U.S. sees significant rise in anti-Asian attacks and crimes during the pandemic

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Crimes targeting Asian Americans have risen dramatically since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Stop AAPI Hate coalition that tracks incidents of violence and harassment against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. The organization reported nearly 3,800 instances of discrimination against Asians in the past year, though experts say the numbers could be much higher.

This report covers the 3,795 incidents received by the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center from March 19, 2020 to February 28, 2021.

"The number of hate incidents reported to our center represent only a fraction of the number of hate incidents that actually occur, but it does show how vulnerable Asian Americans are to discrimination, and the types of discrimination they face," the organization stated.

Verbal harassment (68.1%) makes up the largest proportion of the total incidents reported.

While reported incidents come from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to Stop AAPI Hate, businesses are the primary site of discrimination occurrence, accounting for 35.4% of the reports.

The FBI warned at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. that it expected a surge in hate crimes against those of Asian descent, though federal hate crime data for 2020 has not yet been released.

According to the Pew Research Center survey, three in 10 Asian Americans (31%) report having experienced racial slurs or racist jokes since the beginning of the pandemic.

In addition, a recent Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism report found that hate crimes against Asian people rose 150% in 2020.

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