Tag: Karen Elam

Safety is a concern for one community in Rochester, survey shows

Nearly half (48 percent) of the LGBTQ+ community in the Rochester area feel unsafe, most commonly when shopping or in their neighborhoods, according to the Levine Center to End Hate at the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester’s State of Hate in Greater Rochester community survey.  

In addition, the survey found half of the area’s LGBTQ+ community fear a verbal attack and 44 percent worry they may be physically attacked. 

“We’ve seen a disturbing increase in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric recently,” said Karen Elam, executive director of the Levine Center to End Hate. “We are continuing to find that the responses to our survey underscore the fear that members of minority groups in our community are feeling.” 

Other survey data show that 63 percent of LGBTQ+ respondents have personally known someone from their community who experienced discrimination and 49 percent have witnessed it firsthand. 

However, there is encouraging news, said Elam, noting that 61 percent of survey respondents felt the Greater Rochester area is a mostly good place to live, while 10 percent said it was a bad place to live.  

This first State of Hate in Greater Rochester survey establishes a baseline of attitudes, perceptions and experiences of discrimination and bias in the area. The survey will be repeated in the future to evaluate local efforts at addressing hate. 

The full report can be accessed here.  

[email protected] / (585) 653-4021 

Local survey shows increase in discrimination  

In its State of Hate in Greater Rochester community survey, the Levine Center to End Hate at the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester found that 63 percent of Jewish respondents, as compared to 31 percent of all survey respondents, think that discrimination against Jews in the Greater Rochester area has increased over the last couple of years. 

Survey results show that 45 percent of Jewish respondents have felt personally discriminated against in the past couple of years and 57 percent have personally known a Jewish person who has experienced an act of discrimination. In addition, 58 percent of respondents have felt unsafe. 

“Rising discrimination has been clear to Jewish residents for some time, but it is appearing that this experience of bias is not as apparent to the community at large,” said Karen Elam, executive director of the Levine Center to End Hate who added that the data was collected before recent displays of antisemitic rhetoric by celebrities and politicians. 

The survey also revealed more promising data, Elam said, noting that 65 percent of Jewish respondents feel that Rochester is a good place for Jews to live. 

This first “State of Hate in Greater Rochester” survey serves to establish a baseline of attitudes, perceptions and experiences of discrimination and bias in the area. The survey will be repeated in the future to evaluate local efforts at addressing hate. 

Survey content was developed by Causewave Community Partners and Crux Research in consultation with the Levine Center to End Hate at the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester. BRX Research assisted in data collection.  

The survey comprised a representative sample of 1,090 community respondents from a nine-county Greater Rochester area. All respondents were aged 18 and over and came from a variety of religious backgrounds and a range of educational backgrounds and household incomes. The Levine Center is still accepting survey submissions at endhateroc.org/survey. 

The full report can be found here.  

 [email protected] / (585) 653-4021