Pew Research Report Findings
A disturbing new report from the Pew Research Center sheds light on a growing crisis: individuals from various religious backgrounds are facing harassment at alarming levels, both from government entities and societal groups across the globe.
This trend is particularly pronounced among Christians, who find themselves increasingly targeted.
In its latest assessment titled “Government Restrictions on Religion Stayed at Peak Levels Globally in 2022,” the Pew Research Center conducted an extensive analysis of religious freedoms in 198 countries and territories for the fifteenth time.
The findings reveal a troubling escalation in the harassment of religious groups in a staggering 192 of these countries, marking the highest levels of observed hostility recorded in the study’s history.
Harassment Statistics
The report indicates that governmental harassment affected 186 nations in 2022, a slight rise from 183 in the previous year.
While social groups and individual citizens continued to play a role in harassment, they were consistently reported in 164 countries.
Overall, 192 nations saw some form of harassment directed at religious groups, with both government and societal actors involved in 158 of these instances.
Christians, unfortunately, bore the brunt of this animosity, facing harassment in a record 166 countries last year.
Specific instances highlight the severity of the situation, such as the arrest of a man in Mauritania whose son crossed from Senegal with Christian materials, and grave concerns raised by a Syriac Catholic leader in Bartella, Iraq, who spoke of militia threats to take over Christian properties and shift the town’s religious demographics.
The physical harassment experienced by various religious groups included significant acts like property damage, assaults, detentions, displacements, and even fatalities.
The study indicated that such acts occurred in at least 145 of the 198 countries studied, up from 137 the previous year.
In terms of direct confrontations, governments deployed physical force against religious groups in 111 countries, an equal number of nations reported harassment from social groups and individuals.
Among these incidents, property destruction was the most frequently noted form of harassment, occurring in over half of the studied countries (61%).
Detentions happened in about 47% of nations, while physical assaults, displacements, and deaths were reported in 45%, 26%, and 25% of the countries surveyed, respectively.
Broader Context of Religious Harassment
Interestingly, only a select few nations—such as Cape Verde, Fiji, Grenada, Macao, and others—reported no governmental harassment of religious communities in 2022.
In sharp contrast, the United States fell within the group of 110 nations where governmental intimidation against religious groups remained prevalent.
Incidents in the U.S. included property damage and assaults against religious entities; however, the report did not indicate any occurrences of displacement, killings, or detentions.
Additionally, some groups encountered efforts aimed at monopolizing public dialogue on religious matters.
The study further uncovered that Muslims faced harassment in a record-high 148 countries.
On the other hand, the number of nations where Jews experienced harassment declined, dropping to 90 from a peak of 94 in 2020.
Harassment against Hindus reached an all-time high of 26 countries, while individuals practicing folk religions suffered in 49 nations, also a record.
Conversely, harassment against Buddhists saw a slight decrease, occurring in 25 countries compared to a previous high of 28 in 2021.
Finally, harassment against members of other religious groups was reported in 68 nations, matching a peak previously recorded in 2019.
The situation for the non-religious demographic is equally concerning, as incidents in this group rose to 32 nations, establishing yet another record high.
Source: Christianpost
