Hate crime and violence against some of the most vulnerable members of our society, our homeless neighbors, continue to persist and increase across the country.  Since 1999,

• 774 violent acts have been perpetrated against homeless individuals across the country in a variety of communities.
• These attacks occurred in 235 cities throughout our country, in 45 states and Puerto Rico.
• 217 homeless people have been killed, as a result of attacks ranging from being beaten to being set on fire and other atrocious acts.

While we may not know or understand the motive for every attack against a homeless person, some of the documented attacks seem to be perpetrated due to bias against the victims because they were homeless. In addition, the perpetrators' characteristics, motive, and weaponry are very similar to perpetrators who commit hate crime against all other hate crime victim groups. Regardless of whether the motive of the perpetrators was that of opportunity or of bias against homeless persons, homeless persons continue to remain particularly vulnerable victims due to the nature of homelessness.

Homeless persons are particularly vulnerable to violent attacks when they are living outside in public spaces. Most of our communities do not have adequate affordable housing or shelter space to meet the need, leaving many homeless persons forced to live outside and thus particularly vulnerable to these attacks. In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 44% of our homeless population is unsheltered. Without proper action to deal with the crisis of homelessness as a whole, our homeless neighbors will continue to be vulnerable to brutal attacks. These victims endure humiliations both great and small and the injuries they sustain create not only physical pain and scars, but also the crippling effects of wounded self-esteem and dignity of the human spirit.

With this growing problem becoming more and more apparent in communities around the country, some states, cities, and advocacy groups are taking action to address the issue. Bills have been introduced to add homeless persons as a class protected by hate crimes statutes in the U.S. House of Representatives and in states as diverse as Massachusetts, Ohio, and Alaska.  There remains much work to do for advocates, service providers, policymakers, and members of the public.

Please post resources that you think would be useful in preventing and responding to hate crimes against the homeless in this space, or send them to tozdeger@nlchp.org.

We also encourage you to suggest new areas and topics for this website. The forum section is available for anyone to post to with questions, comments, or other information. Only approved members of the forum will be permitted to post in that space. The forum will store these discussions for future reference.