‘It spreads like a creeping disease’: experiences of victims of disability hate crimes in austerity Britain

Abstract

This paper examines disabled people's experiences of hate crime during a period of austerity and welfare reform. Narrative interviews were conducted with 12 victims of disability hate crimes in the UK who experienced a spectrum of targeted, disablist violence and harassment, from name-calling and verbal abuse to physical and sexual violence, harassment and damage to property. Participants expressed frustration and disappointment with inadequate, offensive and inappropriate responses from the criminal justice system. This resulted in a lack of confidence in reporting their experiences to police in future. Evidence from participant stories encapsulates the diversity of disability hate crime perpetrators, from neighbour to stranger, resulting in a lack of safe space in which disabled people can live and work. Examination of these findings illustrates the impact of contemporary structural discourses of conditionality and stigma upon disabled people, including acceptance of and resilience to hate crimes.

Discriminatory abuse: time to revive a forgotten form of abuse?

“…Both Iparraguirre (2014) and Forbat (2004) emphasise the correlation between abuse and structural issues such as poverty, race and class, rather than dominant accounts of abuse as an interpersonal phenomenon, while Brown (2000) refers to discriminatory abuse as a consequence of marginalisation. Several authors relate this to pathologising discourses about people with disabilities (Doherty, 2015; Sin et al , 2011; Balderston et al , 2019; Healy, 2020), people from minoritised ethnicities (Forbat, 2004), people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or other non-heterosexual or non-cisgendered identities (LGBTQ+) (Westwood, 2018), older people (Bogdanova and Grigoryeva, 2021; Lyne and Parker, 2020) and people who experience mental health issues (Carr et al , 2019; Hafford-Letchfield et al , 2020). Intersectional identities, for example, a trans person with a disability, compound experiences of discrimination further (Balderston et al , 2019).…”

“…These accounts foreground critical accounts of vulnerability, which play out through factors such as neighbourhood deprivation and poverty, poor housing and inadequate preventative support (Carr et al , 2019; Balderston et al , 2019) as well as racism, homophobia, transphobia and ageism and other forms of discrimination (Forbat, 2004; Westwood, 2018). The impacts of austerity are also exacerbated through poorly funded and fragmented services that are slow to respond (Carr et al , 2019; Healy, 2020), and service failure may be discriminatory in itself (Balderston et al , 2019; Parker, 2021). Political “victim blaming” also creates permissive cultures where discrimination can thrive (Williams, 2021; Healy, 2020).…”

“…The impacts of austerity are also exacerbated through poorly funded and fragmented services that are slow to respond (Carr et al , 2019; Healy, 2020), and service failure may be discriminatory in itself (Balderston et al , 2019; Parker, 2021). Political “victim blaming” also creates permissive cultures where discrimination can thrive (Williams, 2021; Healy, 2020). Several articles discuss the significant and disproportionate impact of policies during COVID-19 for older people, particularly rights to private and family life (through increased social isolation) and rights to life (through misuse of Do Not Resuscitate processes) (Williams, 2021; Lyne and Parker, 2020; Bogdanova and Grigoryeva, 2021).…”

Missing links: safeguarding and disability hate crime responses

“…This research is drawn from a completed PhD examining disabled people's experiences of hate crime conducted by the first author (Healy, 2020). This paper presents findings from key informant interviews with 15 individuals working in criminal justice agencies (police and CPS), victim support, third party reporting organisations, a housing association, a local authority, disabled people's user-…”

“…However, as many as 50,000 disability hate crimes occur yearly through self-report victim surveys (Home Office, 2018), suggesting significant underreporting by victims (Richardson et al, 2016). Furthermore, where hate crimes are reported, incidents are not explicitly recorded as such, closing off possible recourse through the CJS (Healy, 2020). Although a link to safeguarding issues and criminality is evidenced in the Care Act Statutory Guidance, under the more general terminology of 'criminal offences' (DHSC, 2021), there is no explicit reference to hate crime.…”