Victims of hate crimes often suffer deep psychological distress, but their suffering can be so much worse when the people who targeted them know exactly where they live. A bill before the Oregon Legislature aims to lessen that distress.
House Bill 3443 would allow victims of hate crimes in the state to break their rental leases with no financial penalties so they can move away from their attackers.
The need is not insignificant, the bill’s backers say. According to the Oregon Department of Justice, the state’s hate crimes hotline last year received 257 reports of bias perpetrated by neighbors and 185 reports of bias perpetrated by landlords. So it’s not surprising many victims choose to uproot their entire lives by moving away from what can be a continuing threat of danger, backers say.
Kimberly McCullough, the justice department’s legislative director, said the bill would extend to hate-crime victims protections that already are offered to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.
“This is incredibly important when a person is being targeted in a way that endangers their safety,” McCullough said in testimony submitted to the House Judiciary Committee, which held a public hearing on the bill Monday. “…Bias victims often share some common vulnerabilities with domestic and sexual violence victims, including isolation, targeting by people who know them and/or who hold power over them, and high rates of re-targeting, including as retaliation for reporting.”
McCullough was one of more than a half dozen people to speak in support of the bill. They included Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and representatives from anti-hate groups, including Oregon’s Coalition Against Hate Crimes, the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, Basic Rights Oregon and the Anti-Defamation League. No one testified against the bill.
The bill also would enable victims to take protected leave from their jobs. That time spent away from work may allow…
Read the full article here