Chapter 2 - Hate crime and its impacts
What is hate crime?
In the context of this review, ‘hate crime’ means behaviour that:
- is already a criminal offence under New Zealand law; and
- is carried out because of hate or hostility towards a group of people who have a common characteristic (for example, race, colour, nationality, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age or disability).
The impacts of hate crime
Hate crime focuses on the identity of the victim. Some people say this focus on identity causes additional mental harm — both to the victim and to other members of the affected community who may also feel threatened or targeted. Some argue hate crime also causes harm to wider society by making people feel less connected to each other.
What do we know about hate crime in Aotearoa New Zealand?
We don’t know a lot about hate crime in Aotearoa New Zealand. Since 2019, Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa | New Zealand Police has collected data on reported offences that the victim or another person believes were hate-motivated. In 2023, there were 5,019 reported hate crimes (0.9 per cent of all reported offences). Common offences were harassment, public order offences (such as disorderly behaviour), acts intended to cause injury, and property damage. The characteristics most often targeted were race or ethnicity, followed by sexual orientation, religion and gender identity. Since 2021, 14–18 per cent of reported hate offences were both investigated to the point there was enough evidence to charge a person with an offence and Police decided to take action. Of these, about half were prosecuted.