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Academic papers and reports

Academic papers and reports listed alphabetically by author's last name

  • A

    Ahmad, S. (2019). Islamophobic violence as a form of gender-based violence: A qualitative
    study with Muslim women in Canada. Journal of Gender-Based Violence, 3(1), 45-66. doi:10.1332/239868019X15492770695379 

    This paper represents the first empirical qualitative research study on Islamophobic violence against Muslim women in the Canadian context, and presents a novel characterisation of Islamophobic violence against Muslim women as a form of gender-based violence. Twenty-one Muslim women in Toronto and its surrounding areas were interviewed regarding their encounters with Islamophobic violence: they disclosed over 30 incidents, only three of which were reported to police. The spectrum of Islamophobic violence disclosed by participants includes attempted femicide, physical assault, sexual assault and verbal assault. Moreover, two participants disclosed situations of intimate partner violence (IPV) that were entangled with Islamophobic abuse, representing a hitherto uncharacterised intersection of Islamophobia and IPV in the Canadian context. All incidents of physical and sexual violence disclosed by participants were said to have been perpetrated by white men. Many participants believed that they were targeted for Islamophobic violence because of the impact of gendered Islamophobic discourses that construct Muslim women as being passive, weak and oppressed – and therefore as ‘acceptable targets’ for violence. I offer the novel term ‘Islamophobic gender-based violence’ in order accurately name the reality of violence that Muslim women face in the nexus of misogyny and Islamophobia.

    Al-Hakim, M. (2010). Making room for hate crime legislation in liberal societies. Criminal Law and Philosophy, 4(3), 341-358. doi: 10.1007/s11572-010-9095-4.

    There is a divide within political and legal theory concerning the justification of hate-crime legislation in liberal states. Opponents of Hate-Crime Legislation have recently argued that enhanced punishment for hate-motivated crimes cannot be justified within political liberal states. More specifically, Heidi Hurd argues that criminal sanction which target character dispositions unfairly target individuals for characteristics not readily under their control. She further argues that a ‘character’ based approach in criminal law is necessarily illiberal and violates the state’s commitment to political neutrality. In the current paper, I attempt to show the difficulties and absurdity that follows from Hurd’s characterization of hate- rimes. I aim to show that punishment for undesirable character traits is consistent with western conceptions of criminal law. Upon doing so, I then go on to construct a positive argument for the justifiability of punishing for character traits as well as for the enhanced punishment associated with hate-motivated crimes.

    Anderson, R., & Fetner, T. (2008). Cohort differences in tolerance of homosexuality: Attitudinal changes in Canada and the United States 1981-2000. Public Opinion Quarterly, 72(2), 311-330.

    Using data from the World Values Surveys, we explore trends in tolerance of homosexuality in Canada and the United States from 1981 to 2000. Particular attention is given to the effects of birth cohort. Consistent with previous research, we find that younger cohorts are typically the most tolerant of homosexuality. We also find that Canadians are more liberal than Americans. Most interesting, however, is the remarkable degree of change over time within cohorts, especially in Canada. These findings suggest that attitudes toward homosexuality during this period were an exception to the age-stability hypothesis, which claims that opinions on controversial social issues are formed by early adulthood, and change little with age. We speculate that differing political climate across country and time is responsible for the significant differences in public opinion.

    Asakura, K. (2017). Paving pathways through the pain: A grounded theory of resilience among lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer youth. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 27(3), 521-536. doi: 10.1111/jora.12291.

    This grounded theory study utilized interviews with 16 service providers and 19 lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) youth to develop a substantive theory of resilience processes among LGBTQ youth. The core category, paving pathways through the pain, suggests that LGBTQ youth build on emotional pain inflicted by external adversities to carve out pathways to resilience. Youth employed the following resilience processes: (1) navigating safety across contexts, (2) asserting personal agency, (3) seeking and cultivating meaningful relationships, (4) un-silencing marginalized identities, and (5) engaging in collective healing and action. Youth focused on particularly painful adversities and engaged intentionally in one or more of the resilience processes related to the origins of their pain.

    Asey, F. (2021). The Ugly Side of Beautiful: Qualitative Exploration of Perceptions of and
    Identification with Race Among Non-White Public Servants in British Columbia (BC).
    Canadian Ethnic Studies, 53(2). https://doi.org/10.1353/ces.2021.0009 

    This article offers a qualitative exploration of racial self-identifications as well as perceptions of race among a group of racialized public servants in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It will first argue that the fluidity in participants’ racial self-identification responses points to a lack of clarity on what constitutes race. However, this absence of clarity is a folly of the concept itself, a contention that aims to further cast doubt on the tenability of race as a meaningful classificatory system. Secondly, through explicating multifaceted meanings produced about race, this article will present subthemes of this research’s findings as: 1) race as an immobilizing agent; 2) race as code speak for stereotypes; 3) race as heightened surveillance; and 4) race as proxy for solidarity. Ultimately, the eclectic embodied perceptions of race along with varied racial self-identification responses further reinforce existing theoretical and empirical evidence on race as a debunked and dangerous mirage that, while conceptually illusory, continues to have an agonizing reality in racialized peoples’ lives. 

    Ashley, F. (2018). Don't be so hateful: The insufficiency of anti-discrimination and hate crime laws in improving trans well-being. University of Toronto Law Journal, 68(1), 1.

    The question of judicial protection of trans people has come to the fore in recent years, culminating in Bill C-16 which added gender identity and gender expression to the federal anti-discrimination and hate crime laws. In this article, the author contests the notion that anti-discrimination and hate crime laws are effective in mitigating anti-trans harassment, discrimination, and violence. Suggesting that the model of anti-trans acts which underlies anti-discrimination and hate crime laws is erroneous, the author argues that the law’s impact on trans well-being will be modest and that a careful analysis of anti-trans attitudes enables us to identify a number of more effective governmental avenues toward trans emancipation.

  • B

    Bailey, J. (2006). Strategic alliances: The inter-related roles of citizens, industry and government in combating Internet hate. Canadian Issues, 56-59.

    In this brief article, Bailey focuses on the tools members of civil society have at their disposal to address the problem of Internet hate speech. The bulk of this paper is structured into five sections, each dedicated to a discussion of the benefits and limitations of a particular method of combating hate crime. These methods include triggering legal action through criminal investigations, human rights complaints, and/or contract and labour law; implementing filtering technologies or using zoning techniques; educating Internet users by identifying hate speech and collecting statistics; reporting to hotlines; and Internet Service Provider (ISP) self-regulation. Bailey concludes her paper by emphasizing the importance of engaging citizens, citizen coalitions, industry and government in a collaborative, co-ordinated approach to challenge Internet hate speech.

    Bell, J. G., & Perry, B. (2015). Outside looking in: The community impacts of anti-lesbian, gay, and bisexual hate crime. Journal of Homosexuality, 62(1), 98-120. doi: 10.1080/00918369.2014.957133.

    Hate crime scholars have long argued that the harms of hate crime extend beyond the immediate victim to negatively impact the victim’s reference community. However, this assertion is speculative and in need of empirical support. Utilizing focus group data from 15 people who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or pansexual, this pilot study explored the extent to which the harms of anti-LGB hate crime spread beyond the immediate victim to impact nonvictims in the LGB community. The findings suggest that anti-LGB hate violence can have profound and negative effects on the psychological and emotional well-being of nonvictims who are LGB and may result in dramatic behavioral change as well. The findings also indicate that hate violence negatively affected participants’ decisions to disclose their sexual orientation to others. On a more positive note, however, awareness of such violence may also mobilize some people within the LGB community.

    Berube, M. (2016). Violent trends in the radical right in Canada: Chronological analysis and influencing factors. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 58(2), 221-250.

    The lack of right-wing political parties at the national scale is, among other things, a reason why only a few studies have looked at the factors shaping far-right violent incidents in Canada. In other geopolitical contexts, however, many researchers have identified economic conditions, social developments, and political trends as sources of explanation for this radical tendency. In order to gain a better understanding of the Canadian phenomenon, we identified 241 incidents of right-wing violence between 1977 and 2010, on which we conducted ARIMA time-series analysis. Our study shows the relevance of political conditions for estimating the variations in incidents of extreme-right violence. Moreover, it demonstrates that all the explanatory factors are differently linked with specific incident rates based on racial, religious, and homophobic exclusion.

    Bérubé, M., Scrivens, R., Venkatesh, V., & Gaudette, T. (2019). Converging patterns in pathways in and out of violent extremism: Insights from former Canadian right-wing extremists. Perspectives on Terrorism, 13(6), 73-89.

    In recent years, research on pathways in and out of violent extremism has grown at a staggering rate. Yet much of what is known about these oftentimes “mysterious” processes does not necessarily shed light on the specific aspects of right-wing extremism, and especially not from a Canadian perspective. In an effort to bridge this gap, we use a life-course criminology approach to draw from the voices of former extremists to gain insights into their respective trajectories in and out of violent extremism. A total of 10 life course interviews were conducted with former Canadian members of violent right-wing extremist groups. Analyses of these data suggest that even if there is no single trajectory in and out of violent extremism, there are still converging patterns such as the attraction for common pull factors and a profound dedication to the right-wing cause. Our analyses also demonstrate that the emotional toll of leaving the movement is often characterized by exhaustion, isolation and regrets.

    Bittle, S. (2002). Media treatment of hate as an aggravating circumstance for sentencing: the Criminal Code amendment and the Miloszewski case. Canadian Ethnic Studies 34(1), 30-50.

    This paper critically examines how the print media contribute to a bifurcated understanding of racism and racially motivated violence. Of particular interest is how the print media simultaneously reject and support racism in its reporting of hate as an aggravating sentencing circumstance in the racially motivated homicide of a Sikh caretaker in Surrey, B.C. (R. v. Miloszewski [1999] B.C.J. No. 2710 (B.C.Prov.Ct.)). Sixty-two newspaper items relating to this case were reviewed for the analysis. The findings reveal that the print media rely primarily on criminal justice officials to animate their coverage of R. v. Miloszewski. Although the print media support legislative measures to denounce racially motivated hate (subparagraph 718.2(a)(i) of the Criminal Code of Canada), they pathologize and individualize the offenders in the Miloszewski case. Instead of understanding and reporting about the crime within its broader socio-cultural context, the media explain-away" the incident by suggesting the crime is linked to the pathological behaviour of aberrant 'skinheads'. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of pathologizing the offence and suggests strategies for overcoming the contradictory reporting of racism and hate in the print media.

    Blaya, C. (2019;2018). Cyberhate: A review and content analysis of intervention strategies. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 45, 163-172. doi: 10.1016/j.avb.2018.05.006.

    This paper presents a review of intervention programmes against cyberhate. Over the last decade, the preoccupation over the use of electronic means of communication as a tool to convey hate, racist and xenophobic contents rose tremendously. NGOs, legal professionals, private companies, and civil society have developed interventions but little is known about their impact. For this review we followed the method and protocol from the guidelines from the Cochrane Collaboration Handbook for Systematic Reviews and the Campbell Collaboration Crime and Justice guidelines. The review identified three key intervention areas: law, technology and education through the empowerment of the individuals under the form of counter-speech. No specific intervention towards aggressors was found and most projects focus on prevention or victims through confidence building and skills learning to speak out, report and potentially react in an appropriate way. We did not find any rigorously assessed interventions, which highlights a gap in research and stresses the need for this type of studies. The evaluation of effectiveness of interventions needs to be included in the near future research agenda. Up to now, although intentions are good, we have no evidence that the steps that are undertaken are effective in preventing and reducing cyberhate.

    Blondeel, K., de Vasconcelos, S., Garcia-Moreno, C., Stephenson, R., Temmerman, M., & Toskin, I. (2018). Violence motivated by perception of sexual orientation and gender identity: A systematic review. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 96(1), 29. doi: 10.2471/BLT.17.197251.

    The objective of Blondeel and colleagues (2018) review is to assess the prevalence of physical and sexual violence motivated by perception of sexual orientation and gender identity in sexual and gender minorities. Authors searched nine databases without language restrictions for peer-reviewed and grey literature published from 2000 to April 2016. They included studies with more than 50 participants that measured the prevalence of physical and sexual violence perceived as being motivated by sexual orientation and gender identity or gender expression. They excluded intimate partner violence and self-harm. Due to heterogeneity and the absence of confidence intervals in most studies, no meta-analysis was made. 76 articles from 50 countries were included. These covered 74 studies conducted between 1995 and 2014, including a total of 202 607 sexual and gender minority participants. The quality of data was relatively poor due to a lack of standardized measures and sometimes small and non-randomized samples. In studies where all sexual and gender minorities were analysed as one population, the prevalence of physical and sexual violence ranged from 6% (in a study including 240 people) to 25% (49/196 people) and 5.6% (28/504) to 11.4% (55/484), respectively. For transgender people the prevalence ranged from 11.8% (of a subsample of 34 people) to 68.2% (75/110) and 7.0% (in a study including 255 people) to 49.1% (54/110). Overall, more data is needed on the prevalence, risk factors and consequences of physical and sexual violence motivated by sexual orientation and gender identity in different geographical and cultural settings. National violence prevention policies and interventions should include sexual and gender minorities.

  • C

    Chetty, N., & Alathur, S. (2018). Hate speech review in the context of online social networks. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 40, 108-118. doi: 10.1016/j.avb.2018.05.003.

    Advances in Internet Technologies (ITs) and online social networks have made more benefits to humanity. At the same time, the dark side of this growth/benefit has led to increased hate speech and terrorism as most common and powerful threats globally. Hate speech is an offensive kind of communication mechanism that expresses an ideology of hate using stereotypes. Hate speech targets different protected characteristics such as gender, religion, race, and disability. Control of hate speech can be made using different national and international legal frameworks. Any intentional act directed against life or related entities causing a common danger is known as terrorism. There is a common practice of discussing or debating hate speech and terrorism separately. In the recent past, most of the research articles have discussed either hate speech or terrorism. Hate speech is a type of terrorism and follows an incident or trigger event of terrorism. Online social networks are the result of ITs and evolved rapidly through the popularity among youth. As both the activities are near to close and makes use of online social networks, the collective discussion is appropriate. Therefore we have a review on hate speech with different classes and terrorism with cyber use in the framework of online social networks. With the help of combined effort from the government, the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and online social networks, the proper policies can be framed to counter both hate speech and terrorism efficiently and effectively.

    Chongatera, G. (2013). Hate-crime victimization and fear of hate crime among racially visible people in Canada: The role of income as a mediating factor. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 11(1), 44-64. doi: 10.1080/15562948.2013.759037.

    Hate-crime victimization against racially visible people is of growing concern and it raises questions about social cohesion in a multiracial and ethnic democracy such as Canada, particularly among immigrants across the country. Using income as a mediating factor, this article examines hate-crime victimization against visible minority groups in Canada using the Ethnic Diversity Survey. Using multinomial and binary logistic regression, the study describes the likelihood of experiencing hate crime victimization and fear of hate crime. The results indicate that hate crime and fear of hate crime depends on visible minorities’ ethnic background, above and beyond their socioeconomic status.

    Claridge, M. (2006). A criminal law approach to combating hate. Canadian Issues, 93-99.

    Chief Justice [Dickson] in Keegstra described the types of harm caused by hate propaganda as including the humiliation and debasement of an individual targeted by hate propaganda. Indeed, the feeling of human dignity and belonging to the whole community is closely linked to the interest and respect shown for the groups to which the individual belongs. The derision, hostility and abuse encouraged by hate speech therefore have a profound negative effect on self-esteem and on the feeling of being accepted as a member of society. The judge explained that a second harmful effect of hate speech is its influence on society as a whole. People can be tricked into believing almost anything as long as you use the right technique to communicate information or ideas to them and do so in the right circumstances.

    Section 319 (1) - Public Incitement to Hate - Under this provision, anyone who, by communicating statements in a public place, incites hatred against an identifiable group, when such incitement is likely to result in a violation of the peace, is guilty of either a criminal offence or an offence punishable on summary conviction. A recent example of a situation where charges could have been laid under this provision (if the events had occurred in Canada) is the sending of e-mails and text messages that individuals used to encourage the commission of racist acts on the beaches and streets of Sydney, Australia. The laying of charges under this provision is not subject to the prior consent of the Attorney General, presumably because the police must deal with these types of incidents and charges in emergency situations.

    New section 320.1 provides a procedure for the police to present information under oath to a superior court judge that provides reasonable grounds to believe that hate speech is available on a computer within the jurisdiction of the court. If the judge is satisfied that the police have reasonable grounds, he may order the computer keeper to deliver an electronic copy of the “material” (i.e. documents in the broadest sense) to the court, to ensure that the material is no longer stored or accessible by means of the computer, and to provide the information necessary to identify and locate the person who posted the material. Again, this is a procedure that aims to remove material from the public domain. It is not a charge against an individual but a hearing to determine whether the material is hate speech. If this is the case, the court orders that it be erased. This article can help both the public and the telecommunications industry determine what constitutes hate speech, and can be used to provide a legal basis for removing hate speech on the Internet.

    Cohen, J. (2000). More censorship or less discrimination? Sexual orientation hate propaganda in multiple perspectives. McGill Law Journal (46), 69.

    If hate propaganda pits anti-censorship advocates against anti-discrimination advocates, sexual minorities occupy an ambiguous position in this debate. Because they often find themselves fighting against censorship--and have, at least in the United States, made more gains in this area than in that of equal protection--sexual minorities have traditionally promoted strong freedom of expression values. However, recent advances in jurisprudence interpreting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, particularly the inclusion of sexual orientation as an analogous prohibited ground for discrimination under section 15, have prompted sexual minorities to pursue a vigorous anti-discrimination agenda. This agenda recently culminated in the Supreme Court of Canada's decisions in Vriend v. Alberta and M. v. H., which, by reading sexual orientation into a provincial human rights statute and extending spousal support to same-sex couples, provide considerable authority for extending Canada's Criminal Code hate propaganda provisions to sexual minorities. At the same time, a growing body of comparative and international law--in particular the United Nations Human Rights Committee's recent decision in Toonen v. Australia--has extended the norm of anti-discrimination to sexual minorities. These developments, combined with Canada's well-established commitment to criminalizing hate and its emerging commitment to substantive equality, suggest that sexual orientation hate propaganda is best analyzed as an issue of discrimination, not censorship. This conclusion should commend the extension of hate propaganda measures to protect sexual minorities to even those gay rights activists who dread further incursions into civil liberties.

    Cripps, J., & Stermac, L. (2018). Cyber-sexual violence and negative emotional states among women in a Canadian university. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 12(1), 171-186. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1467891.

    Cyber-sexual violence refers to a form of harmful sexually aggressive behaviors committed with the facilitation of digital technologies. Such harmful behaviors can include non-consensual pornography and other image-based sexual exploitation, online sexual harassment, cyber-stalking, online gender-based hate speech, and the use of a carriage service to arrange/attempt to arrange a victim's sexual assault. This article examines the cyber-sexual violence experiences reported by a sample of women on university campuses in Ontario, Canada. Specifically, this study documented the types and forms of cyber-sexual violence that female university students have experienced, whether they disclosed the incidents and their association with negative health emotional states. This study provided evidence indicating that experiences of cyber-sexual violence are associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, and posttraumatic reactions, regardless of individuals' disclosure experiences. In light of these findings it is crucial that service providers and legislative initiatives begin to adapt to the changing technological nature of crimes against women.

  • D

    D'Augelli, A. R., Pilkington, N. W., & Hershberger, S. L. (2002). Incidence and mental health impact of sexual orientation victimization of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths in high school. School Psychology Quarterly, 17(2), 148-167.

    This study examined victimization during high school based on sexual orientation of 350 lesbian, gay, or bisexual (lgb) youths aged 21 and younger. Experiences of direct victimization as well as knowledge of other lgb youths' victimization were assessed. Over half reported verbal abuse in high school because of their sexual orientation, and 11% said they had been physically assaulted. Youths who were more open in high school about their sexual orientation and who had a history of more gender atypical behavior were victimized more often. Male youths were targeted significantly more often than females, Youths' current mental health symptoms, especially traumatic stress reactions, were associated with having experienced more verbal abuse in high school.

    DeKesseredy, W. S., Alvi, S., Schwartz, M. D., & Perry, B. (1999). Violence against and the harassment of women in Canadian public housing: An exploratory study. The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 36(4), 499-516.

    Using survey data from residents of six public housing projects in Eastern Ontario urban communities, the authors seek to examine the extent of and the nature of abuse and violence committed against women in high poverty urban settings. It is found that 19 per cent of respondents had experienced intimate partner physical violence (a rate higher than similar samples in North America) and 26 per cent of respondents had experienced verbal harassment in public places (with those who spent more time in public space due to work and leisure reporting increased harassment). The authors note that the use of unwanted sexual remarks received from strangers acts to gender public space and to reaffirm women’s vulnerability, with racial harassment acting in a similar fashion to remind racialized women of their status as the Other. A strong relationship between public harassment and private sexual violence is also found by the authors. Overall, women who live in public housing projects are found to suffer from intimate partner violence at higher rates than do other women, though the authors caution that additional research is needed.

    Douai, A., & Perry, B. (2017). Equitable Lens: How Canada’s Ethnic Minority Media Cover Crime. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice. 60(1), 96–121.

    There is a growing body of literature on the nexus of media, race, and crime, which reveals that crime is exaggerated in mainstream media and that these same venues tend to racialize crime and criminalize race. The impact of this is that inaccurate public perceptions about the frequency, seriousness, and demographic distribution of crime are reinforced. Interestingly, however, there have been no focused efforts to explore the ways in which crime is featured within the media targeting specific racial and ethnic communities. We know little about whether such outlets reproduce these patterns. This pilot study is intended to initiate an examination of the representation of crime news in Canada's ethnic media, exploring the patterns of crime reporting in such outlets and comparing the ways in which such news is presented to different audiences. We conducted a content analysis of two English-language newspapers in the Greater Toronto Area, which nonetheless serve specific racial and ethnic communities. Quantitative (e.g., frequency) and qualitative (e.g., themes) findings from the study offer insights into crime reporting patterns, as well as the nature of crime coverage in the studied newspapers.

  • F

    Farber, B. (2006). The Internet and hate promotion: The 21st century dilemma. Canadian Issues, 12-14.

    In this brief article, Farber, the Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Jewish Congress, discusses the use of the Internet for hate promotion as an ever-expanding problem in Canadian society. Farber then goes on to identify the provisions in Canadian legislation that allow for protection against hate mongers. These include sections 318 and 319 of the Criminal Code of Canada, which identify hate-based offences; section 718.2 of the Criminal Code, which encourages judges to consider as an aggravating circumstances crimes that are motivated by hate, bias, or prejudice; and section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, which provides sanctions against those using technologies (e.g. the Internet) to subject a person(s) to hate. He also acknowledges Canada’s status as the first non-European country to sign the additional protocol on the Convention on Cybercrime. Beyond these protections, Farber emphasizes the responsibility of Canadian Internet service providers to take an active role against hate propaganda on the Internet through self-regulation. Such activism, according to Farber, must be part of a broader, multi-agency approach to resolving the problem of hate on the Internet that involves governments, police services, schools, community groups and service providers.

    Faulkner, E. (1999). A Case Study of the Institutional Response to Anti-Gay/Lesbian Violence in Toronto. Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education, University of Toronto unpublished document. https://utoronto.scholaris.ca/bitstreams/fc0ed95e-12e3-4117-80aa-173976f63d24/download 

    This thesis is a case study of the institutional response to anti-gayAesbian violence in Toronto. The case study combines a comparative anal ysis of staiistics on anti-gayksbian violence collected in Toronto with those obtained in other Canadian and American antigay/lesbian violence studies including a critical analysis of the institutions which respond to antigayllesbian violence in Toronto such as police, the 5 19 Church Street Community Centre, the Wellesley Central Hospital, and the Metro Toronto Police Services Hate Crime Unit. An overview of the mode1 of viciim assistance developed by the volunteers and coordinator of the 5 19 Church Street Community Centre Community Response to Bashing Committee is given. A critique of the theoretical perspectives and the methodological approaches used to explain and creatr knowledge about anti-gayflesbian violence is provided. The thesis ends with concluding remarks and policy recommendations to guide future research. 

    Faulkner, E. (2002). Comment: Hate crime in Canada: An overview of issues and data sources. (July 2001), by Derek Janhevich (Statistics Canada). International Journal of Comparative Criminology, 2(2), 239-261.

    This report comments on Derek Janhevich’s report on Hate Crime in Canada: An Overview of Issues and Data Sources. Faulkner summarizes and discusses the findings of the report and critiques the methodological and theoretical influences which guide it. Faulkner describes the report as “an informative but at times disappointing effort at providing analysis of the first available national estimates on HC (hate crime) in Canada. Much more detailed analysis of the data could have been provided” (pg. 242). She then goes onto the interesting information which Janhevich found and what else Janhevich could have included in the report. For example, Faulkner states that much research which is funded by the government is included; however, important comparative research on gay and lesbian violence is missing. Faulkner also states that the approaches and gaps in approaches of policy departments across Canada is comprehensive, although it is mentioned that not all departments collect hate crime statistics. It is recommended that a national program be implemented to evaluate existing documentation approaches of hate crime occurrences in Canada. To conclude, Faulkner states that further social justice research is needed in the area of hate crime, specifically (1) to understand if the information in the 1999 General Social Survey allows Canadians to understand the extent of hate crime in Canada and (2) to consider trends that are evolving in the United States and how they collect data.

    Faulkner, E. (2001) Empowering victim advocates: The community response to anti-gay/lesbian violence in Canada. Critical Criminology: An International Journal, a special theme edition on Criminology, Empowerment and Social Justice, 10(2),123-135.

    This article provides an account of an emancipatory, community-based response to anti-gay/lesbian violence in Canada by outlining the model developed by The 519Church Street Community Centre Anti-Violence Programme (The 519), previously known as the Victim Assistance Programme. The data for this article was obtained through participant observation over a five year period from1993–1997. The goal of this article is to document and critique the model developed at The 519 by focussing on advocacy, policing issues, education, and the production of knowledge about anti-gay/lesbian violence. While the Committee's inclusionary agenda seems to be the most strategic approach to gaining equity in services in existing institutions, contradictions arise which suggest that ruptures exist between the promise of mainstream institutional change and resistance to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer (LGBTQ) activism.

    Faulkner, E. (2006). Homophobic hate propaganda in Canada. Journal of Hate Studies, 5(1), Special Issue on 'Hate and Communication', 63-98.

    Faulkner examines the presence of homophobic hate propaganda in Canada, drawing on critical race theory to frame the issue as one which is an aspect of endemic heterosexism and homophobia in Canadian society that has been present historically, is reflected within the legal system, and must be tackled by those affected with an eye towards eliminating all forms of oppression. The author (in agreement with prominent egalitarians) writes that legal protections against hate speech are necessary to protect targeted communities (in the form of “reasonable limits” on the freedom of expression), though states that further activism will be required. Faulkner utilizes prima facie evidence of hate propaganda directed at LGB individuals gathered from media sources, academic literature, case law, NGOs, and Canadian websites to identify patterns of homophobic hate speech. An overview of Canadian legal sanctions is provided, finding little successful application of these statutes to cases involving LGB individuals. The Canadian situation is then compared internationally, with the literature pointing to a prevalence of homophobic prejudice, even in countries with strong hate speech protections.

    Faulkner then reports her findings of homophobic hate speech patterns, drawing on Hess’s research which found six reoccurring themes: 1) depravity, with LGB individuals being painted as pedophiles and sexual predators ; 2) disease, with homosexuality believed to be alternatively voluntary or a mental illness; 3) AIDS as a punishment; 4) homosexuality threatening society and its institutions, with a belief that LGB people are anti-social and anti-family; 5) danger, with LGB people thought to be criminal and disease-spreading; and 6) conspiracies about a so-called “hidden homosexual agenda” on behalf of LGB persons to spread homosexuality through indoctrination. These messages are found to remind victims of their subordinate status and (as per Banks) to result in a loss of human dignity, self-worth and belonging, damage to cultural identity, group defamation, and harm to society as a whole. Faulkner ends by calling for the hate queer people experience to be considered within the context of their overlapping identities and the history of their oppression, as parallels exist between hate directed at the LGB community and racial and ethnic minorities.

    Faulkner, E. (2006). Homophobic sexist violence in Canada: Trends in the experiences of lesbian and bisexual women in Canada. Canadian Women Studies (Special Issue on Violence Against Women), 25(1-2), 154-161.

    Faulkner examines the prevalence and consequences of homophobic sexist victimization on lesbian and bisexual women in Canada. Patterns and scales of female victimization are identified, drawn from a convenience sample of 475 women found in three grassroots Canadian studies. The author points to the lack of intersectional or structural analysis of homophobic violence at the time, aiming to add nuance to the topic by examining the influence gender plays in homophobic victimization and the way in which hate crimes are understood and studied. Faulkner utilizes feminist frameworks to place violence against lesbians and bi women within the continuum of systemic heteropatriarchal violence more generally, as it is often hard for victims to identify whether it was their gender or sexuality which prompted their victimization.

    A comparison of the selected surveys finds that of lesbian and bisexual women 49.3 per cent were verbally harassed, 25.5 per cent were threatened with violence, 21.8 per cent had been chased or followed, 11.5 per cent had objects thrown at them, 10.9 per cent had been punched, kicked or beaten, 9.3 per cent had been sexually assaulted, 9.2 per cent had been spit at, eight per cent had been harassed by police, and 4.6 per cent had been assaulted with a weapon. Although queer men faced higher overall rates of homophobic victimization, women were more likely to experience sexual violence and attacks with weapons and by family members/acquaintances. Queer women also reported higher levels of modifying their behaviour due to fear of attack and had more fear of attacks overall.  This was found to result in many remaining closeted (completely or in certain situations), avoiding public displays of affection, modifying their dress and/or demeanor, increased wariness of going certain places and doing certain things, and either retreating from political expression or fighting back. Homophobic sexist attacks were found to occur more likely in the private sphere but were found also in the ordinary circumstances of the women’s work and life, often by adult men, male youth and strangers. Faulkner concludes that gender is an important factor in violence against lesbian and bisexual women, but that more research (in particular, more in-depth qualitative research) is needed to gain a more nuanced understanding of the topic.

    Faulkner, E. (2004). Researching anti-gay/lesbian violence in Canada: Methodological and definitional issues. International Journal of Comparative Criminology, 3(2),149-174.

    Faulkner’s article challenges the stereotype of gay and lesbian violence discussing the media as only one source that has created a distorted image, scholarly material also contributes to the stereotype. Through a triangular approach, Faulkner combines survey research and interviews, participant observation and content analysis for a reflective and content sensitive approach to assess the prevalence and impact on the victims of gay and lesbian violence. Faulkner challenges four aspects of Harry and Burk’s (1992) definition of gay bashing in the article; the notion that all gay bashers and victims are male, the belief that they mostly kill strangers, the assumption that they kill because of a pathological condition of thrill seeking, and the notion that gay bashing perpetrators are powerless and have contributed to the stereotype. Faulkner argues that it is pointless to conduct research on gay and lesbian violence until the contradictions in typologies, theories and definitions are explored. Stating that all research on gay and lesbian violence has methodological problems Faulkner breaks them down into two categories, qualitative and quantitative research issues. The problems with typologies are that attempts to describe a gay basher and how they go about their business are the major flaws in classifying gay bashing. Faulkner concludes by stating it is imperative to expand the definition of anti-gay and anti-lesbian violence, improve the reliability of information sources and research methodologies, the sharing of research, and eradicating the gay basher stereotype. The changes are essential so that policy decisions and strategies for intervention are to be informed by reliable data. Also, by challenging the media and psychiatric constructions of gay realities it will be possible to move beyond the pathological models. Finally, a challenged analysis of androcentric and radicalized gay bashing is needed to go discover the specificities of women’s and visible minorities’ experiences of heterosexism. 

    Field, A. M. (2007). Counter-hegemonic citizenship: LGBT communities and the politics of hate crimes in Canada. Citizenship Studies, 11(3), 247-262.

    Field examines the way in which Canadian citizenship is experienced by those who belong to groups considered ‘other’ due to their gender and/or sexuality. The author contends that these individuals do not enjoy the full benefits of substantive citizenship (the ability to participate fully and equally in a society), with hate-motivated violence standing as the clearest attempt to deny them such. Utilizing a case study of the Ottawa Police Liaison Committee with the LGBT Community, Field questions whether Canada’s legislative hate crime framework is robust enough to assure the safety necessary to afford LGBT people substantive citizenship. She finds that the community-based Liaison Committee which worked in tandem with the Ottawa Police Hate Crime Section was successful in creating conditions in which the LGBT community felt safer to access police services and to hold them accountable for providing adequate protection. Thus, while strong hate crime legislation is needed, it must be operationalized at the community level to allow greater police awareness and responsiveness to hate crimes and, importantly, as a point of entry for vulnerable groups to shape relations with police and have their needs met which in turn allows for more substantive citizenship.

    Freiman, M. (2006). Litigating hate on the Internet. Canadian Issues, 66-71

    Freiman examines the utility of section 13 of the Human Rights Act by using the Zundel case to illustrate its strengths as a weapon against hate propaganda. Zundel was brought before the Human Rights Tribunal in violation of section 13 of the Human Rights Act and was eventually successfully prosecuted for the creation and ongoing operation of his Zundelsite. Freiman begins by telling some of his favourite antidotes from the infamous case as Zundel and his lawyer attempted to find loopholes in the seemingly airtight section. Freiman claims that section 13 is conceptually, technically and legally well-grounded, which enables it to strike the appropriate balance between competing social and constitutional goals. Freiman provides seven reasons for his assertion, which coincide with the seven primary components of section 13. Freiman explains how each of the following components contribute to a holistic approach to fighting hate propaganda; section 13:

    • Treats hate propaganda as a discriminatory practice rather than a crime.
    • Makes clear that the target is the person who communicated the message and not the message itself.
    • Requires certainty about who is communicating the hateful messages.
    • Establishes that “communicating telephonically repeatedly” includes hateful messages repeatedly posted on the Internet.
    • Establishes constitutional jurisdiction over the communication of hateful messages.
    • Sets out the nature of the harm done by the messages.
    • Defines all types of discrimination against all groups as unacceptable.

    These seven parts of section 13 come together to form a complete and all-encompassing tool for fighting hate propaganda, as evidenced by its ability to successfully prosecute one of Canada’s most notorious hate mongers, Ernst Zundel.

    Forcese, C., & Roach, K. W. (2015). Criminalizing terrorist babble: Canada's dubious new terrorist speech crime. Alberta Law Review, 53(1), 35.

    Before the introduction of Bill C-51, the Canadian government expressed interest in a terrorism “glorification” offence, responding to Internet materials regarded by officials as terrorist propaganda and as promoting “radicalization.” Bill C-51 introduces a slightly less broad terrorism offence that applies to those who knowingly promote or advocate “terrorism offences in general” while knowing or being reckless as to whether terrorism offences “may be committed as a result of such communication.” This article addresses the merits of these new speech-based terrorism offences. It includes analyses of: the sociological data concerning radicalization and “radicalization to violence”; existing offences that apply to speech associated with terrorism; comparative experience with glorification crimes; and the restraints that the Charter would place on any similar Canadian law. We conclude that a glorification offence would be ill-suited to Canada’s social and legal environment and that even the slightly more restrained new advocacy offence is flawed. This is especially true for Charter purposes given the less restrictive alternative of applying existing terrorism and other criminal offences to hate speech and speech that incites, threatens, or facilitates terrorism. Forcese and Roach are also concerned that the new speech offence could have counter-productive practical public safety effects. They favour that part of Bill C-51 that allows for court-ordered deletion of material on the Internet that was criminal before Bill C-51, namely material that counsels the commission of terrorism offences. However, Bill C-51’s broader provision that allows for the deletion of material that “advocates or promotes the commission of terrorism offences in general” suffers the same flaws as its enactment of a new offence for communicating such statements.
  • G

    Gold, N. (2004). Sexism and anti-Semitism as experienced by Canadian Jewish women: Results of a national study. Women’s Studies International Forum, 27(1), 55-74.

    This paper reports on a national survey of Canadian Jewish women, focussing on their experiences of antisemitism and sexism and the relationship between these experiences and individuals' scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). A random sample of women from across Canada (N=364) were interviewed by phone, using a 75-item questionnaire developed by this researcher, and they also completed the BDI. The data reported on here was analyzed quantitatively. The results of this study show that both sexism and antisemitism are painful and problematic for many Canadian Jewish women. However, the two phenomena appear to have different relationships to mental health. Having had many antisemitic experiences in one's life was related to a higher depression score, whereas having had many sexist experiences was not. This underscores the need for further research on intersecting oppressions which elucidates the relative contributions of each kind of oppression to the overall dual (or multiple) oppression that women experience. It also points to the importance of including materials on antisemitism along with those on racism and other forms of oppression when teaching about women and oppression in Women's Studies programs.

    Green, D. P., McFalls, L. H., & Smith, J. K. (2001). Hate crime: An emergent research agenda. Annual Review of Sociology, 27(1), 479-504. doi: 10.1146/annurev.soc.27.1.479.

    The authors seek to provide an overview of hate crime, to identify gaps in hate crime research literature, and to provide direction for future hate crime research. In particular, they note that while much attention had been paid to prejudicial behaviour, little research at the time had tried to deduce why prejudice turns violent. The article begins with a section devoted to defining hate crime and detailing who is included within protected groups, what acts constitute a hate crime, what motivates hate crime perpetrators, and how to synthesize these elements to structure a workable research process. The next section offers possible theoretical explanations for the existence of hate crime including as the result of psychological traits, social-psychological factors, historical-cultural circumstances, sociological factors, and economic or political strife, as well as some synthesized approaches. The final section of the article offers an overview of empirical research findings of the time, with the authors pointing to the strengths and weaknesses within each vein of hate crime research. The authors end with a call to widen the scope of hate crime research through novel and diversified research designs and the increased collection of data.

    Greenspan, E. L. (2004). Should hate speech be a crime? Queen's Quarterly, 111(1), 73.

    Canadian defence lawyer Edward Greenspan offers his controversial opinion that the key to overcoming hate speech lies not in its criminalization, but through the upholding of the principle of free speech. He argues that this would allow for such speech to be exposed to the public arena where it can then be countered. Examples of the Canadian hate speech trials of Keegsta and Zundel (as well as historical examples including the Zola-Dreyfus affair and Nazi Germany) are used by Greenspan to illustrate his argument. He invokes Jonathan Rauch and his Liberal Principle which states that the “checking of each by each through public criticism is the only legitimate way to decide who is right” and chastises hate speech laws which he considers as punishment for social wrongs, not crimes. Greenspan sees this as a violation of civil liberties and as a danger greater than that posed by hate speech itself as he believes that “in a free and democratic society it is more freedom of expression and more freedom of speech that form the most effective weapon against the hate mongers”.

    Gusella, M. (2006). A serious threat. Canadian Issues, 4-7.

    This document contains the opening address of Mary Gusella, former Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC), at the Hate on the Internet Conference. In her address, Gusella begins with a brief review of key historical incidents in the propagation of hate, involving John Ross Taylor as the leader of a white-supremacist neo-Nazi group in the first telephonic hate message case and Ernst Zundel in the first Internet hate case. Both of these cases are reviewed for the purposes of discussing the use of Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act as a tool for responding to hate propaganda. Gusella also outlines new initiatives of the CHRC that will facilitate the processing of section 13 complaints, including, among other things, the creation of a section 13 complaint team, ongoing communication with Internet service providers, and the development of relationships the Media Awareness Network. Although Gusella acknowledges the limitations of section 13, she emphasizes its significance as a symbol of social solidarity with the targets of hatred and bigotry. Concluding her opening address, Gusella emphasizes the two objectives of the conference: (1) to create awareness of section 13; and (2) to facilitate the exchange of knowledge among experts by providing a networking opportunity with the conference.

  • H

    Hadzifejzovic, H., Morell, C., Scholberg, T., Perry, B., Jama, A., O’Brien, D., McCalpin, K., McKenzie, A., Uribe-Quevedo, A., Hogue, A., Ripley, J., and Sposato, R. (2023). Development of a Safe Gaming and Anti-Hate Serious Game. Proceedings of the IEEE Games, Entertainment and Media Conference. doi: 10.1109/GEM59776.2023.10389928 

    Online gaming culture is a fertile ground for hate groups to exploit for the recruitment and promotion of hateful narratives. The widespread adoption of video games and the global interconnectedness provided by online platforms enable hate groups to gather and coordinate violence. This paper presents a multi-stakeholder approach to develop an anti-hate serious game designed to educate youth about the nature and implications of hate by employing a series of coping mechanisms, relatable experiences, and decision-making strategies woven into a compelling narrative guided by a curriculum focused on understanding emotion, increasing digital literacy, and familiarizing with stereotypes. A preliminary exploratory study was undertaken, incorporating both pre- and post-test assessments alongside in-session assessments, to discern the perceived impact and effectiveness of the experience. The constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a limited sample size, however, preliminary findings demonstrate a promising trend with both the youth and facilitators positively welcoming the game and highlighting the value of the game in providing tangible, actionable tools for combating the pervasive issue of online hate narratives. These initial findings underscore the need for a larger study to further investigate the game's potential in fostering a more tolerant and understanding digital society.

    Haggerty, B.P. (2008). Hate crime law & social contention: A comparison of non-governmental knowledge practices in Canada & the United States. PhD Dissertation, University of British Columbia.

    Hate crime laws in both Canada and the United States purport to promote equality using the language of antidiscrimination law. National criminal codes in both countries authorize enhanced punishment for crimes motivated by “sexual orientation” but not “gender identity” or “gender expression.” Cities and states in the United States have also adopted hate crime laws, some of which denounce both homophobic and trans-phobic crimes. Hate crime penalty enhancement laws have been applied by courts in both Canada and the United States to establish a growing jurisprudence. In both countries, moreover, other hate crime laws contribute to official legal knowledge by regulating hate speech, hate crime statistics, and conduct equivalent to hate crimes in schools, workplaces, and elsewhere. Yet, despite the proliferation of hate crime laws and jurisprudence, governmental officials do not control all legal knowledge about hate crimes. Sociological “others” attend criminal sentencing proceedings and provide support to hate crime victims during prosecutions, but they also frame their own unofficial inquiries and announce their own classification decisions for hate-related events. In both Canada and the United States, nongovernmental groups contend both inside and outside official governmental channels to establish legal knowledge about homophobic and trans-phobic hate crimes. In two comparable Canadian and American cities, similar groups monitor and classify homophobic and trans-phobic attacks using a variety of information practices. Interviews with representatives of these groups reveal a relationship between the practices of each group and hate crime laws at each site. The results support one principal conclusion. The availability of local legislative power and a local mechanism for public review are key determinants of the sites and styles of nongovernmental contention about hate crimes. Where police gather and publish official hate crime statistics, the official classification system serves as both a site for mobilization, and a constraint on the styles of contention used by nongovernmental groups. Where police do not gather or publish hate crime statistics, nongovernmental groups are deprived of the resource represented by a local site for social contention, but their styles of contention are liberated from the subtle influences of an official hate crime classification system.

    Helly, D. (2004). Are Muslims discriminated against in Canada since September 2001? Canadian Ethnic Studies, 36(1), 24-47.

    Helly delves into the lives of Arab and Muslim communities by exploring various aspects of their lives pre- and post-September 11, 2001, including employment trends, access to education, limitations on freedom and a subsequent rise in hate crime. Helly begins by clearly defining several forms of discrimination including systemic, institutionalized, usual, and voluntary racism. She also defines the term hate crime and highlights the differences in the nature and extent of hate crime in several countries including Canada. Helly qualifies these differences by touching on the inaccuracy of hate crime statistics in Canada, by noting the nature of these crimes ensures underreporting, in addition to the absence of a national definition and  a consistent method of classification among police services. The Muslim Canadian experience post September 11 witnessed an initial rise in hate crime which subsided in 2002. Hate crimes were, for the most part, limited to verbal insults, but were extenuated by ethnic profiling by police, inequitable access to the labour market, and negative coverage in the media, which aggravated negative public attitudes towards Muslims. However, Helly does highlight some positive steps that have been made since September 11, 2001; many Canadian communities have attempted to re-establish bonds between the Muslim community and municipal authorities. Furthermore, some political parties, such as the New Democrat Party (NDP), took interest in the inclusion of the Muslim community following the attacks.

    Hofmann, D. C., Trofimuk, B., Perry, S., & Hyslop-Margison, C. (2021). An exploration of right-wing extremist incidents in Atlantic Canada. Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, 14(3), 259-281. https://doi.org/10.1080/17467586.2021.1876900 

    The study of Canadian right-wing extremism from a security context is in its infancy, with only a handful of empirical and theoretical studies emerging on the topic within the last decade. With the increase of right-wing extremism violence in Canada such as the 2014 Moncton shooting and the 2017 Quebec City mosque attack, there is a pressing need to better understand the breadth, depth, and extent of Canadian right-wing extremism. The current paper presents the preliminary findings from a larger cross-Canadian research project on right-wing extremism and focuses exclusively on Atlantic Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador, and Prince Edward Island). A comprehensive scoping of opensource documents of right-wing extremist incidents in Atlantic Canada from January 2000 to December 2019 and their related attributes were compiled into a dataset, and then used to explore the distribution, breadth, type, and extent of right-wing extremist activity in the Maritime provinces. Given the focus of previous research upon urban aspects of Canadian right-wing extremism, and that Atlantic Canada is more rural in comparison to the rest of Canada, the breakdown of occurrences of different types of rightwing extremist activities based upon rurality are also examined.

  • J

    Juriansz, R. (2006). Combating hate and preserving free speech: Where is the line? Canadian Issues, 18-35.

    The Honourable Justice Juriansz delves into the much debated issue of the right to free expression and the right to be protected from hateful speech and action. Juriansz begins by discussing the crucial importance of free speech in a democratic society, citing extreme American examples of the seemingly absolute right to free expression offered in the First Amendment. Unlike the American experience, most other nations have established that the “careful restriction” of some forms of speech is both desirable and necessary. Juriansz exemplifies this by referring to the numerous signatories of international treaties, which denounce racism and hate such as the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The states that endorse these types of treaties often have legislation which is consistent with them. Juriansz also explores the recently amended (January 2006) British legislation that limits free speech. Critics have suggested that the new legislation takes on the characteristics of American legislation by making it virtually impossible to successfully prosecute individuals for expressions of hate. Juariansz goes on to discuss the Canadian debate in the context of section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act whose provisions focus on “telephonic communication.” This section has established jurisdiction over hate on the Internet as a type of “telephonic communication.” This section has also deemed that certain expressions, such as violence, are not protected under the right to freely express oneself. Juriansz also briefly looks at the challenges to the Criminal Code, citing popular cases like R. v. Zundel and R. v. Keegstra. He concludes by suggesting that the balance between freedom of expression and censorship of hate can be found by using the Charter and its interpretation and application by the Supreme Court of Canada.

  • K

    Kang, H. B. K. (2012). Colonization is not a ghost: Colonial infused racism is alive and well. Sikh Formations, 8(3), 327-331.

    Responding to the murder of six American Sikhs at the hands of a white supremacist in 2012, Kang probes the role that racism still plays in North American society and the toll which it takes on diasporic Sikh communities. Kang weaves personal accounts of the racism which she has experienced throughout the article to illustrate the discriminatory effects suffered when one does not occupy a white settler identity in supposedly ‘multicultural’ Canada. She describes the casual bigotry which she has endured and describes the fear she feels for her daughter within a white supremacist colonial state which views and treats those with brown skin as the Other. Kang finishes the article by asserting that decolonization which breaks down the white supremacist foundation of North America must be undertaken if racism is to be effectively eliminated.

    Kaushik, V., Lee, Y., & Lemon, E.C. (2018). Diversity in Canada: Predictors of the perceptions of social interactions. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 28(7), 1-16.

    Canada is one of the most diverse countries in the world, but do Canadians accept diversity? This study examines the factors that predict the perceptions of social interactions among individuals in Canada. The data were obtained from the Ethnic Diversity Survey (EDS) conducted by Statistics Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage in 2002. Multivariate analyses were applied to investigate whether individuals’ racial, linguistic, religious, socioeconomic, and immigrant status influence their perceptions of their social interactions. The data comprised 41,695 responses from individuals in ten provinces of Canada, using a computer-assisted telephone interview method. The logistic regression results indicate that it is likely that people who belong to a visible minority, have lower socioeconomic status, speak non-official languages, and follow a religion other than Christianity feel discriminated against, uncomfortable/out-of-place, and worried about becoming a victim of hate-crime in Canada. The French-speaking people also feel discriminated against and out-of-place in Canada. This study informs us about the public attitude on the dynamics of social interactions in a multi-cultural and multi-racial society. It reinforces the need for community-based researchers, community development workers and policy makers to address discrimination and hostility and to invest in programs and policies that promote an inclusive society in Canada.

    Kutty, F. (2017). Canada not immune from a legacy of fear-mongering. Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, 36(2), 40.

    In this article, Kutty explores the rise of Islamophobia in North America, specifically the drastic uptake in hate crimes and terrorist behavior since the first Trump presidency. Kutty writes this article with hopes of informing the Canadian public that we are not immune to the influence of American politics, that it poisons our minds, just as it poisons the minds of Americans. He acknowledges that the demonization of Muslims in Western pop culture comes from a place of fear and then goes on to explain and dismantle the sources of these fears. He cites this distrust in Muslims as an act of preservation; an act of keeping things familiar and predictable, thus fighting cultural evolution. By pointing fingers at people who are ‘different’ we are able to declare the enemy in the so-called ‘war on terror’. These fears have led to changes in Canadian policies that allow governments to restrict actions that they deem ‘security issues’. While they may not seem overtly discriminatory, much of the language and intention behind these policies is to limit Islamic religious expression, a right prescribed by the Constitution. While many explicit actions have impacted the lives of many Muslims, the implicit idea of Islamophobia and xenophobia as Western values impacts us all.

  • L

    LaSelva, S. V. (2015). Toleration without hate speech: The Keegstra decision, American free speech exceptionalism and Locke’s letter. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 48(3), 699-718. doi: 10.1017/S0008423915001043.

    This paper re-examines the issue of hate propaganda under the Canadian Charter of Rights and the US Bill of Rights. It also reconsiders the significance of Locke's Letter Concerning Toleration. What the paper attempts to show is that one strand of Locke's famous argument supports First Amendment exceptionalism and Justice Holmes's dissenting opinions in Abrams and Schwimmer, but another strand buttresses the Keegstra and Butler decisions and the Report of the Special Committee on Hate Propaganda in Canada. In the contemporary context of the debate over free speech and its limits, Lockean toleration has communitarian as well as libertarian dimensions, and the control of hate propaganda in Canada's multicultural and multinational polity becomes more clearly an important part of the liberal tradition.

    Leeper, R. (2000). Keegstra and R.A.V.: A comparative analysis of the Canadian and U.S. approaches to hate speech legislation. Communication Law and Policy, 5(3), 295-321. doi: 10.1207/S15326926CLP0503_1.

    This article argues that the similarities and differences in the approaches and outcomes of the Canadian and United States cases on hate speech are reflective of the similarities and differences in two basic worldviews-communitarianism and liberalism. The article briefly explores the two views, sets out the Keegstra and R.A.V. cases and concludes that the approach in Keegstra reflects a communitarian philosophy while the approach in R.A.V. reflects the liberal philosophical position.

    Lillian, D. L. (2007). A thorn by any other name: Sexist discourse as hate speech. Discourse & Society, 18(6), 719-740. doi: 10.1177/0957926507082193. 

    Lillian argues that while sexist discourse does not meet the legal definitions of hate speech, some does meet the criteria for linguistic hate speech and should be regarded as and challenged as such. The first section offers a definition of sexist discourse and an examination of the work of William D. Gairdner to serve as a case study. Gairdner is shown to paint all women with whom he disagrees as “feminists” (a term which he uses as a pejorative), describing them in animalistic terms and insinuating that they are overemotional, irrational and hateful. He adheres strongly to the patriarchal nuclear family model and sees women as natural carers who hold responsibility for keeping men in check. The next section offers definitions of hate speech and identifies blind spots within the literature of the time regarding the inclusion of sexist discourse. Lillian next shows how sexist discourse can be incorporated into hate speech definitions through Whillock’s four criteria of hate speech: 1) inflaming the emotions of followers; 2) denigrating the designated out-class; 3) inflicting permanent or irreparable harm; and 4) conquering over the out-class. Lillian concludes by imploring for the breaking down of binaries within post-feminism and calls for women to be considered an actionable class in a bid to place sexist discourse to the realm of hate speech.

    Logie, C. H., & Earnshaw, V. (2015). Adapting and validating a scale to measure sexual stigma among lesbian, bisexual and queer women. PLoS One, 10(2), e0116198-e0116198. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0116198.

    Lesbian, bisexual and queer (LBQ) women experience pervasive sexual stigma that harms wellbeing. Stigma is a multi-dimensional construct and includes perceived stigma, awareness of negative attitudes towards one’s group, and enacted stigma, overt experiences of discrimination. Despite its complexity, sexual stigma research has generally explored singular forms of sexual stigma among LBQ women. The study objective was to develop a scale to assess perceived and enacted sexual stigma among LBQ women. We adapted a sexual stigma scale for use with LBQ women. The validation process involved 3 phases. First, authors held a focus group where we engaged a purposively selected group of key informants in cognitive interviewing techniques to modify the survey items to enhance relevance to LBQ women. Second, they implemented an internet-based, cross-sectional survey with LBQ women (n=466) in Toronto, Canada. Third, an internet-based survey at baseline was administered and 6-week follow-up with LBQ women in Toronto (n=24) and Calgary (n=20). We conducted an exploratory factor analysis using principal components analysis and descriptive statistics to explore health and demographic correlates of the sexual stigma scale. Analyses yielded one scale with two factors: perceived and enacted sexual stigma. The total scale and subscales demonstrated adequate internal reliability (total scale alpha coefficient: 0.78; perceived sub-scale: 0.70; enacted sub-scale: 0.72), test-retest reliability, and construct validity. Perceived and enacted sexual stigma were associated with higher rates of depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem, social support, and self-rated health scores. Results suggest this sexual stigma scale adapted for LBQ women has good psychometric properties and addresses enacted and perceived stigma dimensions. The overwhelming majority of participants reported experiences of perceived sexual stigma. This underscores the importance of moving beyond a singular focus on discrimination to explore perceptions of social judgment, negative attitudes and social norms.

  • M

    Maillett, M. (2006). Hate message complaints and human rights tribunal hearings. Canadian Issues, 78-84.

    In this paper, Maillett discusses the role of section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act in combating hate (particularly on the Internet). The Canadian Human Rights Commission has identified this section of the legislation as the primary means to curb the widespread dissemination of hateful material on the Internet. The Commission has further identified the Tribunal hearings as the primary means of preventing the continuing distribution of hate and to protect its victims from further harm. Before describing the utility of The Human Rights Act and its Tribunals, Maillett first briefly illustrates the evolution of hate propaganda from pamphlets in the 1970s to widespread hate that spans across borders on the Internet. Maillett also explains the beginnings of legislation, taking the stance that limiting the communication of hate does not necessarily run counter to the principles of a free and democratic society as expressed in the Charter. Maillett goes on to detail why the Canadian Human Rights Act is a great tool for combating hate. The CHRA does not require proof beyond a reasonable doubt but rather proof based on a balance of probabilities, it has a broad interpretation, and it is accessible to ordinary citizens. But Maillett also point out several drawbacks to legislation and the Tribunals; they often re-victimize the complainants, hearings are transformed to focus on the behaviour of the complainant rather than the respondent, and often respondents abuse the process, which depletes the Tribunal and the Commission’s already limited resources.

    Malik, M. (2011). Religious freedom, free speech and equality: Conflict or cohesion? Res Publica, 17(1), 21-40. doi: 10.1007/s11158-011-9141-7.

    There have recently been a number of high profile political incidents, and legal cases, that raise questions about hate speech. At the same time, the tensions, and perceived conflicts, between religion and sexuality have become controversial topics. This paper considers the relationship between religious freedom, free speech and equality through an analysis of recent case law in Great Britain, Canada and the United States. The paper starts with a discussion of how conflicts between these values arise in areas such as hate speech and explores the differences between the European and US approach to this issue. In Council of Europe member states there is an increasing use of the criminal law to regulate hate speech. This paper argues that criminalisation of hate speech poses a distinct risk to the values of free speech and proposes alternative non-legal responses such as a greater use of cultural policy. The paper also explores a range of cases where the religion and sexual orientation conflict has arisen in areas such as the workplace. An analysis of these cases suggests that although there is no perfect resolution of this issue, it is possible to develop a set of principles that encourage a balance between the values of religious freedom, free speech and equality even in difficult situations where there is a conflict between religion and sexuality. The paper concludes with some practical recommendations for managing the tensions or conflicts between religious freedom, free speech and equality in liberal democracies.

    Mason, G. (2014). The symbolic purpose of hate crime law: Ideal victims and emotion. Theoretical Criminology, 18(1), 75-92. doi: 10.1177/1362480613499792.

    This article examines the symbolic function of hate crime law. By challenging the norms that sustain and promote prejudice, hate crime law seeks to contribute to claims for social justice on behalf of victim groups. This symbolic function cannot be achieved by legal rules alone. Drawing upon theories of emotional thinking, the article argues that the moral work of hate crime laws is dependent upon the capacity of victim groups to engender compassionate thinking that helps reconfigure perceptions of them as dangerous, illegitimate or inferior Others. This analysis seeks to contribute to our understanding of the processes through which some minority communities fall short of the image of ideal victims capable of contributing to the moral claim embedded in hate crime law.

    McKenna, I. B. (1994). Canada's hate propaganda laws - a critique. Ottawa Law Review, 26(1), 159.

    Canada’s anti-racial hatred propaganda laws are founded on the assumption that attitudes and expressions of racial hatred are confined to the domain of marginal extremists. The law assumes also that the main societal harm flowing from hate propaganda is the direct psychological injury inflicted on its targets and the threat to public order. This paper challenges those assumptions contending that racial hatred has long been promoted officially in Canada and, today, when managed at the appropriate level, serves the corporate interests that dominate the contemporary political agenda. One of the current effects of a managed level of racial hate propaganda is to consolidate a social climate that is hostile to the dismantling of systemic discrimination, which, although official public policy, is largely opposed by the corporate agenda. On the basis of such alternative assumptions, the paper recommends that the law focus not only on the extremist purveyors of hate propaganda but on those private corporations and public authorities who condone it by failing to exercise that power to stop it. Two areas of existing law should be applied to such authorities, the criminal law of aiding and abetting and the duties under human rights legislation not to discriminate in the provision of public services. 

    McNamara, L. (1994). Criminalising racial hatred: Learning from the Canadian experience. Australian Journal of Human Rights.

    This article from the Australian Journal of Human Rights uses Canadian legislation and jurisprudence as a point of reference to inform Australia’s formal response to hate activity. In commenting on hate crime, McNamara identifies and describes key pieces of anti-hate legislation in Canada, including national laws, such as the Criminal Code and Human Rights Act (1977), as well as provincial laws, such as the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code and the Ontario Human Rights Code—all of which attest to the criminalization model of Canada with respect to hate crime. McNamara also dedicates special attention to Canadian jurisprudence on hate crime, as dealt with in R. v. Keegstra at the Supreme Court level. In doing so, McNamara identifies the emerging debate between proponents of anti-hate legislation vis-à-vis defenders of the constitutionally recognized freedom of speech. In reference to this debate, McNamara is critical of placing hate crime in the context of rights discourse and states that racial vilification laws are counterproductive when they individualize and marginalize hate crime as the action of the person being prosecuted rather than acknowledging its roots in the broader social, historical context. In offering this critique McNamara supports the current conciliation model used in New South Wales under section 20(C) of the Anti-Discrimination Act (1977) as an instrument for dealing with a wider array of hate activity while also catering to the needs of target groups. Ultimately, McNamara suggests that the priorities of anti-vilification laws need to be re-defined so as to emphasize an assessment of the harm caused to target groups by hate crime.

    McNinch, J. (2008). Queer eye on straight youth: Homoerotics and racial violence in the narrative discourse of white settler masculinity. Journal of LGBT Youth, 5(2), 87-107. doi: 10.1080/19361650802092499.

    Using the example of the 2001 sexual assault of a 12-year-old Indigenous girl at the hands of three white men in Tisdale, Saskatchewan to ground his work, McNinch examines the way in which white masculinity is “built upon race, sex, and gender on the Canadian landscape”. The article is interpreted through the work of a number of scholars, including William Pinar, Pierre Bourdieu, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, and Sherene Razack, and proposes that white settler masculinity exists within an historical and relational context which privileges whiteness and the “natural” heterosexual masculinity supposedly contained within. McNinch places this masculinity within the homosocial rituals of small-town white men and details the way in which misogyny and racism are used to displace homoerotic desire and to “enact white manhood”. Parallels are then drawn between white masculinity and colonialism, with the assault of a young Indigenous girl acting to “tie() the past to the present in the unconscious exercise of les droits de seigneur”. McNinch ends the article with suggestions of how to apply his analysis pedagogically in order to break down the privileging of white heterosexuality.

    Mirrlees, T., Perry, B., & Scrivens. R. (2018). The dangers of porous borders: The “Trump Effect” in Canada. Journal of Hate Studies, 14(1), 53-75.

    Donald J. Trump’s journey to the White House signaled the resurgence of right-wing populism in the United States. His campaign and his surprising electoral victory rode a wave of anti-elitism and xenophobia. He masterfully exploited the economic and cultural anxieties of white working class and petite bourgeois Americans by deflecting blame for their woes onto the “usual suspects,” among them minorities, liberals, Muslims, professionals and immigrants. His rhetoric touched a chord, and in fact emboldened and energized white supremacist ideologies, identities, movements and practices in the United States and around the world. Indeed, the Trump Effect touched Canada as well. This paper explores how the American politics of hate unleashed by Trump’s right-wing populist posturing galvanized Canadian white supremacist ideologies, identities, movements and practices. Following Trump’s win, posters plastered on telephone poles in Canadian cities invited “white people” to visit alt-right websites. Neo-Nazis spray painted swastikas on a mosque, a synagogue and a church with a black pastor. Online, a reactionary white supremacist subculture violated hate speech laws with impunity while stereotyping and demonizing nonwhite people. Most strikingly, in January 2017, Canada witnessed its most deadly homegrown terrorist incident: Alexandre Bissonnete, a right-wing extremist and Trump supporter, murdered six men at the Islamic cultural centre of Quebec City. This paper provides an overview of the manifestations of the Trump Effect in Canada. We also contextualize the antecedents of Trump’s resonance in Canada, highlighting the conditions for and currents and characteristics of right-wing extremism in Canada.

    Mock, K. “Recognizing and reacting to hate crime in Canada today”. 

    This article focuses on the problem of hate in contemporary Canada and the urgent need to react against hate crimes. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Mock acknowledges the dramatic increase in the number of reported hate crimes, especially against Muslim, Arab and South Asian Canadians, while also taking into account the reality that the vast majority of hate crimes go unreported. In calling attention to this problem, Mock emphasizes the importance of understanding what hate crime is and knowing how to respond to it as stepping stones in the fight against hate and intolerance. Mock begins this process by reviewing key terms in hate crime discourse, including the definitions of hate crime and hate propaganda. She further explains the motivating factors behind hate crime, particularly as they relate to prejudice, stereotyping and scapegoating, along with their consequences for targeted groups, including feelings of fear, vulnerability, and isolation. Mock concludes the article with a description of a three-pronged approach for reacting to hate crime. First, protection can be found in existing laws such as the Criminal Code, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Canadian Human Rights Act, the Canadian Bill of Rights (1960), and the Charter of Rights and Freedom (1982). Second, prevention can occur through public education and awareness campaigns, such as those surrounding the International day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21 or the International Human Rights Day on December 10. Finally, partnerships are necessary to ensure that a co-ordinated community response is utilized against all forms of hatred in a manner that reduces fear and promotes solidarity.

    Moore, D., & Rennie, A. M. (2006). Hated identities: Queers and Canadian anti-hate legislation. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 48(5), 823-836. doi: 10.3138/cjccj.48.5.823.

    Drawing on queer theory and post-structuralism, this article explores two “gay bashings,” the murders of Alain Brousseau and Aaron Webster. In both cases, we argue that the application of anti-hate crime legislation reveals the troubling nature of attempts to legally fix sexual identities. The law imagines gayness to be innate and obvious. These cases show that sexual identity is fluid and contingent. Our study also shows that, through the application of hate-crime law, sexual identification is not necessarily self-determined. Politicized communities, legal actors, assailants, and media all participate in naming someone's “gayness.”

    Moran, L. J. (2004). The emotional dimensions of lesbian and gay demands for hate crime reform. McGill Law Journal, 49(4), 925.

    “Hate crime” has become an  important focus in contemporary lesbian and gay politics. This article explores an aspect of this resort to law that has not been addressed in the sexual politics “hate crime” - the emotional investments that are being made in and through this demand for law. Recognition of the emotions underscoring a demand for law challenges the foundational assumption about the nature of law - that it is quintessentially associated with reason and rationality. A key theme within the hate crime canon is the demand for enhanced penalties attached to existing offences when those offences are motivated by hatred proscribed by law. The author argues that the gay and lesbian demand for law reform feeds a law and order politics of retribution and revenge that may be implicated in the promotion, institutionalization, and legitimization of hate. The author does not intend, however, to dismiss the turn to “hate” or “bias” crimes on the basis that they will be ineffective or destructive of social cohesion. Instead, he hopes to draw attention to the complex and contradictory nature of the relationship between sexuality, state, and violence in order to contribute to a debate that will query the alliance that lesbians and gay men are making with law and order.

    Moran, M. (1994). Talking about hate speech: A rhetorical analysis of American and Canadian approaches to the regulation of hate speech. Wisconsin Law Review, 1994(6), 1425.

    Moran analyzes the state of hate speech debate at the time the article was written (1994) which he characterizes as divided between the “official” narrative of hate speech and the “unofficial” narrative. The official narrative is examined first and is placed within the context of the American judicial approach to hate speech which views it in the context of subversive advocacy, or as a conflict between a dissident speaker and an overzealous state which seeks to suppress alternative opinions. State power to censor expression is seen as more dangerous than hate speech, with the ability of the individual speaker to express themselves freely held up against the potential totalitarianism which is imagined to result if they are inhibited (an image which is often invoked in American hate speech decisions). American courts are further shown to adhere to a principle of judicial detachment that serves to decontextualize and depersonalize hate acts.

    Conversely, the unofficial narrative of hate speech (as personified by the Canadian judicial approach) is shown to instead centre the experience of the target(s) of hate speech and the harm which they may face. Hate speech is regarded as a form of violence which serves to deny the humanity of its target(s), with the hate speaker cast as a “violent hate-monger” who helps to maintain systems of official discrimination. The state in this narrative is thus cast in “the role of protector rather than destroyer of individual freedom”. Moran points to the way in which the detached logic of the official narrative leaves no room for the viewpoint of victims and their communities due to its impersonal and narrow conception of hate speech as subversive advocacy and laments the way in which it fails to consider the role of law in influencing “the kinds of relations that shape our everyday lives”. Moran ends by calling on American courts to find guidance from Canadian approaches to hate speech regulation and offers several avenues for change which could be undertaken to broaden the conception of hate speech and how it can be effectively adjudicated.

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    Nakhaie, R. (2018). Muslims, socio-cultural integration, and pride in Canadian democracy. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 50(3), 1-26. doi: 10.1353/ces.2018.0020.

    Using the 2013 Canadian General Social Survey, Nakhaie gauges Muslim immigrants’ integration into Canadian society based on three aspects of integration: 1) Muslim immigrants’ level of integration compared to immigrants of other denominations; 2) how Muslims support democracy compared to other groups; and 3) whether a relationship exists between integration and support for democracy. Nakhaie finds that Muslim immigrants to Canada display a degree of integration equal to or greater than immigrants of other denominations and that they express a higher sense of pride in Canadian democracy than do those of other denominations, with integrated immigrants professing a greater sense of pride in Canadian democracy than do assimilated immigrants. Further, both integrated and assimilated immigrants express more pride in Canadian democracy than do marginalized or separatist-minded immigrants. Nakhaie places these findings within the context of increased Islamophobia in Canada and amid fears of “integration anxiety” (or a fear of Muslim immigrants being unable or unwilling to integrate into a predominantly Christian society), a fear which is baseless when viewed in light of the study’s results. 


    The first section of the article explores the concept of socio-cultural integration, placing it in comparison with the parallel concept of assimilation and describing how the two strategies can act to influence a newcomer’s sense of belonging and identity. An overview of recent literature on Muslim socio-cultural integration and the relationship between Muslims and democracy is next provided and shows that Muslim-Canadians display high levels of integration and support for democracy (despite experiencing significant levels of discrimination and prejudice). Nakhaie ends the article by detailing possible factors which contribute to the inaccurate view that the Islamic faith and its followers are incompatible with liberal democratic ideals, including ignorance of the political history of Islam, a reductionist view of Muslims which casts them as a monolithic group, and the problematic conception of Muslim newcomers as “represent(ing) the cultural values of their home society”.

    Newman, S. L. (2017). Finding the harm in hate speech: An argument against censorship. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 50(3), 679-697. doi: 10.1017/S0008423916001219.

    The liberal justification for censorship equates the harm in hate speech with the sort of tangible injury that would justify state intervention under J.S. Mill's harm principle. Recently, Jeremy Waldron has suggested that the real harm perpetuated by hate speech is less tangible, taking it to be a variety of moral pollution which undermines both the public good of inclusiveness and the minority's assurance of personal dignity. This paper scrutinizes Waldron's conception of the harm in hate speech, arguing that it lacks the specificity and gravity Mill's principle requires in order to justify censorship. The paper also questions the categorical distinction between hate speech and speech that is “merely offensive,” arguing that Waldron's reasons for censoring the one also apply to the other. The result is a censorship regime that liberals ought not to accept.

    Newman, S.L. (2002). Liberty, community, and censorship: Hate speech and freedom of expression in Canada and the United States. American Review of Canadian Studies, 32(3), 369.

    In this article, Newman compares issues relating to hate speech and freedom of expression in Canada and the United States with particular focus on two parallel cases decided within two years of one another concerning this issue, that of R.A.V. v. St. Paul (1992), decided in the Supreme Court of the United States, and R. v. Keegstra (1990), decided in the Supreme Court of Canada. The article contends that the U.S. Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of Canada offered completely opposite answers to the question of the constitutionality of the suppression of hate speech in these two cases. In R.A.V. v. St. Paul, the U.S. Supreme Court disallowed a municipal ordinance making it a crime to display symbols, such as burning crosses or a Nazi swastika, that are known to arouse anger, alarm or resentment on the basis of race, colour, creed, religion, or gender. In R. v. Keegstra, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the constitutionality of s. 319(2) of the Criminal Code, which criminalized the willful promotion of hatred against any section of the public distinguished by colour, race, religion or ethnic origin. In comparing these two cases, the author attempts to determine why the American and Canadian high courts disagree over the constitutional status of hate speech.

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    Pena Munoz, J.J. (2016). “There’s no racism in Canada, but…”. The Canadian experience and labor integration of the Mexican creative class in Toronto. Migraciones Internacionales, 8(3), 10-36.

    This article deals with the issue of the incorporation of Mexican skilled migrants into Toronto's labor market. The author presents and applies the concept of "creative class" to define the kind of skilled migration he is referring to. The article's aim is to show what the discourse of the Canadian experience is and how it influences labor integration from the point of view of the subjectivity of qualified Mexican migrants. The author proposes that the Canadian experience reveals practices of marginalization in access to Toronto's labor market that are produced and reproduced as part of a discourse that insists that "there's no racism in Canada."

    Perry, B. (2015/2016). What Communities Want: Recognizing the Needs of Hate Crime Victims.
    Journal of Hate Studies, 11(1): 6-18. https://doi.org/10.33972/jhs.101 

    Perry's intent in this article is "to overcome the historical arrogance of state or even local initiatives, however well-meaning they might be, that are not grounded in the expressed needs and wants of affected communities." Instead, this article is an opportunity to give targeted individuals and communities a voice and to remind scholars and practitioners who work in the field that hate crime victims and their communities are a primary reason that many of us are engaged in this emerging, evolving field of Hate Studies.

    Perry, B. (2005). A crime by any other name: The semantics of hate. Journal of Hate Studies, 4(1), 121-137. doi: 10.33972/jhs.35.

    Perry seeks to close a significant gap in previous hate crime scholarship by providing an analysis of the discourse around the term “hate crime” and by attempting to unearth the ways in which the term is depoliticalized and trivialized when simplistic emotive understandings are used to obscure the structural, power-embedded nature of hate crime. Perry points to the ways in which an understanding of hate crime that relies on individual pathology misses the rational motives which drive hate crime: the upholding of cultural hierarchies which are used to manage social differences; and the construction of identity and position for both perpetrators and victims. Hate crimes thus serve as “acts of power intended to constrain the options and activities of those whom our culture has marked as the Other”. To place the term “hate” within its proper context, Perry proposes that it must be located within the broader relations of power in a culture, a move which could be accomplished through the use of more specific language (racist violence, antisemitic violence, etc.) or other terms which elude to the systemic nature of hate-motivated violence (targeted violence, oppressive violence, etc.).

    Perry, B. (2015). “All of a sudden, there are Muslims”: Identities, visibilities, and Islamophobic violence in Canada. International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 4(3), 4-15.

    Perry utilizes her expertise in hate crimes to examine the increased visibility of Muslim-Canadian communities post 9/11 and the Islamophobic violence and harassment which has resulted. The transformation of Canadian Muslims from a largely ignored population prior to the Islamist-inspired terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001 to a group that is viewed with hostility by non-Muslims is explored through interviews and focus groups conducted with Muslim participants in Ontario. Perry makes connections between visibility, vilification and violence by utilizing Brighenti’s work on visibility which finds it neither inherently empowering nor disempowering, but that it instead operates adaptively in tandem with prevailing social norms to mark differences and to construct social hierarchies. Post-9/11, Muslims became supra-visible and saw political and media representations which pushed stereotypes and cast Muslims as dangerous others. Thus, their visibility serves to mark their difference and to legitimate surveillance of Muslim individuals and communities, as well as to allow them to become attractive targets for hate-based violence and harassment. Despite this, visibility is shown to have the capacity for empowerment as a means of resistance and as an opportunity to counter disparaging narratives of Muslims.

    Perry, B. (2015). Disrupting the mantra of multiculturalism: Hate crime in Canada. American Behavioral Scientist, 59(13), 1637-1654. doi: 10.1177/0002764215588816.

    Perry examines Canada’s “myth of multiculturalism” and shows that that the perception of Canada as an open and inclusive society is undermined by the existence of hate and violence directed towards racialized, ethnic, religious, sexual, and gender minorities. The author utilizes her long-standing expertise in the field to define hate crime and explore the dynamic phenomenon of Canadian multiculturalism which she describes (drawing on Augie Fleras’s heuristic model) as constituting an ideology, a formal policy, a set of practices and a critical discourse which aims to manage differences in a plural society. Within this framework, Perry defines hate crimes as a form of human rights violation that prevents victims and their communities from maintaining dignity, liberty and safety and which destabilizes Canadian multiculturalism. This is exacerbated by the weak statutory protections available to combat hate crimes. Perry concludes the article by calling on Canadians to engage with multiculturalism as a critical discourse which can bring hate to the forefront so that it may be challenged.

    Perry, B. (2014). Gendered Islamophobia: Hate crime against Muslim women. Social Identities, 20(1), 74-89. doi: 10.1080/13504630.2013.864467.

    This article examines the intersection between cultural intolerance and misogyny faced by Muslim women and girls by analyzing hate crimes committed against them. Perry points to the increased violence faced by Muslims following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in New York and the initiation of the “war on terror” and connects it to the negative images and stereotypes of Muslims that subsequently proliferated. The racialized othering of Muslims and those that may be perceived as Muslim underpin hate crimes committed against them, allowing perpetrators to justify their violence as necessary to preserving a certain conception of western society. The complex intersecting identities which Muslim women possess (including race, ethnicity, gender, and religious position) and their visibility due to Islamic dress is highlighted by Perry as reasons why they are targeted for hate more often than non-Muslim women (women are less often targets of hate crimes overall) or Muslim men.

    The work of Bullock and Jafri is utilized to outline three ‘personas’ that Muslim women are though to adhere to in the popular western imagination, including the sexualized, exotic other of Orientalism, the veiled patriarchal victim in need of rescue, and, concurrently,  the veiled militant Islamist warrior. The impacts of gendered Islamophobia are examined, with Muslim women reporting that their sense of wellbeing suffers due to a perceived lack of movement or sense of safety, a lack of a sense of belonging, and a lack of sense of control over their lives, thus forcing them to prioritize their safety over their independence and identity expression. Perry ends the article by recommending increased attention be paid to gendered Islamophobia and Islamophobia more generally, the challenging of stereotypes of Muslims, and the undertaking of research which addresses the intersectional nature of anti-Muslim violence.

    Perry, B. (2011). Identity and hate crime on Canadian campuses. Race and Justice, 1(4), 321-340. doi: 10.1177/2153368711429304.

    Canadian college and university campuses are commonly thought of as places that foster tolerance and diversity. However, these institutions are also sites where students are victimized by hate crimes. The purpose of this study is to document the degree to which Canadian students are victimized by hate crimes. This article presents observations on what is, to my knowledge, the first Canadian survey of hate crime motivated by race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and disability on Canadian college and university campuses. The main objective of this study was to conduct a random sample survey of the incidents and prevalence of hate crime on two Canadian campuses: one a college and another a university. The author argues that hate crime plays an important role in challenging the increasing presence and visibility of women, the lestbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities, and visible minorities on Canadian campuses.

    Perry, B. (2010). “No biggie”: The denial of oppression on campus. Education, Citizenship, and Social Justice, 5(3), 265-279.

    Using data drawn from a survey conducted within a college and a university in Ontario, Perry challenges previous assertions of a general lack of awareness of campus hate/bias incidents on behalf of students to suggest that they instead know that such incidents happen but do not believe that they belie an embedded culture of prejudice on their campus. Perry finds that hate-motivated incidents are experienced quite often by respondents, with verbal, online, and physical victimization targeting members of ethnic, religious, and sexual minority groups reported at rates of between approximately five per cent to 10 per cent, with bisexual, Jewish, and Muslim respondents experiencing particularly high levels of hate. Further, many respondents report awareness of hate-motivated incidents, with offensive jokes and stories being most commonly observed. Despite this, almost 75 per cent of respondents claim that the campus climate was “generally accepting” for minorities, with Euro-Canadian respondents often downplaying the seriousness of campus discrimination through the overlooking hate-motivated incidents, by considering such incidents as harmless fun, and by characterizing victims as “oversensitive”. Perry concludes by placing the undermining of campus hate/bias incidents on behalf of students within the need for dominant actors to maintain their privileged place on the social hierarchy through the normalization of prejudice.

    Perry, B. (2010). Policing hate crime in a multicultural country: Observations from Canada. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 38, 120-140.

    In this article, Perry tackles the contradictions which exist in the role of law enforcement as both the historical enforcers of the institutional marginalization of minority communities and as those who are called upon to protect minority communities from hate-based violence. The article begins with an overview of law enforcement’s role in Canada’s history of bigotry and hate crime, in contradiction to a stated national commitment to multiculturalism. A detailed discussion of Canadian multiculturalism follows, with its ideology (as an idealized conceptual framework in which to manage differences), practice (as public policy), and limits (its ability to depoliticize diversity and disguise inequality) being examined in turn. Perry then turns to the effects of hate crime on targeted communities, notably its result of enforcing social boundaries through fear (as “message crimes”). Finally, the policing of hate crime is examined, with Perry positing that for Canadian multiculturalism to offer substantive promise, law enforcement agents must “create processes and practices intended to confront hate crime head on in their communities”. Several possibilities for forging relationships with affected communities in order to build trust in law enforcement are offered, including community policing built upon community partnerships, problem solving, and supportive organizational change, the hiring of law enforcement officers who are culturally sensitive and/or from affected communities, comprehensive cultural diversity programming, the tracking of uniform hate crime data, the creation of diversity portfolios and bias crime units, and multi-agency partnerships.

    Perry, B., & Alvi, S. (2011). “We are all vulnerable:” The in terrorem effects of hate crime. International Review of Victimology, 18(1), 57-72.

    Ironically, while scholars and policy-makers have long referred to hate crime as a ‘message crime’, the assumption that those beyond the immediate victim are likewise intimidated by the violence has gone untested. Grounded in a recent study of the community impacts of hate crime, the authors offer some insights into these in terrorem effects of hate crime. They present here some of their qualitative findings. Interestingly, Perry and Alvi's findings suggest that, in many ways, awareness of violence directed toward another within an identifiable target group yields strikingly similar patterns of emotional and behavioural responses among vicarious victims. They, too, note a complex syndrome of reactions, including shock, anger, fear/vulnerability, inferiority, and a sense of the normativity of violence. And, like the proximal victim, the distal victims often engage in subsequent behavioural shifts, such as changing patterns of social interaction. On a positive note, there is also some evidence that these reactions can culminate not in withdrawal, but in the potential for community mobilization.

    Perry, B., & Dyck, D. R. (2014). "I don't know where it is safe": Trans women's experiences of violence. Critical Criminology, 22(1), 49. doi: 10.1007/s10612-013-9225-0.

    Perry and Dyck examine the way in which trans women experience transphobic violence through insights gained from interviews and focus groups. Anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes have seen consistent year-over-year increases and are predominantly violent in nature, with trans people accounting for a significant portion of those affected. The authors frame their analysis within Judith Butler’s understanding of identity as performative and relational and within Perry’s theory of hate crime as power relationship management, thus analyzing the experiences of the women interviewed within the context of interplay between gender, sex, and sexuality hierarchies. Trans women disrupt and challenge these hierarchies and face disproportionate violence for doing so. The lack of neutral identifying language available to trans people acts a means of invalidation, with pathologizing descriptors and slurs contributing to their dehumanization and often acting as a precursor to violence committed against them. The women interviewed speak of a life lived in fear of many spaces and institutions, leading to a sense of isolation and exclusion, a lack of trust, hyper-vigilance, and poor mental health (suicide rates are shown to be shockingly high for trans women). As a result, many trans women manage their identities by attempting to repress their gender identity or by attempting to remain under the radar by adopting a socially accepted feminine appearance. The authors conclude by calling for more positive trans visibility through education about trans identities and increased statutory protection for trans people.

    Perry, B., Hofmann, D., & Scrivens, R. (2018). “Confrontational but not violent”: An assessment of the potential for violence by the anti-authority community in Canada. Terrorism and Political Violence.

    Despite a pervasive concern among law enforcement and security agencies, there are relatively few academic explorations of the likelihood of violence associated with anti-authority activists from groups such as the Freemen-on-the-Land, Sovereign Citizens, and similar movements within Canada. In order to begin addressing this gap in knowledge, this article uses a multi-method approach to explore and assess the potential for violence by the Canadian anti-authority community against the state in particular. Data were gathered from interviews with law enforcement, lawyers, judges, notaries, and movement adherents (n = 32), as well as from the analysis of open source data which included media reports, court documents, and movement websites. Results suggest that there are three distinct classes of violent activity, directed specifically at the state and state actors, that are prevalent among Canadian anti-authority movements: a) offensive/extremist violence; b) defensive/reactionary violence; and c) harassment and intimidation. The article concludes with a discussion of two emerging areas of concern related to Canadian anti-authority violence and responses to the anti-authority community in Canada.

    Perry, B., & Olsson, P. (2009). Cyberhate: The globalization of hate. Information and Communications Technology Law, 18(2), 185-199.

    Increasingly, scholars are examining the ways in which the Internet allows the hate movement to retrench and reinvent itself as a viable collective. The many electronic means available to the movement – blogs, newsgroups, ’zines, etc. – allow an ease of communication and dissemination of their views never before possible. While there are obvious points of convergence across the various Klan groups, or identity churches, or skinhead organizations, the hate movement has historically been varied and, in fact, fractured. Internet communication facilitates the creation of the collective identity that is so important to movement cohesiveness. Clearly, this has strengthened the domestic presence of these groups in countries like the United States, Germany and Sweden. Yet relatively less attention has been paid to the way in which the Web facilitates the consolidation of a global movement. Internet communication knows no national boundaries. Consequently, it allows the hate movement to extend its collective identity internationally, thereby facilitating a potential ‘global racist subculture’. It is this process that we seek to uncover in this paper, with an eye to thinking about ways to intervene so as to weaken the impact.

    Perry, B., & Scrivens, R. (2018). A climate for hate? An exploration of the right-wing extremist landscape in Canada. Critical Criminology, 26(2), 169-187. doi: 10.1007/s10612-018-9394-y.

    This article highlights the social, cultural, and political landscape in which organized hate groups emerge, drawing from a 3-year study of the right-wing extremist movement in Canada. Through extensive interviews with law enforcement, community activists and hate group activists, as well as open source intelligence, we examined the factors that are associated with the emergence of right-wing extremist groups and right-wing inspired violence in Canada in the early to mid 2010s. Here, our focus is on the social contexts that enable such groups to flourish. We first lay out the theoretical frame to understand how broader social, cultural and political patterns render “permission to hate”. We consider the environmental factors that we identified, during our fieldwork, as particularly important in facilitating right-wing extremism.

    Perry, B., & Scrivens, R. (2016). Uneasy alliances: A look at the right-wing extremist movement in Canada. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. 39(9), 819-841. doi: 10.1080/1057610X.2016.1139375.

    Despite the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's recent concern with the growing threat from right-wing extremists nationwide, we have little contemporary scholarship on the far right movement in Canada and fewer attempts to systematically analyze their ideologies and activities. Drawing on a three-year study involving interviews with Canadian law enforcement officials, community organizations, and right-wing activists, as well as analyses of open source intelligence, this article examines the endogenous factors that facilitate and inhibit the right-wing extremist movement in Canada. Findings suggest that strengths and weaknesses of the groups themselves can be exploited as a means of debilitating them.

    Perry, B., & Sutton, M. (2006). Seeing red over black and white: Popular and media representations of interracial relationships as precursors to racial violence. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 48(6), 887-904.

    Perry and Sutton examine the effect which popular media representations of interracial relationships exert on violence inflicted on those who are involved in interracial relationships. The authors place hostility towards interracial relationships as being “ultimately grounded in the essentialist understanding of racial difference” which marks such relationships and the sexualities which they involve as unnatural and threatening to prevailing racial hierarchies and boundaries. The historical fear of Black sexuality in the West is used to illustrate the origins of this hostility. A comprehensive analysis of the appearance and treatment of interracial relationships throughout several types of Western popular media (literature, television, film, and advertising) over the twentieth century is provided for context, with the authors finding that depictions of interracial relationships are largely absent and that those which do appear tend to end tragically. Perry and Sutton then connect negative media depictions of interracial relationships to real life ridicule, abuse and violence perpetuated against individuals involved in such relationships, positing that negative media images bestow a “permission to hate” that allows hate crime to occur through the stigmatization of interracial intimacy.

    Peter, T., Taylor, C., & Chamberland, L. (2015). 'A queer day in Canada: Examining Canadian high school students’ experiences with school-based homophobia in two large-scale studies. Journal of Homosexuality, 62(2), 186-206.

    The goal of the study is to examine how location (nationally, compared to Canadian regions) is related to indicators of a hostile school environment for sexual minority youth, particularly when physical abuse is used as the outcome variable. Data representing 5,766 Canadian students were analyzed using bivariate and multivariate techniques. Results from the multivariate analyses showed that non-physical abuse was the most significant predictor of homophobically based physical abuse, for both LGBQ and non-LGBQ students. Findings reiterate the importance of considering the progression of harmful events as an escalation of violence as well as the need to view homophobic bullying as having a significant impact on all students. Finally, while the presence of homophobia is prevalent across all Canadian regions, there are, nevertheless, many regional differences, which could be used to inform region-specific action plans.

    Poulin, C., Gouliquer, L., & Moore, J. (2009). Discharged for homosexuality from the Canadian military: Health implications for lesbians. Feminism & Psychology, 19(4), 496-516. doi: 10.1177/0959353509342772.

    This study examines the short and long-term psychological, physical and social health implications associated with pre-1992 investigations and eventual discharge of Canadian military servicewomen for reasons of homosexuality. Theoretically, it sheds light on the impact of the intersection between sexism and heterosexism. The feminist psycho-social ethnography of the commonplace methodology was utilized. The study draws on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 13 former military personnel who self-identified as lesbian. While in the military, study participants were persecuted and forced to adopt various cognitive and behavioural coping strategies to avoid being found out and discharged by the military’s Special Investigative Unit. Women reported that the relentless military surveillance, ongoing risk evaluation, and identity hiding contributed to psychological, physical and social health effects, including high stress, physical exhaustion, depression, substance abuse and social isolation. The criminal code’s definition of torture and the literature regarding the effects of stalking on victims provide context for the results. The discussion presents policy recommendations aimed at repairing the psychological damage that discharged lesbian service members suffered.

    Poynting, S., & Perry, B. (2007). Climates of hate: Media and state inspired victimisation of Muslims in Canada and Australia since 9/11. Current Issues in Criminal Justice 19(2), 151- 171.

    This article represents a preliminary comparative exploration of anti-Muslim racism and violence in Australia and Canada, especially since September 11. The article contextualises the anti-Muslim vilification and victimisation within parallel—yet still distinct—political climates that bestow permission to hate. That is, negative media portrayals, together with discriminatory rhetoric, policy and practices at the level of the state create an enabling environment that signals the legitimacy of public hostility toward the Muslim communities. The article concludes by pointing toward the need for more extensive empirical exploration of the phenomenon in both countries.

  • R

    Rehaag, S. (2009). 'Bisexuals need not apply: A comparative appraisal of refugee law and policy in Canada, the United States, and Australia. The International Journal of Human Rights, 13(2-3), 415-436.

    This paper offers an analysis of refugee claims on grounds of bisexuality. After discussing the grounds on which sexual minorities may qualify for refugee status under international refugee law, the paper empirically assesses the success rates of bisexual refugee claimants in three major host states: Canada, the United States, and Australia. It concludes that bisexuals are significantly less successful than other sexual minority groups in obtaining refugee status in those countries. Through an examination of selected published decisions involving bisexual refugee claimants, the author identifies two main areas for concern that may partly account for the difficulties that bisexual refugee claimants encounter: the invisibility of bisexuality as a sexual identity, and negative views held by some refugee claims adjudicators towards bisexuality as well as the reluctance of some adjudicators to grant refugee status to sexual minorities who differ from gay and lesbian identities as traditionally understood.

    Rousseau, C., Hassan, G., & Oulhote, Y. (2017;2018;). And if there were another way out? Questioning the prevalent radicalization models. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 108(5), e633-e635. doi: 10.17269/CJPH.108.6233.

    The authors examine and critique current conceptual models of violent radicalization which focus primarily on the detection and treatment of at-risk individuals (secondary prevention) while neglecting risk and protective factors for the general population (primary prevention). They instead propose that a more comprehensive public health model be undertaken which can provide a fuller picture of both individual and societal risk factors, can better envision the non-violent outcomes of radicalization, and can offer intervention opportunities across a wider variety of settings. Current conceptual models are found to offer similar explanations of the process of radicalization but no homogeneity regarding the profile of radicalized individuals, thus rendering prevention programs developed in line with individual detection models open to profiling and discrimination. Further, the authors emphasize that radicalization does not always evolve towards violence and that models based upon this assumed trajectory will limit options for prevention strategies and policies, especially as some cases of radicalization are the result of social struggles and could be better addressed through direction towards non-violent social strategies.

  • S

    Schweppe, J., & Perry, B. (2022). A continuum of hate: delimiting the field of hate studies. Crime, Law and Social Change, 77(5), 503-528. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-021-09978-7 

    A relatively nascent discipline, the field of hate studies has been explored and theorised from a multiplicity of disciplinary contexts. However, the field is ill-defined, and the relationship between hate crime and other related concepts unexplored. Here, we consider the range of phenomena which might fall within or without the field of hate studies, initiating a discussion of the boundaries of the field. We signal both the continuities and discontinuities among and between an array of strategies intended to sort and maintain hierarchical relationships, with the purpose of provoking scholars in the field of hate studies to reflect on its scope.

    Scrivens, R., & Perry, B. (2014). Bound by the Code: Legal constraints of policing gender-motivated violence in Canada. Journal of International Criminal Justice Research, 1.

    Drawn from interviews with nine Ontario police officers, this article offers insight into how law enforcement views gender-motivated hate crime. Scrivens and Perry describe the general resistance to classing gender-motivated violence as a hate crime, challenging that view by pointing to the conceptualization of hate crimes as a means of subordinating and controlling groups perceived as deviant to the hegemony of the perpetrator’s social group. Canadian hate crime laws tangentially include gender as a protected class, but it is not often included in the practical application of those laws. The authors offer the most common arguments against including gender-based violence in hate crime protections, including that the victim and perpetrator are often known to each other, that such violence is not aimed at women as a whole, and that other laws are available for violence against women. Arguments in favour of classing gender-based violence as a hate crime note that both types of crime are considered “motiveless crimes,” both face similar rhetoric, and both are intended to subordinate a vulnerable group. Police officers are shown to be reluctant to identify hate as a motivation in instances of gender-based violence due to the complex nature of domestic violence, the relatively rare nature of hate crime investigations, and prevailing heterosexist cultural norms. Drawn from interviews conducted by the authors, Ontario police officers were found to be overly reliant on the narrow Criminal Code definition of hate crime, to have difficulty establishing hate as a motive in gender-based violence, and to struggle to conceptualize gender as factor in a hate crime (as opposed to race, ethnicity or religion). Scrivens and Perry conclude by recommending a universalized and more comprehensive legal definition of what constitutes a hate crime so that gender-based hate violence will be easier to recognize and prosecute.

    Scrivens, R., & Perry, B. (2017). Resisting the right: Countering right-wing extremism in Canada. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice. 59(4), 534–558. doi: 10.3138/cjccj.2016.0029.

    Recent world events seem to have motivated renewed activity of and public attention to right-wing extremism, not only within a global context but in Canada as well. In a national study involving interviews with Canadian law enforcement officials, community organizations, and right-wing activists, paired with analyses of open source intelligence, we observed that the foundations of right-wing extremism are complex and multifaceted, grounded in both individual and social conditions. This suggests that counter-extremist initiatives must be multidimensional, building on the strengths and expertise of diverse sectors: law enforcement, certainly, but also education, social services, public health, youth workers, and victim service providers, to name a few. In this article, we suggest strategies intended to directly exploit identified patterns inherent in right-wing extremist groups and their environments to disrupt the growth and sustainability of those groups.

    Slane, A. (2006). Hate speech, public communication and emerging communications technologies. Canadian Issues, 118-121.

    Slane analyzes the current utility of section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act by tracing its development since its legislation. Originally designed to deal with the “dial-a-message” practice of the Western Guard Party, section 13 has proven to be remarkably adaptable to the evolving means of communication. Slane describes four principles entrenched in this section that have allowed it to be so malleable. First, section 13 requires the repetition of hate messages to the public, which includes one-to-one communication. The section also holds the originator of the message responsible, regardless of whether or not the recipient had to actively do something to access it. Third, the section implies that if there are publicly available means of finding a message it is considered public communication. The final principle states that although some messages may be posted on member only sites, if membership is open to the public, the messages are public under section 13. Slane suggests that these four principles will allow section 13 to be applied to blogs, hate spam, secure websites, podcasts, and peer-to-peer file sharing. Slane concludes that because of the versatility that section 13 has shown, it will be able to accommodate communication technologies in the future.

    Sorial, S. (2014). Free speech, hate speech, and the problem of (manufactured) authority. Canadian Journal of Law and Society, 29(1), 59-75. doi: 10.1017/cls.2013.43.

    In this paper, Sorial suggests that the concept of incitement as a way of identifying hate speech sometimes locates the harm caused by speech in the wrong sorts of places. Hate speech expressed in the form of “reasoned argument” or academic debate by persons with the relevant authority or expertise potentially causes more harm, though perhaps in less obvious ways. Literature on the concept of authority has demonstrated the way authoritative speakers or speakers with perceived expertise are able to secure uptake for their views. In this paper, the author demonstrates how authority and expertise can also be manufactured, enabling speakers to secure uptake in the same sorts of ways as legitimately authoritative or expert speakers. While they are not suggesting legal penalties for speakers who manufacture authority in these ways, they are am arguing that we should nevertheless be sensitive to the ways in which this can occur, how it might cause various kinds of harm, and how these harms might be mitigated.

    Stein, M., Perry, B., & Levit, I. (2024). Punishing “Privilege”: antisemitic hate crime in Canada. Journal of interpersonal violence, 39(17-18), 3876-3903. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605241259996 

    Both federal government and civil society organization data point to consistently rising incidents of antisemitic narratives and acts across Canada. In spite of this, antisemitic hate crime has not been the focus of any academic research here, some would argue because Jews are not typically thought to be an at-risk community. Rather, the Jewish community is thought to occupy a relatively privileged place in society which shields them from bias motivated attacks. Countering this narrative, our study, based in Ontario and Quebec, reveals that Jewish individuals and institutions are highly vulnerable to discursive, physical, and property violations. Many of those we spoke with felt embattled by the narrative attacks that rendered the community vulnerable to corollary physical attacks. Of particular significance are the enabling images of Jews that equate “Jewish privilege” with excessive power and control. We explore these themes, concluding with calls for strategies intended to counter hateful narratives.

    Steinberg, A., Brooks, J., & Remtulla, T. (2003). Youth hate crimes: Identification, prevention, and intervention. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(5), 979.

    This article offers a review of current research related to youth hate crime. The authors’ objective is to provide a basis for developing an understanding of this social problem to assist in the advancement of prevention, early identification and intervention methods to be utilized by mental-health professionals. A review of the literature established that most hate crimes are committed by an individual male or a small group of males with no affiliations to organized hate groups. Limited information about the factors that cause hatred was found. Although a variety of strategies have been employed to prevent youth hate crime or intervene when it becomes apparent, evaluation of these methods has been minimal. The article notes there is a dearth of literature available to guide those in the mental health profession in the identification, evaluation and treatment of offenders. The authors conclude by recommending that databases of youth hate crime be developed, and that the success of preventative, educational and alternative sentencing programs be evaluated.

    Swiffen, A. (2018). New resistance to hate crime legislation and the concept of law. Law, Culture and the Humanities, 14(1), 121-139. doi: 10.1177/1743872114534017.

    This article addresses the implications of a new resistance to hate crime legislation that has yet to be addressed in the mainstream legal debate in Canada or the United States. It comes mainly from groups in the US that represent lgbtq communities who are poor and/or of color. These communities are particularly vulnerable to victimization by hate crime yet the groups have repeatedly opposed the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression in hate crime legislation. This article addresses the underlying rationale of the new resistance and its implications for the mainstream debate. It begins by undertaking a comparative analysis of hate crime legislation in Canada and the US. It then considers the mainstream legal debate in both countries as well as some statistical data on hate crime. The third section turns to the new resistance as well as emerging data on the connection between victimization and the criminal legal system itself. It then draws on the legal theory of Walter Benjamin to reveal limits in the way that the mainstream legal debate conceptualizes criminalization. The final section of the article considers the implications of Benjamin’s concept of law for both the mainstream debate and the new resistance.

  • V

    Valverde, M., & Cirak, M. (2003). Governing bodies, creating gay spaces: Policing and security issues in 'gay' downtown Toronto. The British Journal of Criminology, 43(1), 102-121. doi: 10.1093/bjc/43.1.102.

    In contrast to criminological studies of gay‐specific hate crimes, this study focuses not on crimes but on the governance of security in a major global centre of lesbian/gay community life, namely Toronto's gay village, with security defined as the attempt to guarantee order mainly by governing space and time. Based on interviews with community activists, business owners and police officers, as well as examinations of criminal justice data, gay and mainstream newspapers, and the files of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, the authors document the complex layers of private (both formal and informal) policing that uneasily coexist with the actions of the public police and of regulatory officials such as municipal licensing officers. The research site consists of two kinds of spaces: the commercial spaces of bars and baths, which have their own unique systems for ensuring security for the patrons and for the premises, and the streets, particularly the legal space that is created through municipal and provincial permits during Pride Day celebrations. In general, the authors document a growing trend toward self‐policing in both businesses and community events, and a commercialization of security services that extends to the public police, insofar as many public police work as ‘paid duty officers’ and act like security guards for the organization holding events. The implications of this study for theoretical work on governance relations, particularly on the governance of security, are developed throughout.

    Vergani, M., Betts, J., Link, R., Perry, B., Chermak, S., Freilich, J., and Scrivens, R. (2025). Approaches to Defining the “Hate Element” of a Behavior: A Data-Driven Typology. Crime and Delinquency. https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287251384670 

    This article addresses the proliferation of definitions and approaches used to characterize the hate element in behaviors motivated by hate, including hate crimes, hate speech, and behaviors motivated by prejudice against specific identities (e.g., homophobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia), and investigates whether these definitions cluster into distinct types. Using machine learning, we clustered 423 definitions from academic and gray literature in five languages between 1990 and 2021, based on 16 theoretically derived categories. The resulting typology captures the diversity of definitions from ten countries in North America, Europe, and Oceania, providing a comprehensive framework for understanding how the hate element is conceptualized in these contexts. The findings offer a basis for future research and may help inform policy responses to hate-motivated behaviors.

    Vergani, M., Perry, B., Freilich, J., Chermak, S., Scrivens, R., & Link, R. (2022). PROTOCOL: Mapping the scientific knowledge and approaches to defining and measuring hate crime, hate speech, and hate incidents. Campbell systematic reviews, 18(2), e1228. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1228 

    This review will move this field of hate studies (i.e., studies on hate crime, hate speech, hate incidents and surrogate terms identifying specific forms of hate such as racism, anti-Semitism and homophobia) toward more empirical rigor and theoretical clarity by mapping current and historical approaches to defining and measuring hate crime, hate incidents, hate speech and surrogate terms in Canada, North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

     

  • W

    Wilkins-Laflamme, S. (2018). Islamophobia in Canada: Measuring the realities of negative attitudes toward Muslims and religious discrimination. Canadian Review of Sociology, 55(1), 86–110.

    There has been growing discussion surrounding the phenomenon of Islamophobia in Western societies over the last few years. However, in-depth empirical research of the prevalence and patterns of prejudice toward Muslims remains scarce, especially in the Canadian context. With data from the 2011 Canadian Election Study and the 2014 General Social Survey, this study measures the extent to which negative feelings toward Muslims are present among the general adult population, and the extent to which Muslim Canadians themselves say they have experienced discrimination in recent years due to their religion, ethnicity, and culture.

    Wijekoon, S., Robison, J., Welch, C., Westphal, A., , R., Perry, B., Rombos, V., Picciolini, C., Bosyj, C., Senman, L., Jachyra, P., Baron-Cohen, S., Penner, M. (forthcoming). Neurodivergence and the Rabbit Hole of Extremism: Uncovering Lived Experience. Autism in Adulthood, 8(1), 102-111. doi: 10.1089/aut.2023.0192 

    There have been sporadic and disturbing media accounts of autistic people engaging with extreme ideologies, with comparatively little systematic exploration of this suggested association. Existing research has failed to consider the contextual factors that could influence these rare occurrences of engagement with extreme ideologies. This study explores how autistic individuals involved in extreme ideologies describe personal and contextual factors affecting their participation. Twelve individuals from Canada and the United States who were either diagnosed or self-identified as autistic and have engaged with extreme ideologies participated in semistructured interviews. The research approach and analysis of the data were informed by interpretative phenomenological analysis. An interdisciplinary team met regularly to collectively examine initial assumptions and interpretations, while maintaining a central focus on the perspectives of the participants. Authors identified the following three key themes: (1) early wounds, (2) missed formative opportunities, and (3) finding a fit for neurodivergence. Traumatic experiences, disenfranchisement, learned hatred from an insular upbringing, and systemic failings in health and social service systems contributed to participants' decisions to engage with extreme ideologies. Hate groups, in turn, filled the voids by providing acceptance, purpose, structure, sense of community, and by accommodating participants' neurodivergent needs.

    Wong, L., & Guo, S. (2018). Canadian ethnic studies in the changing context of immigration: Looking back, looking forward. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 50(1), 1-9. doi: 10.1353/ces.2018.0000.

    Wong and Guo trace the history of immigration in Canada to question how “past immigration, settlement, and integration policy… (has) affected and shaped ethnic studies in Canada”. The authors first detail the way in which Canadian immigration policy has historically responded to the needs of nation-building since Confederation and point to the overtly racist and ethnocentric character of immigration policy following WWI which prohibited “undesirable” immigrants who were thought to be unable to integrate into Canadian society. This was followed by an opening up of immigration criteria after the end of WWII to accommodate the economic boom which followed, although immigration policy still retained much of its exclusionary character despite the removal of explicitly racist language and content. 

    Wong and Guo next look at recent immigration legislative and policy initiatives meant to encourage equality and prevent discrimination, including the Canadian Multiculturalism Policy (which later became the Canadian Multiculturalism Act), the Canadian Human Rights Act, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The authors note that despite this legislative progress, racism and xenophobia are still prevalent in Canadian society at the systemic, institutional, and individual levels. Examples such as Quebec’s various attempts to repress expressions of Muslim faith, the anti-Asian discourse which surrounds Asian college students (as some feel that there are too many Asian students attending Canadian universities), and continuing anti-Black racism on behalf of the criminal justice system are offered to illustrate modern forms of discrimination. The article ends with a brief retrospective of Canadian ethnic studies.

    Wortley, S. (2003). Hidden intersections: Research on race, crime, and criminal justice in Canada. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 35(3), 99.

    The issue of race and crime is one of the most controversial topics in Canada. This paper begins by exploring various theoretical models that have attempted to explain why some racial minority groups appear to be over-represented in official crime statistics. An effort is made to highlight the divergent policy implications associated with each model and how effective solutions must directly consider how race interacts with other identity markers--including gender, age, social class, religion, and immigration status. The paper then moves on to a discussion of facial discrimination within the justice system. It is argued that the intersection of race and lower class position may contribute to the apparent disadvantage many minorities face when dealing with the police, the courts, and corrections. The paper then turns to the issue of criminal victimisation. Emphasis is placed on the high rates of violent victimisation experienced by both minority men and women in this country and how researchers and governments should address the problem of hate crime. The next section of the paper examines how race may interact with both social class and linguistic ability to impede access to high quality justice services. The paper concludes with a detailed discussion of data needs and the many obstacles that researchers face when trying to conduct research on these issues in Canada. It is argued that the academic community must play more of a leadership role and help establish a research agenda that will facilitate the development of effective policy initiatives.