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Our latest publication “Connecting on hate crime victim support in Austria” is out!

26/09/2023

In 2022-2023, Facing Facts Network member ZARA worked with the Facing Facts team to adapt the Facing All the Facts methodology to the Austrian context.

This national report aims to describe the context and current picture of hate crime recording data collection and victim support in Austria and to present practical, achievable recommendations for improvement.

Some key findings are:

  • Austria only recently initiated the flagging of hate crime cases in the police case file system, connecting it with the electronic case management system of the criminal justice system. Both law enforcement and the criminal justice system are now able to comprehensively record hate crimes.
  • A major negative aspect of the Austrian system is the lack of a comprehensive national strategy or action plan to combat hate crimes systematically. The entire Austrian support system of hate crime victims lacks a coordinating force.
  • There appears to be good coverage across all communities in terms of counselling services. Research showed an underrepresentation of statistics of cases of disability hate crimes.
  • The e-learning program on hate crime created for and used by law enforcement has been made accessible to all judges and prosecutors, extended by an additional module created by the Ministry of Justice.

Click here to read the full report online in English or download it in PDF.

German version: