18 offences classified as potential hate crimes were reported to the police in the first half of this year, reports RÚV. However, the actual number of such crimes is probably much higher.
Last year, the police registered 23 possible hate crimes, considerably more than in previous years. In the first six months of this year, their number equalled eighteen.
“I think we can read from these numbers that there is not a good enough correlation between real incidents and those reported to the police. In our opinion, more incidents take place than those that are reported to us,” says María Rún Bjarnadóttir, digital violence project manager at the National Police.
In recent years, most potential hate crimes have targeted people based on their origins. Last year there were thirteen such cases. This year, however, most of the issues have been related to sexuality or gender identity.
María says that police statistics do not always reflect the actual number of crimes committed.
“This data is what we can extract from our police system, and the police system always reflects the legal framework at all times,” she says. “What we can say, however, is that there is both awareness of these crimes and we have also improved the police’s skills in dealing with these crimes in recent years.”
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