Disability hate crime increases 240% in Lewisham

The Met police crime dashboard shows reported disability hate crimes have risen by 240 per cent from five to 17 instances for the year ending January.

A disability hate crime is when someone is violent or hostile toward a disabled person because they are disabled.

But the increase could be down to improved awareness of how to report, Louise Holden, hate crime partnership project manager at Inclusion London, explained.

Inclusion London is a deaf and disabled person organisation run by deaf and disabled people.

She said: “Inclusion London understand that any spike in the reporting of disability hate crime is not necessarily an indication that levels of disability hate crime has increased, but may be due to an increased awareness of disability hate crime and how to report.”

Merton Council research revealed disability hate crimes were a daily occurrence for some with many feeling they won’t be believed, she said.

This was linked to disablism – a belief that disabled people are inferior to others.

“The cause of disabled hate crime is linked to disablism that is deep rooted in our society,” Ms Holden added.

Lewisham man Sean Ryan, who has multiple sclerosis, said disabled people were “picked on the most in society just for being disabled.”

He said social media posts from disabled people about hate crime gave a clue to how common it is.

Ms Holden said she encouraged people to report any crime against them.

“The long term impact of hate crime on a Disabled person can be devastating and affects the whole community,” she said.

“We encourage more disabled people to report any incident or crime they experience. We are working with London deaf and disabled people organisations to provide support services so no disabled person needs to suffer alone,” she added.

You can report a hate crime to the police at http://report-it.org.uk/your_police_force.