Disability Hate Crimes

Disability hate crimes are a global problem. They are often violent and hyper-aggressive, with life-changing effects on victims, and they send consistent messages of intolerance and bigotry. This ground-breaking book shows that disability hate crimes do exist, that they have unique characteristics which distinguish them from other hate crimes, and that more effective policies and practices can and must be developed to respond and prevent them. Although this research discusses cases of disability hate crime from around the globe, its particular focus is on the UK and the USA. The disability movement in the UK has been extremely active in holding public meetings, publishing reports and organizing task forces. US disability organizations, by contrast, have been far less intent on raising awareness, although a small number of disability organizations petitioned Congress to pass the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act which included disability in hate crime legislation. It has been the UK disability movement, in general, which has publicized disability hate crimes and raised the profile of this issue on the global arena. Nevertheless, the FBI hate crime database is the longest-running and most comprehensive database on disability hate crime in the world, so it deserves detailed attention with regard to identifying patterns in the overall incidence of disability hate crime. This book will help readers to define hate crimes as well as place disability hate crimes in their wider social context. It will discuss the need for legislative recognition of disability hate crimes, improved reporting of incidents and assistance for individual victims of hate crimes, as well as the need to address the social exclusion of disabled people and the negative attitudes surrounding their condition.