Hate crime based on disability in South Africa. Lessons for law reform

Abstract


 When contemplating whether to introduce disability hate crime as a new substantive offence or as a penalty enhancement of existing crimes, legislators should consider the peculiarities of reporting, investigating and prosecuting hate crimes perpetrated against disabled people. This article argues that existing laws on sexual offences, domestic violence, harassment, and unfair discrimination should be strengthened, and research should be conducted to identify the appropriate initiatives to prevent and attend to disability hate crime by and with persons with disabilities. Creating a substantive hate crime based on disability has symbolic value, but should only be considered if the existing challenges to full and meaningful participation by persons with disabilities in investigative and court proceedings are addressed through appropriate procedural accommodations.

Violence, Bias and People with Disabilities: An Introduction to Disablist Hate Crime Research

“…Převážná část výzkumu předsudečného násilí pro postižení je realizována ve Velké Británii, Spojených státech amerických a Austrálii. Mimo anglosaské země je tento fenomén zkoumán jen výjimečně, přičemž se orientuje zejména na zjišťování prevalence viktimizace a reflexi právní úpravy[Vedeler, Olsen, Eriksen 2019;Holness 2021;Poposka 2017;Šumskienė 2017]. Zajímavým příspěvkem je interpretování institucionalizace lidí s disabilitou v socialistickém Polsku jako hate speech[Borowska-Beszta 2020].…”