In 2020, properties in 102 countries and territories were targeted in incidents tied to religion
In 2020, properties in 102 of the 198 countries and territories in the study were targeted in incidents tied to religion.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
In 2020, properties in 102 of the 198 countries and territories in the study were targeted in incidents tied to religion.
Nearly a quarter of countries used force to prevent religious gatherings during the pandemic; other government restrictions and social hostilities related to religion remained fairly stable.
Christians were harassed by governments or social groups in a total of 128 countries in 2015 – more countries than any other religious group.
Government restrictions on religion and social hostilities related to religion decreased somewhat between 2013 and 2014, the second consecutive year of such declines.
There was an overall decline in social hostilities to religion in 2013, though harassment of Jews worldwide reached a high. These are five key takeaways from our religious restrictions report.
Though religious property damage by governments were most common in the Middle East-North Africa region, instances have occured in every region of the world.
Hate-speech laws exist in 89 countries around the world (45%). In some countries, the laws protect only certain religious or social groups, while others have broader laws, covering words or actions that insult, denigrate or intimidate a person or group based on race, gender, religion, ethnicity or other traits.
Here’s a region-by-region look at where religious harassment takes place, and to which groups.
As of 2012, at least 17 nations have police that enforce religious norms. Religion police forces are most common in the Middle East and North Africa, and are also found in the Asia-Pacific and in sub-Saharan Africa.
Highlights from the fifth annual Pew Research Center study of religious hostilities around the world.
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