Hate Crimes are criminal actions intended to harm or intimidate people because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, or other minority group status. They are also referred to as bias crimes. These crimes may include acts of physical assaults, assaults with weapons, harassment, vandalism, robbery, rape, verbal harassment, attacks on people’s homes or places of worship, various forms of vandalism, and murder. Hate crimes can occur anywhere: in schools, the workplace, public places …showed first 75 words of 328 total…

…showed last 75 words of 328 total…post 9/11 era. In 1996 the Anti-Defamation League added gender to its model hate crimes legislation. The League chose to add gender after coming to the conclusion that gender-based hate crimes could not be easily distinguished from other forms of hate motivated violence. Gender-based crimes, like other hate crimes, have a special impact that extends beyond the original victim. The inclusion of gender is important because it sends the message that gender-based crimes will not be tolerated.