In First Year, Statewide Anti-Hate Hotline Connects Hundreds of Californians with Support in Response to 1,000+ Reported Acts of Hate
20 Mayo 2024 - 5:16PM
Business Wire
Launches new initiatives to strengthen
statewide support network and improve access to resources for all
of California’s diverse communities
Releases factsheet compiled by UC Berkeley’s
Possibility Lab analyzing CA vs Hate’s first year of data
As part of California’s coordinated response to a nationwide
increase in hate, the California Civil Rights Department (CRD),
alongside state and community partners, today released new data
highlighting the impact of California vs Hate in its first year of
operation and announced new and ongoing initiatives to combat hate
across the state. Officially launched a year ago this month by
Governor Newsom, CA vs Hate is the state’s first-ever multilingual
statewide hotline and online portal that provides a safe, anonymous
reporting option for victims and witnesses of hate acts. In the
first full year of operation, initial data submitted to CRD shows
approximately 1,020 acts of hate reported to the hotline.
“CA vs Hate is about recognizing and protecting the incredible
diversity of our state and sending a clear message that hate will
never be tolerated,” said Governor Gavin Newsom.
“When California was confronted by an alarming increase in hate,
we didn’t just sit back and hope it got better,” said CRD
Director Kevin Kish. “We came together and launched an array of
nation-leading programs to ensure all our communities feel welcome
and protected. I’m incredibly proud of our state’s resilience and
commitment to a California for all. This work is only just
beginning, but it would not be possible without the advocacy of our
community partners and the foresight of our state’s Administration
and Legislature. With CA vs Hate, we’re doing our part to ensure
that when people report they get support.”
Many hate crimes have historically gone unreported due to a
variety of factors, including fear of retaliation, lack of
culturally competent resources, concern around potential
immigration consequences, and distrust of law enforcement. CA vs
Hate aims to help address some of these issues by offering people
targeted for hate — and their communities — additional resources to
report acts of hate through a community-centered approach that does
not require engagement with the criminal legal system. Hotline
services are confidential and provided for free, regardless of
immigration status. CA vs Hate accepts all reports of hate and is
not limited to only receiving reports that are criminal in nature.
Whether individuals report to CA vs Hate online or by phone, they
are eligible to receive ongoing care coordination to ensure people
impacted by hate are able to access resources and support,
including legal, financial, mental health, and mediation
services.
As part of the effort to make CA vs Hate as inclusive and
easy-to-use as possible, individuals who report an act of hate can
remain anonymous and, recognizing that hate can target multiple
aspects of a person’s identity, may select multiple bias
motivations related to the report. To the extent that individuals
who report are comfortable doing so, CA vs Hate staff engage
extensively with them through initial contacts over the phone or
follow up care coordination to better understand the incident and
services needed. More granular data verified through that process
is also included below. While CA vs Hate data serves as an
important indicator, the hotline is new, and the data should not be
treated as being representative of all acts of hate in California.
In all, people who reported to CA vs Hate were directed to more
than 100 different forms of resources and support. In the first
full year of operation, CA vs Hate:
- Had 2,118 contacts from members of the public seeking
assistance — including non-hate related reports — and directed
people to resources, regardless of whether a report was tied to an
act of hate. Of those contacts:
- The most common reasons cited for the reports were
discriminatory treatment (18.4%), verbal harassment (16.7%), and
derogatory names or slurs (16.7%).
- The most common location types for where an incident occurred
were residential (29.9%), workplace (9.7%), and public facilities
(9.1%).
- Received 1,020 actual reports of hate based on the information
provided by the individual reporting the act. Of those reports:
- Roughly four out of six people agreed to follow up for care
coordination services, including direct and ongoing support
accessing legal aid or counseling.
- Nearly 80% of California’s counties were represented, including
all 10 of the state’s most populated counties.
- Further validated bias motivation information for 560 reports
through additional CA vs Hate staff review. Of those reports:
- Race and ethnicity (35.1%), gender identity (15.1%), and sexual
orientation (10.8%) were the most cited bias motivations.
- Anti-Black (26.8%), anti-Latino (15.4%), and anti-Asian (14.3%)
bias were the most cited reasons for reports related to race and
ethnicity.
As reported hate crimes have risen in recent years, California
has led the charge in responding through increased grant funding,
innovative programs, and expansive outreach efforts across state
government and in collaboration with community-based organizations.
These partnerships — whether through the Stop the Hate Program or
Ethnic Media Outreach Grants — are critical to CA vs Hate’s
success. As CA vs Hate continues to grow, the program is launching
new initiatives and building on existing efforts aimed at
strengthening the hotline’s statewide support network and improving
access to resources for all of California’s diverse communities.
These ongoing or upcoming efforts include:
Outreach Campaigns
- Kicking off CA vs Hate’s first-ever billboard campaign to
support increased awareness of the hotline and available resources
across half a dozen cities.
- Launching targeted outreach materials to support increased
access to CA vs Hate resources for historically hard-to-reach and
underserved Californians, including new digital assets developed in
coordination with tribal partners and members of the AAPI
community.
- Developing new pathways to reach members of the public,
including through a digital ad partnership with the California
Department of Motor Vehicles and in-person event engagement with
California-based sports teams.
Capacity Building
- Launching a partnership with UC Berkeley’s Possibility Lab to
support increased data collection and analysis going forward.
- Exploring the launch of a text-responsive reporting option to
support increased access to the CA vs Hate hotline.
- Stepping up statewide coordination efforts through ongoing
collaboration with United Against Hate Week.
Community Engagement
- Bolstering community-specific engagement through the
Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act grant to ensure communities most targeted
for hate have access to resources, including a new partnership with
California Black Media.
- Establishing new quarterly meetings with city and county
government partners to support increased responsiveness to local
communities and build on existing feedback mechanisms in place for
community-based organizations.
- Standing up a coalition of faith-based leaders from a range of
backgrounds to better address acts of hate targeting Californians
on the basis of religion.
CA vs Hate is a non-emergency, multilingual hate crime and
incident reporting hotline and online portal. Reports can be made
anonymously by calling (833) 866-4283, or 833-8-NO-HATE, Monday to
Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT or online at any time. Hate acts
can be reported in 15 different languages through the online portal
and in over 200 languages when calling the hotline. For individuals
who want to report a hate crime to law enforcement immediately or
who are in imminent danger, please call 911. For more information
on CA vs Hate, please visit CAvsHate.org.
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