This document discusses disability hate crime in Essex, England. It provides background on the organization ecdp, which advocates for disabled people, and its work addressing disability hate crime through understanding the issue, signposting support services, education, and improving reporting. The document outlines national data finding high rates of crime against disabled people but low rates of these being classified as hate crimes. It also summarizes a report by EHRC finding systemic failures in protecting disabled people from harassment. Finally, it notes improvements in Essex Police's response to hate crime but questions whether issues for those with mental health difficulties are sufficiently recognized.

1. Disability Hate Crime
Faye Savage – Lived Experience Officer, ecdp
Friday 21 September 2012

2. Disability Hate Crime
• ecdp and lived experience
• ecdp’s work on disability hate crime
• Disability hate crime nationally and locally
• What was going wrong?
• EHRC report
• Essex Police and disability hate crime
• Hate crime in 2012
• How are people with mental health difficulties
affected by hate crime?
Disability Hate Crime

3. ecdp
• Established in 1995
• 30 FTE staff
• £1.5m turnover
• 100% board are disabled people
• Nearly 2000 members and 4000 service
users
• Volunteers
Disability Hate Crime

4. ecdp members
• We estimate Essex’s total population of
disabled people to be potentially more than
348,600.
• ecdp’s membership in January 2010 was
1,636 people.
• 21.6% have a learning disability
• 6.8% have a long-term health condition
• 5.2% have a mental health condition
• 61.2% have a physical or sensory impairment
Disability Hate Crime

5. Lived Experience Officer
• Faye Savage - Lived Experience
Officer at ecdp since 2010.
• Ensuring lived experience is captured
across the organisation.
• Working on the issues which affect
disabled people.
Disability Hate Crime

6. What is lived experience?
• Lived experience is formed of the
experiences disabled people have
in their every day lives.
• Taking a lived experience
approach means recognising
these experiences and forming a
collective voice.
Disability Hate Crime

7. ecdp and disability hate
crime
• Disability hate crime is an issue which
many our members were concerned
about.
• Media attention had been focused on
hate crime following some high profile
cases.
Disability Hate Crime

8. ecdp and disability hate
crime
• First hate crime report (2010) examined
disability hate crime in a national
context:
- Disability organisations recognised huge
problem but generally there was a lack of
understanding about the issues
- Hate crime falling through gaps in terms of
responsibility.
Disability Hate Crime

9. The national picture
• Disability Now launched a Hate Crime
dossier as part of the ‘No hiding place’
campaign.
• It listed over 50 serious crimes which
were mostly not viewed as hate crime
by the police.
Disability Hate Crime

10. The national picture
• Nacro: disabled people are 4 times
more likely to have property stolen with
the threat of violence or to be sexually
assaulted.
• Scope: 47 times as many race hate
crimes prosecuted and 5 times as many
homophobic hate crimes prosecuted.
Disability Hate Crime

11. The national picture
• Mencap: 9 of 10 people with learning
difficulties had been bullied in the last
year. 2 of 3 were bullied on a regular
basis.
• Mind: 71% of people with mental
distress had been victimised in the last
2 years. 22% had been physically
assaulted.
Disability Hate Crime

12. The local picture - 2010
• In 2008-9 a total of 4 disability hate
crimes had been recorded in Essex.
• 100% had been prosecuted.
Disability Hate Crime

13. What was going wrong?
• Disabled people and agencies involved in
supporting us/addressing hate crime did not
know what hate crime was or how to support
people.
• Police did not understand disability hate
crime/take it seriously.
• Reporting/support inaccessible.
• Other services were sporadic and inconsistent
(or non-existent).
• Perception of disabled people as naturally
vulnerable.
• Systems of support potentially abusive.
Disability Hate Crime

14. USER model
• The ecdp USER model demonstrates
the four key areas that need addressing
in order to address disability hate crime.
• Based on the national picture and
recommendations made by national
disability organisations.
Disability Hate Crime

15. USER model
Understanding
Recommendations
focused on Essex,
Signposting and but could be
Support
extended or
replicated.
Education
Reporting
Disability Hate Crime

16. USER model
• Understanding – there needs to be a greater
understanding of disability hate crime
• Signposting and Support – services which signpost
and support disabled people when they are victims of
hate crime should be widely available and well
coordinated
• Education – to ensure wider change for disabled
people, we believe education work should be focused
on three particular groups of stakeholders: disabled
people themselves, professionals and wider society
• Reporting – we believe stronger processes for
reporting will increase the number of investigated and
prosecuted cases.
Disability Hate Crime

17. Tackling disability hate
crime in Essex
• Online survey and focus group
with disabled people in Essex.
– Demonstrated disability hate crime
was a big issue locally.
– Issues identified nationally were also
apparent in Essex.
Disability Hate Crime

18. Tackling disability hate
crime in Essex
• Roundtable with a large group of
professionals (police, local authority,
education officials, Victim Support,
Adult Safeguarding etc)
– Inconsistent procedures to recognise or
address hate crime.
– Unaware of other support.
Disability Hate Crime

19. ecdp recommendations
• ecdp published a second disability
hate crime report (2011).
• In order to implement USER, ecdp
recommended the creation of a
Disability Hate Crime Officer,
within a user-led organisation.
Disability Hate Crime

20. EHRC: Hidden in Plain
Sight
• EHRC published the findings of an
inquiry into disability related
harassment in September 2011.
• Observed ‘systemic institutional failure
to protect disabled people and their
families from harassment’.
Disability Hate Crime

21. EHRC: Hidden in Plain
Sight
• The report presented 10 specific cases of
disability hate crime.
• Examined the wider problems around
disability hate crime, observing ‘the cases
which reach the courts and media are just
the tip of the iceberg, and represent the
public face of a deeper social problem’
Disability Hate Crime

22. EHRC recommendations
1. Taking ownership.
2. Definitive data.
3. Better access to a responsive criminal justice
system.
4. Motivations and circumstances of perpetrators.
5. Wider understanding of disabled people and
disability hate crime
6. Approaches to hate crime evaluated and
disseminated.
7. Frontline staff recognise and respond to hate
crime.
Disability Hate Crime

23. Essex Police addressing
hate crime
• Changed focus from reducing crime to
reducing repeat victimisation; allows hate
crime stats to rise and represent the true
extent of the problem.
• Appointment of specialist hate crime officers
across county.
• Better monitoring of stats.
• Training to understand issues.
• Working with experts and cross-sector.
Disability Hate Crime

24. The local picture - 2012
• Rise in all hate crimes but particularly
good results with disability hate crimes.
• Rise in disability hate crime is 118%.
Disability Hate Crime

25. Hate crime in 2012
• Media reporting a huge rise in disability
hate crime.
• Given the statistics still do
not represent the picture,
we actually welcome the rise.
Disability Hate Crime

26. Hate crime in 2012
• Disabled people are experiencing a rise
in hostility due to image of ‘scrounging’?
Disability Hate Crime

27. Hate crime in 2012
• The power of the Paralympics to
change perceptions… will this
have an impact? How can this be
maintained?
Disability Hate Crime

28. What about mental health?
• People with mental health
difficulties experience particular
problems around discrimination
and stigma. This can lead to
disability hate crime.
• Is this recognised or being
addressed?
Disability Hate Crime

29. What about mental health?
Targeted violence and harassment against disa
Disability Hate Crime