SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE/MADRID, Oct. 3 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Canary Islands registered a total of 66 hate crimes last year, of which 35, more than half, were related to episodes of racism and xenophobia, according to data offered this Monday at a press conference by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande- Marlaska.
The report on the actions of the State security forces and bodies on the islands indicates that the archipelago had a rate of 3.04 hate crimes per 100,000 inhabitants and there were 17 people arrested.
By type of crime, and after those of racism and xenophobia, there are those of sexual orientation and gender (14), sex and gender discrimination (7), aporaphobia (2), ideology (1) and age discrimination (1) .
At the national level, complaints related to hate crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity increased by 67.63% compared to 2019, the year prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The official statistics reflect a rise of 24.08% in crimes with a racist or xenophobic motive, compared to a notable decrease of 45.30% in those related to the ideology of the victim.
Grande-Marlaska has detailed that in 2021 the Security Forces opened 1,802 investigations for hate crimes.
Of these, it was possible to clarify 1,133 (62.9%), which marks a “record” in the historical series in the resolution rate.
Specifically, the year left 1,724 hate crimes and 78 administrative infractions, which represents an increase of 5.63% of these hate crimes compared to 2019 and 28.62% if compared to 2020, a year the latter marked by restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. The trend is up since 2014.
Of the total crimes, 466 were related in 2021 to the sexual orientation or gender identity of the victim (67.63%) and 639 with a racist or xenophobic motive (24.08%). Those with political motives due to ideology accounted for 326 cases, a decrease of 45.30% compared to 2019.
80% OF CASES ARE NOT REPORTED
“The historical series shows us that there are more and more acts of hate resolved by the Security Forces, fewer and fewer crimes that go unpunished and police effectiveness increases above the growth of this type of incident,” said Grande. -Marlaska, who recalled that the Interior launched its second plan this year to deal with this problem.
Regarding the 1,133 cases resolved by the Security Forces in 2021, 465 clarified hate crimes had a racist or xenophobic motive, 72.77 percent of those known; 67.38% in the case of crimes of sexual orientation and 51.84% in those of ideology.
The minister has described as “alarming” that in Spain and the rest of the European countries the underreporting is 80%, although he has stressed that they perceive an improvement in confidence in police investigations, according to the report prepared by the National Office of Fight Against Hate Crimes (ONDO) based on data provided to the Crime Statistics System, including regional and local police.
VICTIM PROFILE
The main affected by this type of behavior are males (63.82%), while the most victimized age group is between 26 and 40 years old, with 32.98%. Minors make up 11.31% of total victimizations in 2021.
The distribution of the victims according to their nationality shows that the Spanish are in first place, with 65.53%. Within the set of victims of foreign nationality, those with the highest values are those from Morocco (9.66%), Colombia (2.72%) and Venezuela (1.76%).
As regards the number of detainees/investigated in 2021 for hate crimes and incidents, it amounts to a total of 743. Males are the protagonists of a very high percentage of arrests and investigations for hate crimes (81.29 %). In relation to age groups, a significant percentage of the perpetrators of these acts fall within the range of 26 to 40 years, specifically, 29.21%.
