Hate Crime in the Wake of Terror Attacks

Abstract

This paper asks a straightforward question -what happened to racially motivated hate crimes in the wake of the 7/7 terror attack that hit London in July 2005 and the 9/11 terror attack that hit the US in September 2001. There is anecdotal and statistical evidence of an increase in bias-motivated crimes since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US, but no quantitative research that has accurately pinned down the magnitudes of any hate crime increase that ensued. The study provides a unique estimate of the magnitude and duration of the effects of 7/7 and 9/11 on hate crime using data from four police force areas in England with sizable Asian/Arab populations. We find significant increases in hate crimes against Asians and Arabs that occurred almost immediately in the wake of both terror attacks and which lasted for a prolonged period. Moreover, hate crimes against Asians and Arabs do not return back to their pre-attack levels, showing a permanent increase in the wake of the attacks. We argue that this demonstrates a strong link between terror attacks and increases in hate crime and hypothesise that attitudinal changes from media coverage act as an underlying driver.JEL Classifications: K42.

‘I will Blow your face off’—Virtual and Physical World Anti-Muslim Hate Crime

“…Such 'trigger' attacks include the terror attack that hit London in July 2005 and the terror attack that hit the United States in September 2001 (Hanes and Machin, 2014;Poynting and Mason, 2006). According to Byers and Jones (2007), terrorist attacks have a significant impact on the rise of anti-Muslim hate crime.…”

“…From this perspective, hate crimes increase following 'trigger' events as they operate to galvanise tensions and sentiments against the suspected perpetrators and groups associated with them. Indeed, evidence shows that anti-Muslim hate crimes have increased significantly following 'trigger' attacks including terrorist attacks carried out by individuals who choose to identify themselves as being Muslim or acting in the name of Islam (Hanes and Machin 2014). Spikes in anti-Muslim hate crimes and incidents following 'trigger' events are not confided to the physical world; rather, the physical world pattern is replicated in the virtual world (Awan 2014).…”

The legislative context of prejudice motivated victimisation: perceptions of police legitimacy and citizen decisions to report hate crime incidents

“…Similarities exist in their motivations, objectives and perpetrator characteristics (Deloughery et al, 2012). According to Hanes and Machin (2014), a link exists between terrorist acts and subsequent hate crime occurrences. Deloughery et al (2012, p. 665) argue that terrorism is an upward crime (targeting individuals higher up on the social ladder), while PMC is a downward crime (often committed by the majority or powerful groups in society).…”

“…Hanes and Machin (2014, p. 251) argue that evidence exists for a relatively short and intense shock period, peaking at around two to three months, though, still affecting people years later. Hanes and Machin (2014) estimate that hate crime attacks have still remained at a high six months after 9/11, and even one year after the terror attack in London in 2005 (7/7).…”

“…Studies in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia have found that after the occurrence of a terrorist event, hate crime victimisation increases (see Akram & Johnson, 2002;Borell, 2015;Hanes & Machin, 2014;King & Sutton, 2013;Rubenstein, 2004;Sheridan & Gillett, 2005;Swahn et al, 2003). Targets include unprovoked attacks against individuals, mosques, Islamic centres and institutions (Burnett, 2013).…”