Prominent international bodies frequently report on discriminatory violence, based on such grounds as colour, association with a national minority, religion or sexual orientation, in various countries.1 This type of wrongful conduct is also popularly referred to as ‘hate crime’, meaning ‘violence directed toward groups of people who generally are not valued by the majority society, who suffer discrimination in other arenas, and who do not have full access to institutions meant to remedy social, political and economic injustice’.2 In recent years, several events linked to discriminatory violence occurred that have had consequences reaching far beyond the territory of a single nation or continent. The global economic and humanitarian crisis caused an influx of migrants and refugees crossing into Europe. Violent conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, as well as poverty in some other countries, incited individuals to travel to safer and more prosperous environments