Victim Underreporting

This chapter looks at the issues of victim underreporting and its consequences for inaccurate measurement of hate crimes. The chapter reviews the differences in reports of hate crime by the two major sources of official hate crime data, the FBIs Uniform Crime Report Hate Crime Statistics program and the Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey (NVCS). Chapter 7 explores bias victim’s groups that are likely to underreport and some of the reasons they may not report. Specifically, the chapter focuses on the dark figure of hate crime underreporting examining the reasons victims themselves asserted as reasons for not reporting in their responses to the NCVS. Chapter 7 also delves into the relationship between victim’s perception of police legitimacy and the likelihood of reporting. Finally, the chapter also compares reporting practices of hate crime victims to ordinary crime victims highlighting similarities and differences.