 |
In the UK, many people with disabilities are victims of crime. Some people also hurt them just because they have disabilities. This is called “disability hate crime.” Sometimes when people with disabilities talk to the police, the police doesn’t do anything. That is wrong. The police must do more to help people with disabilities if they are victims of crime. You can listen to a report about this here. |
Complaints made by victims of disability hate crime in the United Kingdom (UK) are being overlooked by the police, according to a statement made by a former senior figure from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Lord Ken MacDonald, a former director of public prosecutions, claimed that crimes committed against victims with disabilities are often treated with less seriousness than other forms of hate crime.
Labelling it “the scar on the conscience” of the British criminal justice system, he went on to say that police are failing to effectively tackle the polemic of disability hate crime.
According to government statistics, 1841 instances of disability hate crime were reported in 2012-13 with only 349 leading to convictions. Even more alarmingly, only seven prison sentences were increased once the victims’ disability had been taken into account.
During his account, made to the BBC, Lord MacDonald also acknowledged that people with disabilities living in the UK also often suffer from “low-level” harassment.
Despite the news that three times as many prosecutions for disability hate crime have been made since 2007, the British services still have huge progress to make in tackling the issue of hate crime against innocent people with disabilities.
To hear more about the tackling of disability hate crime in the UK, you can listen to the BBC’s special report here.
