and appearance that are associated with gender.
example A person was attacked for wearing a skirt in a country where skirts are usually worn by another gender.
Read more about discrimination based on sex and gender.
If a person becomes a victim due to the person’s 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) or both sexes (bisexual).
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.
If a person becomes a victim due to the person’s (dis)ability, this can be considered to be a hate crime. Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments (for example, as a result of a curable or non-curable illness).
example A person with mobility impairment attacked a person without disabilities. Later the police discovered that the perpetrator had written several posts on social media directed at people without disabilities.
Read more about discrimination based on disability.
If a person becomes a victim due to the person’s racial or ethnic origin, nationality or language, 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 Lithuanian, Latvian, Russian, Jewish or Roma, etc.
Language refers to a person’s native language, their knowledge of or proficiency in the official (state) language and proficiency in other languages. This can also refer to someone’s use of a language and the characteristics of their speech such as accent, size of vocabulary, and syntax.
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.
Read more about discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin or language.
If a person becomes a victim due to the person’s social status, this can be considered to be a hate crime. ‘Social status’ refers to a person’s social standing in society and the relative level of respect, honour, or assumed competence possessed by the person.
example An unemployed person’s car was damaged, with a note left behind stating that the victim should get a job and stop using the state’s finances.
If a person becomes a victim due to the person’s 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, other (usually philosophical or political) beliefs, 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.
Read more about discrimination based on religion or beliefs.
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.