Working to tackle disability hate crime

Learning disabled people and disability hate crime:

•  Learning disabled people can be targeted by people who befriend and then exploit or abuse them
• They can be bullied, assaulted and abused, often by a group of perpetrators once befriended
• Financial, physical or sexual abuse is involved
• They can also be picked on a one-off basis for verbal and/or physical abuse because they look or sound different.

Victim and Witness Group Gloucester and disability access issues

Jane Gibney and Andrew Walters met with partners in the county to discuss the services we offer to victims and witnesses. One of the issues raised was brought forward from our recent Local Scrutiny and Involvement Panel (LSIP).  At the panel, members expressed serious concerns over disability access in Gloucestershire courts and have asked the CPS to continue to raise the issue with the Courts and our partners.  The Victim and Witness Group will examine how it can elicit specific feedback from disabled victims and witnesses on their experience. Deputy chief Crown Prosecutor Vicky Cook is taking forward disability issues with the Justices Clerk on behalf of the LSIP. These include wheelchair access for victims and functioning of hearing loops and video links for those with communication issues.

Mencap and Disability Hate Crime

Mencap held a conference on disability hate crime issues on 1sNovember in Exeter as part of its 'Stand By Me' campaign.  This is running nationally and aims to make sure that all service providers and the police in particular, are able to identify and address disability hate crime.  So many learning disabled peoples' lives are blighted by bullying and hate crime.

Local Mencap representative Miriam Guard told Jane Gibney that she had observed excellent practice from CPS prosecutors in court when we interact with victims or defendants who are learning disabled!

Hidden in plain sight - the launch of the Disability Harassment Inquiry report

The final report of a far-reaching inquiry into disability-related harassment was launched in early September by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The report uncovers not only that harassment is a commonplace experience for disabled people, but also that a culture of disbelief and institutional failures are preventing it from being tackled effectively.

As well as reporting on the extent of harassment, the report also includes a review of ten cases to look at what, if any, lessons have been learnt in each case, and makes recommendations to public authorities to help them deal with the problems uncovered.   There draft recommendations for public authorities aimed at tackling disability-related harassment.  You can access the report at www.equalityhumanrights.com/dhfi 

 The inquiry has confirmed that the cases of disability-related harassment which come to court and receive media attention are only the tip of the iceberg. Evidence indicates that, for many disabled people, harassment is a commonplace experience. Many come to accept it as inevitable.
 Disabled people often do not report harassment, for a number of reasons: it may be unclear who to report it to; they may fear the consequences of reporting; or they may fear that the police or other authorities will not believe them. A culture of disbelief exists around this issue. For this reason, the Commission describe it as a problem which is hidden in plain sight.
 There is a systemic failure by public authorities,  it is said, to recognise the extent and impact of harassment and abuse of disabled people, take action to prevent it happening in the first place and intervene effectively when it does. These organisational failings need to be addressed as a matter of urgency and the full report makes a number of recommendations aimed at helping agencies to do so.
 Any serious attempt to prevent the harassment of disabled people will need to consider more than organisational change, although that will be an important precondition to progress. The bigger challenge is to transform the way disabled people are viewed, valued and included in society.

20-26 June is Learning Disability Week.  Mencap 'Stand by Me' Campaign

Learning Disability Week is a week of national campaigning and awareness raising run by Mencap every year.  Learning Disability Week 2011 is from Monday 20 to Sunday 26 June, when Mencap will launch a 3-year campaign against hate crime, Stand by me.

'Stand By Me' aims to engage the police, the criminal justice system and the courts to end hate crime against people with a learning disability within a generation.  It will also recognise the role of the public to stand by people with a learning disability to end the violence and abuse of disability hate crime.

Mencap is calling on all police forces to sign up to a policing promise, based on recommendations in research carried out by Mencap in February and March 2011.  A request is being sent to all Chief Constables.  The Police Promise being sent is:

1. Make sure that information is available and presented in a suitable form.
2. Get better evidence and increase convictions by allowing more time for interviews, particularly where the victim has difficulty communicating.
3. Understand how to identify if someone has a learning disability.
4. Listen to, respect and involve families, carers and support staff of disabled people.
5. Challenge discriminatory attitudes and language among fellow officers.
6. Ensure that victims are kept up to date with the progress of the case once they have reported a crime.
7. Recognise that disability hate crime is as harmful as other types of hate crime.
8. Dont label disability hate crime as anti-social behaviour identify the crime and deal with it.
9. Hold regular beat meetings and ensure they are open to disabled people.
10. Display the 'Stand By Me' promises where everyone can see them.

Mencap Regional Campaign Manager, Stephen John said: "Mencap sees the CPS as an integral and essential part of implementing the 'Stand by Me' charter". Jane Gibney will be liaising with local Mencap project leaders during June.

Disability Hate Crime - Hearing the experiences of learning disabled people in Gloucestershire

The Gloucestershire Learning Disability Partnership Board and the county's Strategic Hate Crime group (in which the CPS has participated regularly over recent years) came together on 1 March 2011 to hear the views of learning disabled people and their advocates on their experiences of hate crime.

Jane Gibney represented the CPS:  "The aim was to understand what support would help with reporting incidents or to go through the prosecution process and to share good practice. It was also to share information about the 'Keeping Safe' scheme.  Police, PCSOs, the council and voluntary sector partners were involved too so it was a good mix of partners and service users."

Helen, who is in her 40s and has a moderate learning disability talked about how school children had followed her brother Michael (who also has disabilities) home from the daycentre and shouted horrible names at him: "Luckily, our support worker happened to be walking that way too and she heard everything. She told the boys off and has now found out which school they go to so she can speak to them. If the support worker hadn't helped us Michael would have got very upset or maybe shouted back, which might have made things worse. When people do bullying to you, it  can make you afraid and sad and feel you can't do normal things like going for a walk even though you haven't done anything bad to anyone."

Participants agreed that work with schools was key in changing attitudes towards learning disabled people.  Sometimes, very serious abuse can take place (as we know sadly from some cases that come to the CPS, where learning disabled people have been seriously abused and assaulted over long periods of time by people who 'befriend' them, for example.)

The 'Keeping Safe' scheme is a joint Gloucestershire council and police initiative, involving training shopkeepers, post office workers and others working in public places to help people with learning disabilities if they come in to escape bullies or if they are lost or confused.  A sticker is shown in windows of organisations who are part of the scheme and local learning disabled people carry cards with contact details of support workers or friends who can be contacted.