The Board of Supervisors has proclaimed Nov. 13-19 as “United Against Hate Week.’’
Proposed by Supervisor Hilda Solis, the week is meant to increase awareness of the county’s “L.A. vs Hate’’ program, including its hotline for reporting hate crimes, discrimination and bullying and its work to connect people to counseling services.
The declaration is designed as a sign of “solidarity with targeted communities through a robust public campaign, utilizing traditional and ethnic media outlets, digital media, community-based organizations, and virtual and in-person community events,’’ according to the motion.
L.A. vs Hate will be sponsoring events throughout the county to celebrate United Against Hate Week.
According to the motion, the L.A. vs Hate reporting line logged 1,235 cases of hate, discrimination and bullying in its first two years of existence, from 2019 to 2021. The line received 491 reports from October 2019 to September 2020, and then 744 reports from October 2020 to September 2021, a 66% increase.
The reports included physical assault, robbery, sexual assault, attempted murder, and bomb threats. A majority of the hate crimes were based on the victims’ racial and ethnic identity and national origin, followed by bias against the victims’ disability, religion, sexual orientation, and gender, according to the motion.
The hotline also logged a 55% increase in bullying at schools across the county, from 39 reports of bullying from 2020 to 2021, to 71 reports of bullying from 2021 to 2022.
This article is a part of a series of articles for Our Weekly’s #StopTheHate campaign and is supported in whole or part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library. #NoPlaceForHateCA,
#StopAAPIHate, #CaliforniaForAll
