Hate incidents spiked dramatically across B.C. during first years of pandemic, inquiry finds – By Rhianna Schmunk (CBC News) / Mar 7, 2023
Attacks affected people across province, but anti-Asian hate was ‘particularly acute’: human rights report
A new report from B.C.’s human rights commissioner has confirmed hate-related incidents rose exponentially during the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting people from every corner of the province during one of the most divisive periods in its history.
The report published Tuesday showed how hate affected people across the province both at home and in public on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and more — though the spike in anti-Asian hate was “particularly acute.”
“While hate is not new, the pandemic marks a period in our collective experience that has been filled with fear, mistrust, division and hate,” B.C. Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender said at a news conference.
“It is also a period in which we have seen a remarkable degree of collective care,” she added. “Public awareness about racism and its real impacts on the lives of racialized people has grown significantly [and] communities have stepped up to show solidarity to those most affected and to speak out against hate.”
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