Hate Crime Action And People With Learning Disabilities

It is shocking to hear that people with learning disabilities are often subject to verbal or physical abuse. People with learning disability have experience bullying and harassment at home, in public places or at work. These kinds of incidents have a negative effect on their mental and physical health. Many of these hate crimes are not reported because the victim usually believes that they would not take them seriously. However, more is been done to raise awareness to the general public and to learning disability about hate crime and harassment.

In 1999, Menca published a report, Living In Fear, more than 900 responses from people with learning disabilities commented about their experiences of bulling and harassment. Two thirds said they have been bullied more than once a month and one third stated that they were bullied on a daily or weekly basis. As an example of these, we have the case of Brent Martin who died in 2007. After been brutally assaulted by three young men that bet money that he could be knocked out with a single punch.

Let us take another case that talks about Raymond Atherton who thought that his killer were his friends. In 2006, they beat him to dead, and pour bleached on him throwing his body into the river which was later found. These cases demonstrate how hate crimes is committed against people with learning disabilities. In addition, these shows how regular they experience bulling and harassment due to individual attitude towards learning disabilities.

According to the Menca one quarter experienced verbal abuse and has become a normal experience. Some of these incidents can happen in the street, school, at home, day centre, neighborhood, public transportation, or restaurants. Some were told to get off the busses, or that a café owner had refused to serve them. Others stated that a stranger or neighbors bullied them. Madcap’s client stated that harassment has affected people with learning disability and has caused them to become anxious and fear in leaving at their homes. Some have decide to move away in order to avoid been bullied or harass.

Julie Davies an advocacy among other titles stated that one of their clients had suffered from severe anxiety after been bullied in public transportation by school children. As a result, their client stated drinking alcohol to deal with her anxiety, which soon led to other health problems. The effect of hate crime can be extremely destructive for people who already have learning disabilities because these victims suffer physical and psychological consequences, along with anxiety and depression.

Julie Davis believe that people with learning disability do not come forward and report this types of harassment of verbal abuse because many believe this is common experience. Others prefer not to say anything because they believe that if they speak up it would only makes thing worse. Among other reasons, other than fear is the lack of awareness among the victims on whom or where to report these types of incidents.

Another issue is that hate crimes against victims with disability are not properly recorder by the police department, because the victim is not consider a reliable witness. It is only since 2008, that the police are required to collect the reports involving hate crimes against disabilities. Mencap it is following the Home Office very carefully, in order to ensure that their promise are been put in place and that hate crime it is been properly recorder against disability victims.

The report Getting Away With Murder was published in UK 2008, urging the Home Office to develop a guidance to prosecute hate crimes. Mencap have also urge the government form UK to investigate hate crimes against victims with learning disabilities. The spoke person from Home Office stated that they are committed to tackling that people with learning disabilities can live without fear in their communities.

New guidance

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