A new report attempts to identify why people commit hate crime
Read a summary of the findings of the report
The report pinpoints among other things:
- That many who commit hate crime identify disabled people as scroungers
- The role of the media in demonising disabled people
- People commit hate crimes because it is easy to get away with them
Disability Rights UK calls on the police and courts to treat disability hate crime as a serious issue, which is unacceptable in society today.
We would also like to state that to truly tackle hate crime there needs to be an increase in the reporting of hate crimes, and incidents. Until, the majority of these crimes are reported there will never be a true picture of the prevalence of disability hate crime in this country and nothing will change.
Disability Rights UK has produced a number of practical guides aimed at stopping disability hate crime. By reporting disability hate crime you are enabling your local police force to get a better picture of disability hate crime in your area. This could mean that further disability hate crimes are prevented because the police have a better understanding of the amount of crime in their area and they can use that information to better tackle it.
Disability Rights UK has produced a number of Let's Stop Disability Hate Crime guides which you can download.
To combat disability hate crime we must understand why people commit it - Guardian article
See BBC 3s The Ugly Face of Disability Hate Crime tonight 9pm.