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Intimate Partner Violence

Hope Is Where the Heart Is

Anti-Violence Project provides comprehensive and holistic services for survivors of violence, hate crimes, harassment, discrimination, and law enforcement misconduct. Our Legal Advocacy Project for Survivors provides LGBTQ-specific trauma-informed direct legal services and advocacy for LGBTQ victims of domestic/intimate partner/dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, trafficking and/or other crime victimization.

Services include:

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  • Safety planning, crisis intervention, and referrals to LGBTQ-inclusive service providers

  • Referrals to counseling, mental health, and other support services

  • Advocacy with law enforcement, criminal justice agencies, service providers, and others

  • Accompaniment to Court and law enforcement agencies

  • Coordination of sexual assault response services

  • Preparation of restraining orders

  • Assistance in applying for compensation pursuant to North Carolina Law

  • Transportation to appointments relevant to client’s case

  • Training, education, and consultations on LGBTQ domestic/intimate partner/dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, hate crimes and/or other crime victimization.

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IF YOU HAVE BEEN THE VICTIM OF HATE CRIME OF HATE INCIDENT, HERE ARE STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO PROTECT YOURSELF:

  • If you are injured, seek medical assistance

  • Make detailed notes, including witness information and any hateful words used

  • Document location, injuries, and property damage with photographs

  • Call us for assistance and support

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Please note: Even if you do not intend to use the legal system or talk with law enforcement, it may be helpful to speak with one of our victim advocates or attorneys to learn all your options.

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WHAT IS CONSIDERED A “HATE CRIME” IN NORTH CAROLINA?

We see news stories covering potential “hate crimes” all the time, some of them involving very serious, egregious crimes, but what constitutes a hate crime, exactly? According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a hate crime is one that is motivated by biases based on disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, or sexual orientation. Victims may be individuals, businesses, institutions, government entities, religious organizations, or society/the public as a whole.

Nationwide, investigating agencies have report thousands of hate crimes committed each year, where more than 57 percent of those reported in 2016 were motivated by the victim’s race and more than half committed against African Americans, specifically. This is followed by crimes committed due to a victim’s religion and sexual orientation. However, given how narrowly North Carolina currently defines hate crimes, only a limited number of criminal prosecutions are brought each year in the state, as we discuss below.

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Incidents & Trends Nationwide

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there has been an overall nationwide increase in these crimes over the last two years—following the election of President Donald Trump. While the Department of Justice has indicated that hate crimes would be a top focus, the Department appears to be awaiting a task force report focusing on specific steps the Department can take in an effort to investigate and prosecute those accused of violating the civil rights of others before taking any affirmative action on this promise.

Hate Crime Prosecution in North Carolina

In North Carolina, investigators report hundreds of these crimes committed each year, where 99 percent are related to a victim’s ancestry, ethnicity, or race (followed by incidents motivated by a victim’s religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity).

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Still, state law does not classify a number of crimes committed to be “hate crimes,” as the FBI does. In fact, in June of this year, a number of state senators filed a bill to add disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, gender identity, and sexual orientation to the scope of the state’s existing hate crimes law, which only currently covers crimes motivated by biases based on gender, race, and/or religion; precisely for this reason. Without the protection of state hate crime laws, lesbian gay bisexual transgender and queer (LGBTQ) victims have to rely on federal—not state—prosecutors to charge those accused under the Matthew Shepard Act, which relies on local and state police forces first identifying the murders as related to LGBTQ identity, and then communicating this to the FBI.

Intimate Partner Violence: Welcome
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