Nearly 3 in 10 adults in U.S. Colorado experience hate crime or bias in last 5 years: survey

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 3 in 10 adults in the western U.S. state of Colorado said they experienced a hate crime or bias-motivated incident in the last 5 years, according to a new survey released on Tuesday.

That means an estimated 1.25 million Coloradans ages 18 and over experienced being targeted with physical injury, property damage, and/or verbal harassment, said the Hate Crimes Survey Report released by Hate Free Colorado, a diverse group of community partners who are dedicated to countering hate crimes in the state, home to around 5.8 million residents.

Of those who experienced a hate crime or bias-motivated incident, 1 in 7 experienced physical injury and nearly 1 in 4 experienced property damage.

The report noted that hate crimes in Colorado are significantly under-represented in official data. The vast majority of hate crimes in Colorado go unreported to the police, or to anyone. Only 18 percent of those who experienced a hate crime reported it to the police, and only 29 percent reported it to anyone at all.

Among those who experienced a hate crime, 61 percent said it was due to race, ethnicity or ancestry, said the report, adding that members of racial/ethnic minority groups are 1.5 to 2 times as likely as white, non-Hispanic Coloradans to have experienced a hate crime.

The survey found that members of other impacted groups, based on gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and/or disability, also experienced hate crimes at significantly higher rates than the average among all Coloradans.

Approximately half of Muslim and Buddhist Coloradans reported experiencing hate crimes or bias-motivated incidents, according to the survey.

"All Coloradans must stand together to say that hate has no place in our state," said Hate Free Colorado on social media on Tuesday.

The statewide survey was conducted in English and Spanish between May and July, generating over 5,000 responses from Coloradans ages 18 and over.