Developing an Evidence Base for Violent and Disablist Hate Crime in Britain

Abstract

In the context of there being little robust U.K. data on disabled people's exposure to violent crime and hate crime, we examined self-reported rates of exposure over the preceding 12 months to violent crime, hate crime, and disablist hate crime in a newly established survey, the U.K.'s Life Opportunities Survey. Information was collected from a nationally representative sample of 37,513 British adults (age 16 or older). Results indicated that (a) disabled adults were significantly more likely to have been exposed over the previous 12 months to violent crime (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 2.33, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [2.08, 2.61]) and hate crime (adjusted OR = 2.58, 95% CI = [2.17, 3.07]) than their non-disabled peers, (b) the differential risk of exposure to violent crime was particularly elevated among disabled adults with mental health problems (adjusted OR = 6.26, 95% CI = [5.01, 7.82]), (c) the differential risk of exposure to hate crime was particularly elevated among disabled adults with mental health problems (adjusted OR = 10.70, 95% CI = [7.91, 14.47]) or cognitive impairments (adjusted OR = 6.66, 95% CI = [3.95, 11.22]), and (d) these effects were strongly moderated by poverty status with no increase in differential risk of exposure for disabled adults among more wealthy respondents.

Dis-Equality: Exploring the Juxtaposition of Disability and Equality

“…It is clear from research (WHO, 2011;Emerson & Roulstone, 2014;Schur et al, 2013) that inequalities abound for disabled people across a multitude of domains. The immediate barriers around accessibility, attitudes, and awareness are indicative of a greater symptomatic cause; that of underlying complex forms of discrimination and the concealed power that underpins majority/minority relations.…”

“…Research across the globe has echoed common refrains; that, in comparison to the non-disabled population, disabled people experience significantly higher levels of poverty, unemployment, educational underachievement, lack of access to services, inappropriate housing, and poorer health outcomes (Groce, Kett, Lang, & Trani, 2014;World Health Organisation [WHO], 2011). They are also more likely to be victims of crime, subject to abuse and excluded from political participation (Emerson & Roulstone, 2014;Schur, Kruse, & Blanck, 2013). These experiences can be exacerbated when disabled people occupy more than one disadvantaged identity category (Byrne, 2012;Crock, Ernst, & McCallum, 2014).…”

“Keeping Control”: A user‐led exploratory study of mental health service user experiences of targeted violence and abuse in the context of adult safeguarding in England

“…Government policy has emphasised the need for multi‐agency working to support victims of hate crime to report it (HM Government, ). It is well documented that disabled people, particularly people with mental health problems or “psychosocial disabilities”, are at higher risk of targeted violence, hostility or abuse but with few effective evidence‐based prevention and protection strategies (Emerson & Roulstone, ; Mikton, Maguire, & Shakespeare, ; Sin, Hedges, Cook, Mguni, & Comber, ).…”

Challenges facing online research: Experiences from research concerning cyber-victimisation of people with disabilities

“…The medical model focuses on the deficit, which is the impairment or the health condition that requires management, and hence people are labelled "disabled" and vulnerable due to the impairment itself (Forhan, 2009;Humpage, 2007). The social model separates the impairment from disability, and disability in this sense is created by the society towards people with impairments (Anastasiou & Kauffman, 2013), hence people with impairments are made vulnerable by others (Emerson & Roulstone, 2014). In this paper we acknowledge the notion of vulnerability under the social model as a source of discrimination and hostility against people with disabilities, but we also refer to the medical conditions due their impact on daily life.…”