Getting away with murder

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Conference
2008 National LGBT Conference
Date
14 September 2008
Decision
Carried

Conference notes the recent report ‘Getting Away With Murder’ from the UK Disabled People’s Council (UKDPC) endorsed by the TUC and Crown Prosecution Service, which looks at all aspects of disability hate crime and follows recent cases of violent attacks and deaths of disabled people. Whilst these attacks have been targeted specifically at disabled people, the police have been unable to establish that many of these attacks were motivated by hatred on the grounds of disability.

The report highlights the gap between statistics on disability hate crime and results of self-reporting surveys, the disparity between sentencing for disability hate crime and other forms of hate crime and the language used to describe disabled people (“vulnerable”) and the crimes against them (“bullying”). Amongst its recommendations, it calls on on the government to commission a review of all violent deaths of disabled people over an agreed time period, it calls for guidance to key practitioners to help them spot early warning signs of a hate crime and says a discussion is needed about the prevention of hate crime.

Conference is opposed to hate crime across all grounds, including HIV, and as a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) self organised group we have continuously campaigned to strengthen the laws in respect of hate crimes and to extend the aggravated sentencing provisions for crimes motivated by hate on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.

Conference therefore instructs the National LGBT Committee to work with the National Disabled Members Committee to:

1.Publicise the report and encourage members to engage in dialogue and public events called to discuss the issues raised;

2.Continue to publicise and encourage the reporting of hate crime, bearing in mind the range of media necessary to reach all who may be affected.