RACIST VIOLENCE AND CRIME IN THE EU: From Official Data to Victim Surveys Sofia – CSD 28-29 September 2006 Dr. Jo Goodey Programme Manager – Research EUMC

Racist Violence & Crime in EU25 EUMC Publications EUMC report ‘Racist Violence in 15 EU Member States’ (April 2005); focus on publicly available criminal justice data sources 2001-2004 EUMC Annual Report – chapter on Racist Violence and Crime in EU25

PUBLICLY AVAILABLE OFFICIAL DATA Most recently available information on recorded complaints / incidents / crimes at Member State level (2004-2005) DATA NOT DIRECTLY COMPARABLE BETWEEN MSs

Official Criminal Justice Data 2004 - 2005 2,605 81 15,914 974 94 214 EU15 Official Criminal Justice Data 2004 - 2005 Belgium 2,605 complaints general discrimination (’04) Denmark 81 incidents racist/religious motive (’05) Germany 15,914 crimes ‘politically motiv - right-wing’ (’05) France 974 racist/xeno/antisem acts and threats (’05) Ireland 94 racially motivated crimes reported (’05) Netherlands 214 complaints racial discrimination (’04) Austria 322 complaints – right-wing/xeno/antis (’04) Finland 558 reported racist incidents (’04) Sweden 2,414 recorded xenophobic crime (’04) UK (Eng & W) 57,902 racist/religious incidents (mid ’04/’05) LU, PT Very limited data on investigations/court cases GR, IT, ES NO publicly available official data

Official Criminal Justice Data 2004 and 2005 364 (2004); 253 (2005) EU10 Official Criminal Justice Data 2004 and 2005 Czech Rep 364 (2004); 253 (2005) Crimes recorded Hungary 24 (2004); 11 (2005) Crimes registered Poland 107 (2004); 156 (2005) Crimes reported Slovakia 79 (2004); 121 (2005) Estonia, Latvia Lithuania, Slovenia Very limited data on investigations and/or court cases Cyprus Malta NO publicly available official data

TRENDS 2000-2005 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 % change yr-by-yr mean average 00-’05 Czech Rep 364 crimes 452 473 335 253 - 4.4% Denmark 28 incidents 116 68 52 36 81 + 68.7% Germany _ 14,725 12,933 11,576 12,533 15,914 + 3.1% 2001-2005 France 903 reports 424 1,317 833 1,574 974 + 34.3% Ireland 72 42 100 62 84 94 + 21.2% Austria 450 complaint 528 465 436 322 - 6.7% 2000-2004 Poland 206 97 85 108 107 156 + 1.3% Slovakia 35 40 109 119 79 121 + 43.1% Finland 402 448 348 522 558 + 11.5% Sweden 2,703 2,785 2,391 2,436 2,414 - 2.5% UK (Eng & Wales only) 47,829 53,060 54,858 49,340 54,286 57,902 + 4.2% (mid year readings)

Official data collection mechanisms classification 2004 - 2005 None No data made publicly available/ accessible Limited Limited reporting on investigations & court cases or general discrimination Good System registers incidents/crimes and/or system focuses on extremism Comprehensive Data collection provides detail re victims’ characteristics etc. Cyprus Belgium Austria Finland Greece Estonia Czech Republic UK Italy Hungary Denmark Malta Latvia France Spain Lithuania Germany Luxembourg Ireland Netherlands Poland Portugal Slovakia Slovenia Sweden

Unofficial data collection mechanisms on racist crime/violence Limited No or few unofficial sources (excluding semi-official) Sufficient-Good Some sources Comprehensive Range of sources, some with extensive data Belgium Lithuania Austria Netherlands Cyprus Luxem Denmark UK Czech Rep Malta Finland Estonia Poland France Greece Portugal Germany Hungary Slovenia Spain Ireland Slovakia Italy Sweden Latvia

What can we conclude from official data collection mechanisms? According to ‘data’ - there is very little racist crime in many Member States ! People are not reporting racist crime Official and unofficial bodies don’t record reports/incidents of racist crime Data collection mechanisms not in place and/or not working Low political focus

Action at National & European Level

Responding to sparse data Improve official data collection on racist crime Improve legislative responses Develop alternative measuring instruments Fund and promote research DEVELOP VICTIM SURVEYS

Victim Surveys – Focusing on Minorities UK/US/Canada – State-sponsored only where data collection on ethnicity normalised British Crime Survey includes a non-White booster sample of 4,000 – 5,000 EU ICVS asks about self-identified immigrant status and religion one hate crime question – very small sample

EUMC Pilot Victim Surveys Testing survey application in 6 countries Testing sampling and methodology Four MSs (+ Bulgaria & Romania) Selected immigrant and minority groups’ experiences of (racist) crime and policing Involvement of NFPs

EUMC Pilot Victim Surveys Sampling and Methodology Standardised pre-coded questionnaire Rigorous multi-stage random sampling Standardised statistical analysis of results

EUMC Pilot Victim Survey - Status Screener and questionnaire finalisation Translations Application in the field October 2006 Results due early summer 2007 Findings to inform Commission, Parliament Test-bed for future surveys

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