Gay-hate crimes in Victoria have seen a sharp and worrying upturn in the past two years. Data from the Crime Statistics Agency revealed that in 2020 around 148 offences were registered with the modus operandi code classifying it as “Prejudicially Motivated Crimes – Sexual Orientation”.
More than half of the offences were registered during the state’s COVID-19 lockdown. In 2019, there were 121 offences in this category.
The data was obtained by the Victorian Pride Lobby, which said that the law needs to take into account that the crime was motivated by hate when sentencing the accused. Anti-Vilification Laws Should Cover Gay-Hate Crimes“To still see an increase throughout 2020 is both interesting and concerning to us, though there is.
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