What does the law say about hate crimes?
The law does not recognise a separate category of hate crimes resulting in the crisis of these crimes being dealt with as ordinary criminal offences. At the level of reporting, a survivor of a hate crime will often be reluctant to report it as such due to fear of secondary victimisation. Additionally, the police will not investigate it as a hate crime since it is not codified and there are no set guidelines for dealing with these crimes. This once again perpetuates the discrimination, vulnerability and invisibility of groups experiencing this form of violence. The motive hatred of black lesbians and transgender women is completely overlooked within the criminal justice system.This silence renders firstly this group of people invisible; this in turn makes the violence they experience also invisible not only in law but additionally, in programmes and policies designed to address violence against women generally. A Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation report notes that it i
