Racist violence in Europe: Challenges for official data collection

摘要

This article critically examines official data collection on racist violence in European Union [EU] Member States. Academic and legal definitions of “racist violence” are offered, in a European-wide context, before the article explores the current state of data collection on “racist violence”, both official and unofficial, in the European Union. Drawing on evidence reported by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia [EUMC], the article presents a stark introduction to the limitations of current official criminal justice data collection practices in EU Member States. In contrast with most Member States, the UK is held up in the article as an example of good official data collection on racist violence (although, even in this case, there is still scope for refinements to be made to data collection practices). Towards the end, the article looks at the challenges for official data collection on racist violence across the EU, such as different data collection traditions and legislative barriers. In response, the article introduces a range of recommendations to meet the challenge for effective data collection on racist violence in the EU.