Whether you live in Grand Traverse, Michigan or New York City, hate crimes happen. Since the FBI does not track gender bias motivated attacks, there are no statistics available for those hate crimes that specifically target women. According to Bonnie Campbell, director of the Office of Violence Against Women at the Justice Department , the largest number of complaints her office receives are from women who find state and local authorities fail or refuse to enforce the law, especially restraining orders. Campbell said her office is also concerned about complaints that law enforcement personnel cover up hate crimes against women, citing cases in which police evidence and reports disappear before the women can bring their claims. Even when local law enforcement is willing, many times they lack adequate resources to investigate and successfully prosecute the criminals.
Hate crimes have a chilling effect on every woman's life.
And when we speak out, the violence often increases. Fear severely impacts the number of reported hate crimes. Many lesbians and bisexual women would rather the offense go unreported than reveal their sexual orientation to the police. Unfortunately, our society is so inured to violence against women that we almost accept it as inevitable or even expected. Under current law, the federal government can investigate and prosecute bias-motivated crimes based on race, religion and ethnicity, but not crimes motivated by sex, sexual orientation or disability.