Source: European Parliament
Hate speech and hate crime are incompatible with the European Union’s common values and fundamental rights, as enshrined in the European Union (EU) Treaties and in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. EU law criminalises hate speech and hate crime, but only if it is related to a limited set of characteristics, namely: race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin. Legislative developments, case-law and policy initiatives have helped to create more equal and welcoming societies – including for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, non-binary, intersex and queer people – in recent years. Nevertheless, there has also been a significant increase in hate-motivated harassment targeting LGBTI people, as well as more frequent physical and sexual attacks, particularly affecting trans-, non-binary, gender-diverse and intersex people. In the absence of EU legislation, the vast majority of Member States criminalise hate speech on grounds of sexual orientation, and many also do so on grounds of gender identity. Most Member States also consider an offence committed because of the victim’s sexual orientation as a hate crime, treating this aspect either as an offence in itself or the motive as an aggravating factor. Sixteen Member States consider an offence committed because of the victim’s gender identity to be a hate crime. However, only eight Member States consider sex characteristics to be grounds for either hate speech or hate crime. This means that only six EU Member States fully cover sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics in their legislation on hate-speech and hate-crime. By contrast, three Member States do not consider any of the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or sex characteristics to be protected grounds when it comes to hate speech or hate crime.