It was a regular Friday evening in the late summer of 2020 when an innocent woman was stripped of her human rights and dignity by a group of teenage boys in Dublin. Xeudan Xiong, a 48 year old Asian women was verbally abused by a gang of teens who shouted cruel insults at her such as ‘coronavirus’ and ‘chinese noodles’.
The emotionally exhausted woman decided to fight back and told the boys what they were doing was a form of racial discrimination and that they should stop, but matters only took a turn for the worst. They laughed back at the woman and could see she was incredibly intimidated by boys far younger than her.
The emotionally exhausted woman decided to fight back and told the boys what they were doing was a form of racial discrimination and that they should stop, but matters only took a turn for the worst. They laughed back at the woman and could see she was incredibly intimidated by boys far younger than her.
They pushed her into the canal and left her there screaming, the woman believed these boys could have been as young as 12 years of age. She was helped by three people who past her and managed to get herself out of the canal. Due to the age of the boys it was unlikely they would face criminal punishment for what they had done.
Maybe you have heard of this extremely upsetting story, or maybe you have heard of stories similar. Events such as these are taking place all over Ireland, and it’s about time we really did something about it.
Hate crime is defined as any crime that is perceived to be motivated by:
– Age
– Colour
– Age
– Race
– Disability
– Nationality
– Religion
– Sexual orientation
– Gender
Hate crime can range from hateful messages and verbal abuse to manslaughter and murder, and the consequences are horrible to think about.
You are probably thinking my god! Those boys that pushed that woman into the canal should be charged for their actions, or the people shouting abuse at people of a different nationality, gender, members of the LGBTQ should be punished for the emotional distress they put upon others? We at LawEd agree, but unfortunately, Ireland does not have any specific legislation to deal with hate crime, so very few people are actually convicted!
Although bills are being passed and legislation is being created to make hate crime more of a serious offence, it is also up to us as citizens of Ireland, to make this country a welcoming and safe environment for every individual that chooses to live or visit here. To pick on someone for any of the reasons above is a very cowardly way to live life, and belittling people for things they cannot control reflects more about you than it does of anyone else in the situation.
