For a week now we’ve been metaphorically piling up the things that people we know find frustrating about less able life, to toss onto our BBS Bonfire on Tuesday. So far we’ve by and large been trying to have a little bit of fun – although the issues are important to us it’s been more about venting and laughing at the nonsensical approaches to accessibility than anything too serious. But today we want to feature something which is far from being a laughing matter – the somber issue of disability hate crime.
A disability hate crime is defined as “a criminal offence that is purely motivated by hatred or prejudice towards a disabled person, whether they actually have a disability or just a perceived one.” It’s a disturbing thing to do – to attack or abuse somebody because of disability – but it’s shockingly prevalent in today’s society.
One simple statement highlights how serious an issue this is: in the last couple of years the UK has seen a rise in disability hate crime.
Things are supposed to be getting better but they’re actually getting worse. What make matters worse it that the number of crimes being reported and the prosecution rate are both declining.
Last year there were 65,000 disability hate crimes in the UK. Of these, only 1,700 we reported and there were a meager 621 prosecutions. That means that 34 out of 35 cases were (and are) not being reported. So there are manifest problems in the level of the crimes and system with which we deal with them. In short, disabled people are being let down.
Public transport is a potential hot bed for hate crime with 1 in 4 disabled rail passengers having suffered hate crime or abuse whilst in stations or trains. Over two-fifths of wheelchair users (43 per cent) and travellers with visual impairments (41 per cent) – those who are most visibly less able – have faced abuse. Hearing numbers like this, it’s little wonder that many disabled people don’t feel comfortable using public transport. It’s not like the transport is very accessible in the first place!
But another truly sickening phenomenon is that of ‘disability mate crime’. This is the term given for when disabled people – particularly people with learning disabilities – are targeted by people who pretend to befriend them in order to take advantage of them. Often people who are dual minorities (i.e. black and disabled or gay and disabled) are sought out as being particularly vulnerable. They are then ‘groomed’, abused and exploited mentally or physically. This is an utterly despicable act which is so hard to identify and prevent.
Something like disability mate crime is very hard to report and the low number of successful prosecutions don’t make it easier. With such a poor conviction rate it’s difficult for people to speak out if somebody close to them is exploiting or abusing them.
Disability hate and mate crimes are truly awful. Nobody should be subjected to this abuse which can leave vulnerable people feeling more isolated than ever. We want them gone – if only we really could just put them onto a bonfire!
To report a hate crime or to find out more visit the Victim Support website