COVID-19 impact on hate crimes and violence

The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), in conjunction with the Secretary of State for Citizenship and Equality, and with the support of the High Commission for Migration, IP (ACM) and the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG), has granted special support to projects and initiatives that enable the production and dissemination of knowledge and action-research in relation to crimes of incitement to hatred and violence and the expression of hate speech in the wake of the pandemic and the dissemination of its impacts on the most vulnerable groups in the population.

Several European and international organizations recommend strengthening the understanding of crimes of incitement to hatred and violence of a racist, xenophobic, gender and homophobic nature, while also warning of the low reporting and participation rates. These concerns have been amplified by the disproportionate effects on certain vulnerable communities and groups of the expansion of discriminatory practices and hate speech during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to segmentation, greater insecurity, social exclusion, isolation and stigmatization of these groups, even preventing their access to vital rights and services (health, employment, etc.) and promoting the escalation of violent behaviour and crime (ILGA Europe, 2020; UN, 2020). Health professionals, journalists, humanitarian and essential services workers have also been victims of various forms of disinformation and segregation motivated by fake news (UN, 2020).

The UN recommends recognizing, monitoring, collecting information and analysing trends about COVID-19 related hate speech at national and global levels in order to support effective responses, and that relevant actors - states, media, digital platforms and civil society organizations - develop strategies to identify, analyse and counter hate speech, supporting transparent, accessible and independent analysis systems (UN Guidance Note on Addressing and Countering COVID-19 related Hate Speech, May 2020). The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe also urges member states to develop robust systems for the study and comprehensive analysis of "hate crime" data, as a first step towards combating this crime and supporting victims.

Responding to these recommendations and concerns is the central objective of this special support. The projects to be funded should therefore contribute to better knowledge and intervention with regard to crimes of incitement to hatred and violence and hate speech in Portugal, presenting innovative and effective solutions for improving responses and policies.

See the results of the Call

See the list of approved projects