Hate crime rate high in Canada: Impact on quality of life, report says

 

Recent reports suggest that hate crimes are on the rise in Canada. Experts say hate crimes take a toll on people both physically and psychologically. According to a report by Statistics Canada, people in Canadian cities with high rates of hate crime are far behind in physical, mental and health conditions compared to people in the rest of the country. Positivity will be less among them. The study found that only 46 percent of Canadians in areas with high reporting of hate crimes had good mental health.

Statistics Canada's study points out that others in society are more affected than the individual victims of crime. Vulnerable people in communities develop fear and anxiety that what the victim is experiencing may affect them next. This slowly affects the mental health. When mental health is lost, physical ailments also arise.

The study also looked at the relationship between police-reported hate crimes and social impacts and trends. The study report found that areas with high rates of hate crime tend to have significantly lower quality of life. The report said it did not find that poorer quality of life was created by experiences with hate crimes or by the circumstances that lead to hate crimes.