72% of B.C. residents who experienced hate during the pandemic did not report it to authorities

PRINCE GEORGE- B.C.’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner, which has now finished the public participation phase of the inquiry into the rise of hate during the pandemic, released its results on the percentages of people who experienced hate and the lack of people who reported it to authorities.

That 72% of B.C. residents who experienced violence or hate during the pandemic did not report it to authorities. Numbers that left even the commissioner shocked.

” I was surprised at how high a percentage it is. We know there are lots of reasons that people don’t go to the authorities or don’t report hate incidents when they happen to them,” says B.C. Human rights commissioner Kasari Govender. “even knowing the reasons why people don’t report, I was still surprised at the degree at which this was still an ongoing problem.”