How could vulnerable social groups be protected from hate speech under international law?

Abstract

The issue of hate speech has been a matter of concern from time immemorial. It is likely to occur everywhere, regardless of time and place. Nowadays, more and more people are constantly experiencing hate speech both in an online and an offline environment. Vulnerable social groups (e.g. persons with disabilities, homosexuals, ethnic and religious minorities, etc.) are the most frequent targets of such practice. The hate speech phenomenon has been thoroughly analyzed on behalf of legal scholars, sociologists, historians as well as psychologists since it constitutes a multi-dimensional issue which needs to be approached from various perspectives. Unfortunately, not many people are familiar with the concept of hate speech and, as a result, there is not much awareness concerning this issue. For this reason, the present thesis seeks to present, first, a clear-cut picture of this complex - as well as ubiquitous – phenomenon. Another scope of this thesis is to acquaint the reader with the international legal framework through which vulnerable social groups can be protected from hate speech as this phenomenon clearly constitutes a highly deplorable human rights violation. Persons with disabilities, women and girls, the LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex) community and ethnic and religious minorities are specifically the groups which are going to be examined in this dissertation.