Commission announces new plan to address safety and security of disabled people
A recently published report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission announces a three point plan to address the safety and security of disabled people and commits to funding for advocacy groups.
In the report, Promoting Safety and Security of Disabled People, interviewees describe their experiences of targeted violence and hostility against them. They talk about how their belief that complaints won't be taken seriously leads them to suffer in fear and silence.
The research establishes that disabled people are at greater risk of being victims of targeted violence and hostility. People with learning disabilities and mental health conditions face the greatest risk. The impact of such experiences is grave, leading people to move house, avoid going out at night and lead isolated lives.
One person said: 'I lost all trust in human beings - it's difficult to describe the depth of that...I had my barriers up all the time, I was terrified of speaking to anyone in the new flat because of my experiences in the old flat.'
But disabled people also reported that they are reluctant to report violence and hostility, believing that professionals and institutions will not respond. Another person said:
'There was absolutely no communication between any of them - the psychiatrist, the environmental health people, the police...I felt like they all thought I was stupid and weren't taking me seriously enough to take it forward with their managers or other people.'
The Commission announced a three point plan to support and empower disabled people who are targets of violence and hostility:
- All public institutions - from schools and social landlords to hospitals - have a statutory obligation under the Disability Equality Duty to eliminate hostile behaviour towards disabled people and to promote positive attitudes. The Commission will carry out a review of how well these various authorities are meeting their responsibilities. The Commission will seek to ensure that the new Equality Bill provides at least as effective a legal framework to address these issues as existing legislation, and further research, evidence gathering and assessments will be carried out this year.
- The Commission will support disabled people to live independently and have access to justice through the distribution of grants to independent advocacy organisations from a dedicated sum from the Commission's £10.5 million funding programme.
- The Commission will work with criminal justice agencies to remove barriers to disabled people taking legal remedies against violence, hostility and hate crimes, and use its legal powers where necessary, as with the case of FB v Director of Public Prosecutions. Despite the high prevalence of anecdotal and reported incidents, the number of prosecutions remains low. In the year to March 2008 only 183 incidents of violence against disabled people were prosecuted. Whilst the CPS advises that this has almost doubled for the year to March 2009, contrasted with evidence of prevalence this remains woefully low.
Trevor Phillips, Chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said:
'We all remember the horrific murder of Brent Martin and Steven Hoskin, two young men with learning disabilities who were viciously killed by those who befriended them.'
But they were the conspicuous flashes of an often silent bullying menace on our streets, on our housing estates, on our buses and trains, in our schools and, increasingly, online and on mobile phones.'
'We all want disabled people to be able to go out and play a full part in their community but too often a trip to the pub, the shops, the swimming pool or work is such an ordeal that it seems easier to narrow their horizons, to stay indoors. This is a hidden catastrophe that we need to address.'
'When we interviewed people for this report they told us the same thing: we need to do something. This is not an issue we can prioritise in rhetoric and ignore in practice. There can be neither disabled and non-disabled, neither hounded and free. There cannot be two tiers of safety and security, for we are all individuals of equal standing and worth.'
Download Reports:
Promoting the safety and security of disabled people
by Equality and Human Rights Commission
Disabled people's experiences of targeted violence and hostility
by Chih Hoong Sin, Annie Hedges, Chloe Cook, Nina Mguni and Natasha Comber, Office for Public Management
29th April 2009
