Andrew Lee

• Director of People First (self advocacy) Ltd

• Co-chair of the Learning Disability Coalition

• Member of the Disability Committee of the Equality and Human Rights Commission

Hate crime is always wrong

• It must be stopped.

• Together we can make things better – for everyone.

The Human Rights Act says we have

• The right to life

• The right to freedom and security

What about our freedom and security?

• Laws are for everyone

• People with learning difficulties don’t know about the laws that are there to protect them.

Lots of different words confuse people

• Bullying

• violence

• harassment

• abuse

• targeted hostility

All these words mean

• Disability related hate incidents

• Disability related hate crime

• It’s for the police to decide what’s a crime and what’s an incident

Hate incidents or hate crimes?

• calling you names

• saying nasty things to you

• making fun of you

• spitting at you

• sending you nasty emails or texts

Hate incidents and crimes

• Doing something sexual to you that you don’t want

• Hitting or pushing you

• Threatening to hurt you

• Threatening to kill you

Hate incidents and crimes

• Stealing from you

• Damaging your things

No evidence?

• The Government said there wasn’t much evidence about hate crime

• But we knew it was happening.

Old research

• People didn’t get support to report incidents or crimes.

• Family members and others that people with learning difficulties trust often told them not to report it.

• So the Government didn’t know how much crime there was

Getting justice

• Services often think we are vulnerable

• Vulnerable people need protection

• But everyone must have justice

• We must have support to get justice

The deaths of Frankie and Fiona Pilkington made the Government

take hate crime seriously

Some crimes start small and get worse

• Some incidents happen lots of times – like bullying Frankie and Fiona Pilkington

• Small things need reporting too.

• They can get worse

People with learning difficulties can be bullied because

• They are black or Asian or come from a different culture

• They are women

• They are lesbian, gay or transgender

• They are young or old

All the research says

• People with learning difficulties are more likely to victims of hate crime than people who aren’t disabled.

Equality & Human Rights Commission Formal Inquiry

• Listens to disabled people

• Supports them to tell their stories

• Asks the police and lots of public bodies what they are doing.

• Can force services to give evidence.

Equality & Human Rights Commission Formal Inquiry

• Asks which services are tackling hate crime well

• Wants to know more about bad attitudes to disabled people

• Will get help from disabled people to make attitudes better

New research wants to find out

• Who the bullies are

• Why they want to hurt others

• How to teach children good attitudes towards disabled people

New research wants to find out

• How to stop children and adults bullying disabled people

• How to help bullies learn to behave properly.

Government Action Plan on Hate Crime

• Better support

• Makes it clear that hate crime must be reported, even if it does not seem serious

• Get accessible information

• Help people to understand the Criminal Justice System will support them

Crown Prosecution Service – new documents

• Report on hate crime – in Easy Read

• Guidance on supporting victims and witnesses

True Vision reporting pack

• Tells people about hate crime

• Tells people how to report hate crime

• It has been sent to all police stations

• People can report on line

What needs to happen?

• Good support to report crime

• Using the True Vision Pack

• Local reporting centres

• More accessible information

• People with learning difficulties working with local police

Police

• Need training on disability• Need to understand we need support to

report hate crime• Need to recognize hate crime• Need to get better at recording crimes• Need to get better at interviewing us• Need to know we can be good witnesses

Section 146 Criminal Justice Act 2003

• Says what is Disability Hate Crime

• Gives criminals longer sentences if the Court thinks the crime was because the person is disabled.

Section 146 Criminal Justice Act 2003

• The Police often don’t know about this law.

• You need to tell the Police if you think it is a hate crime.

• Ask the Police to use this section in their case.

Criminal Justice System

• Must get us justice

• Need to know we need support before, during and after we go to court

• Need to know we are good witnesses

• Must understand how upset we can be.

Incitement – getting somebody else to do a crime

• It’s a crime to encourage people to bully black people

• But it’s not a crime when it’s against disabled people

• It needs to be a crime

Prison

• People get 30 years for killing someone because they are black or gay

• But people only get 15 years for killing someone because they are disabled

• This is wrong

Need for joined up working

• Police, Crown Prosecution Service and social care agencies not clear who is meant to help victims

• Lack of training on disability and harassment

• Disabled people must be involved

• Families, supporters, the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service must believe us when we say we have been bullied.

Self-advocacy groups can

• Support people to report hate crime to the police.

• Support people to report on line

• Work with local groups, like Victim Support to help them support people with learning difficulties better

Act now

• People with learning difficulties need to support victims of hate crime.

• Victims need support to get cases to court and get justice.

• The Criminal Justice System needs to show it is fit for purpose.

Hate crime is always wrong

• It must be stopped.

• Together we can make things better – for everyone.