It’s Learning Disability Week

Monday 20 June 2011

Report reveals police are failing to tackle disability hate crime

Learning Disability Week 2011 is taking place between Monday 20 and Sunday 26 June.

This year, Mencap is launching a three-year campaign to tackle disability hate crime, called ‘Stand by me’. Stand by me will challenge the police, criminal justice system and 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 violence and abuse.

During Learning Disability Week, the campaign is focusing on the police. Mencap has launched a report on how the police currently deal with hate crime against people with a learning disability. It highlights some examples of good police practice, but also reveals a general lack of police understanding of disability hate crime. Many police officers don’t understand what learning disability is, do not treat disability hate crime as a priority and do not record disability hate crime.

Mencap is calling on all police services to sign up to its policing promise, based on recommendations contained in the report.

Mencap’s chief executive, Mark Goldring, said: “The tragic deaths of Fiona Pilkington and Francecca Hardwick in 2007 and David Askew in 2010 are just two examples of where low-level harassment ignored by police was allowed to escalate into sustained abuse with fatal consequences. 

“It is estimated that as many as 9 out of 10 people with a learning disability are verbally harassed or exposed to violence due to their disability. This report proves that police have not got to grips with disability hate crime, let alone crime against people with a learning disability. Too often they accept abuse as a part of their daily life. Early intervention is vital if people with disabilities are not to live in fear.”

An Ipsos MORI survey for Mencap shows that there is a strong public concern about hate crime. Half (48%) of the public believe that people with disabilities are more likely to be targets of abusive comments or aggressive behaviour than other people.  

Stand by me events are taking place around the UK throughout this week. A reception will take place in parliament on Tuesday 21 June. In Northern Ireland, criminal justice agencies and political representatives have been invited to the launch of the campaign in Belfast. And Mencap Cymru is launching its own hate crime campaign with a reception at the Senedd.

Mencap has produced a film about the death of Keith Philpott, who was murdered in his home by people he knew in March 2005. Watch the film

Ask your police service to sign up to the police promise

Spread the word about Stand by me on Facebook and Twitter

A campaigns pack is available online, with ideas for local campaigners

Find a Stand by me event near you