What to do if you experienced a hate crime:

A hate crime is a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity. http://www.hrc.org/resources/what-to-do-if-youve-been-the-victim-of-a-hate-crime

• Get medical help, if necessary.

• Seek assistance and support from family and friends.

• Describe the perpetrator[s]’ gender, age, physical and other distinguishing Write down all of the details of the crime as soon as possible after the incident. Include any threats or biased comments in the report.

• File a police report. 

  • Get the responding officer’s name and badge number

  • Make sure the officer files an incident report form and assigns a case number. Always get your own copy, even of the preliminary report.

  • If you believe the incident was bias-motivated, urge the officer to check the “hate/bias-motivation” or “hate crime/incident” box on the police report.

• Call the toll-free hotline 1-888-392-3644 recently launched by Gov. Cuomo to report incidents of bias and discrimination across New York State.

• File a report online with org, an organization that documents hate incidents and crimes against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders by tracking stories about hate incidents received from people around the country. The stories are vetted by AAJC staff and posted anonymously.

• Get professional help:

  • Safe Horizon: provides information, counseling, and other assistance to crime victims. Their 24-hour hotlines 866-689-HELP (4357) operate seven days a week, 365 days a year (more than 150 languages available). For help with rape and sexual assault, please call: 212-227-3000. To access one of the Community Program locations, call the centralized Citywide Helpline 855-234-1042, during normal business hours (Mon. – Fri. 9 a.m.- 5 p.m.).

  • New York State Office of Victim Services: provides counseling, legal and financial assistance. To locate local offices: https://www.ovs.ny.gov/

National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs: provides direct services to the immediate needs of LGBTQ & HIV-affected victims and survivors of any type of violence in New York City.  Services include crisis intervention, safety planning, short or long-term counseling, police, court and social services advocacy and accompaniment, as well as information and referrals to anyone who calls the free bilingual (English/Spanish) 24-hour, 365-day-a-year crisis hotline 212.714.1141 or comes to the main offices and intake sites. https://avp.org/ncavp/

Additional resources for reporting and getting support:

• Asian American Federation Anti-Asian Bias Reporting Form

• Act to Change

• Stop AAPI Hate reporting portal

• Stay Safe from Hate

• Dealing with Harassment by hollaback!