September 4, 2021

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"Summary"

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Cemeteries offer vital links between the living and the dead for religious community members. Cemeteries, as holy sites, are governed by religious laws and customs that dictate the location of, appearance of, and activities and behaviors allowed in the burial grounds, Additionally, country and international laws aim to protect such sites. Despite these standards, cemeteries around the world catering to a variety of religious groups are targets for defilement, which includes vandalism such as spray paint, theft, or smashed headstones. In other cases, whole graveyards are exhumed or razed in preplanned operations. These types of offenses are illustrative of the myriad of ways in which societal discrimination impacts religious minorities, even in death.