Disability Discrimination, the abuse we are too ashamed to talk about
Tags: UK, Disability, Discrimination, Covid 19, Hate

When the issues of hate crimes and discrimination are discussed race, religion and sexuality are automatically mentioned within the context of prejudice. However, hate and discrimination experienced by those with disabilities is not. To better understand these issues I interviewed Marc who has Spina Bifida and from this discussion it became very clear to me that discrimination of those with disabilities isn’t lessened by its exclusion from public discourse and that without addressing the hate that Marc and so many others have experienced, any solutions of reaching a more compassionate society are silenced as well.

Marc’s Spina Bifida affects the neurons in his lower spine, as a result he has mobility problems, muscle wastage in lower legs and he is technically incontinent as a result of this he has a stoma. Due to pain and low stamina, caused by Spina Bifida, Marc uses a walking stick or a wheelchair for mobility.

Marc has experienced hate crimes, his whole life, his first memory of discrimination was as early as a 5 years old when he was rejected from different preschools as he was still in nappies. Any discrimination Marc endured as an infant only worsened throughout school. When he went to visit his local primary school the head teacher turned around to his parents and him, and said “I don’t want a cripple in my school!” Instead Marc had to attend a school further away with a disability unit. During his time at school people were only just beginning to realise that physical disabilities didn’t mean you were also mentally disabled and many staff at his school didn’t deem it worth putting effort into educating him. The head of the disability unit at his school advocated for him to attend the mainstream school as he was highly intelligent and academically capable. However, being in the mainstream school only led to more hate fueled discrimination. From there Marc went to secondary school which was “hell,” Marc’s disturbing account of the hate he experienced as a person with disabilities in secondary school was deeply troubling. The P.E teacher at his school, would make him run around the field in front of all the other boys to humiliate him, despite his mum sending in letters saying he was exempt from certain physical activities. The P.E teacher would sadistically set him challenges such as running 500m in three seconds and would send him off to take P.E with the girls as he wasn’t “a real boy.” This abuse carried on when Marc was in English lessons, his English teacher would throw dirty looks anytime Marc made a comment, refusing to acknowledge any contribution he made. She would also stand behind him and sniff really loudly and tell him she thinks he should go to the loo, making it out as though he had had an accident. The torment and bullying Marc experienced by both teachers and his classmates caused Marc to try and take his own life when he was 16.

This hate and discrimination continued into his work place. He left his teaching job because of the discrimination he received there, his colleagues would move around the photocopier room so it was inaccessible in a wheelchair. The staff room was upstairs so they gave him tea and coffee facilities in the back of the school office, which was hard to get to anyway. However, they also put the coffee on the top shelf, after him asking if they could move the coffee to a lower shelf they said no as at would be “in the way.” After constantly experiencing this daily torment and feeling like he was a burden Marc left.

Photo by alexandre saraiva carniato from Pexels

I would like to think that times would have changed however the hate has still persisted throughout Marcs whole life. In January of this year Marc was using a replacement bus service and while getting off the bus the bus driver shouted at him, “hurry up you f*cking sp*stic and get off my bus, it’s not my fault you’re a f*cking sp*stc and can’t move quickly.” Marc complained to the British Transport Police but the bus company that ran the replacement bus service refused to confirm the name of the driver, denied it ever happened and told BTP that the CCTV was off. It took 5 months for the BTP to reach an outcome of not enough evidence and they failed to keep to phone interview appointments so Marc had to contact them twice as he hadn’t heard anything. COVID-19 was given as an excuse even though it was only around for two of the five months the investigation took place. Without CCTV footage and sound, Marc said like with so many other discriminatory acts there is no point in reporting it as no one is going to believe you. Marc told me over the last few years he is increasingly facing instances of people shouting at him on the street telling him to “go die” or calling him a “cripple” and he has even been punched but feels as though reporting it is a waste of time due to poor experiences he has faced when he has.

You can see why he would feel this way, in England and Wales there has been an increase in disability hate crimes, there were 6,263 disability hate crimes were reported in 2018–19, while in 2017–18 the figure was 5,599 and in 2016–17 it was 4,079. However, fewer people are being charged or prosecuted for disability hate crimes across England and Wales. [1] It is something to note that all hate crimes are on the increase however Marc is also gay and has said he feels that the discussion of hate crimes against disabilities is excluded from these discussions and feels that there is far more stigma attached to being disabled than being gay, something he has attributed to disabilities being viewed as a burden on society.

Horrified and appalled by Marc’s accounts of abuse he has received, I looked into our government’s commitments to helping those with disabilities, I felt ashamed at what I found. The government’s commitment to upholding and enforcing its austerity measures makes it seem more and more that they are viewing welfare and social care as forms of charity seen most recently with the government voting down the continuation of free school meals. People with disabilities are some of the hardest hit by austerity measures. As a result of changes to benefits and taxes, a 2018 report by Professor Alston, a UN poverty expert, cited that since 2010, some families with disabilities are projected to lose £11,000 on average by 2021–2022, more than 30 per cent of their annual net income. The report states that the UK has “deliberately removed” welfare reform policies and replaced it with a “harsh and uncaring ethos.” When challenged at PMQs former prime minister Theresa May “disagree[d] with the report.” Which also stated that as the UK is one of the wealthiest nations in the world, its failure to put in protection for those with disabilities was in “clear violation of the country’s human rights obligations.”[2]

The government hasn’t enshrined rights in the EU Accessibility Act into UK law meaning those with disabilities are still unable to travel with ease and safety or easily access buildings or workplaces. Nor is the ‘UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities,’ enshrined in UK law. Over 10 years ago ‘The Equality and Human Rights Commission’ was set up under the ‘Equality Act 2006’, the commission has the responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of equality and non-discrimination laws in England, Scotland and Wales however it has basically no power to do this, it cannot bring enforcement action, something the equivalent bodies in the US, Australia, Belgium, Canada and New Zealand can do. [3]

I asked Marc how he thought the government was able to get away with its disregard for helping those with disabilities, and he spoke candidly of how he felt that people with disabilities are never seen as a community on par with other minority groups like the LGBTQ+ and BAME groups. He said “Perhaps this is a way of ‘disabling’ and stopping us from building an identity, and therefore coming together and fighting for our rights.” He also said that the terminology used around disabled people is dehumanising and thought instead of saying disabled person he would prefer ‘person with a disability.’ This is using people-first language and it describes what a person “has’’ rather than asserting what a person “is”.

However, Marc and I feel that the word disabled is problematic in its assumption that disabilities stop people from being “able” and instantly set up a narrative of a person with disabilities missing something or needing help. Marc said he would “love to be spoken about as differently-abled.” Furthermore, there is no word for abuse based on disability, like there are for other minority groups. Marc said “you have racist, misogynist, transphobic but what is our word? I have started to hear the term ‘able-ist’ being used but is this another way to keep us in our place and to shut up because we literally do not have a word to describe what happens to us and thus our abuse is lost by grouping us in with general terminology,” this therefore stops disability abuse being talked about separately and forcing the government to address how they could better support and provide legislation for people who are disabled.

Perhaps a reason why the government won’t pass legislation against discriminating against those with disabilities is because they have no intention of following the legislation themselves as they continue to infringe the human rights of those with disabilities.

I think one of the hardest parts having a disability for Marc has been his exclusion from society. Marc has endured malicious and violent attacks but he told me it was the constant judging from our society that has alienated him. From the tutting when he was walking too slow up the High Street, the dirty looks people would give him for parking in a disabled bay and all the discriminatory things mentioned above both personal and governmental.

It’s this pervasive assumption that he had nothing more to offer society than having a disability. However, having a disability doesn’t make you exempt from a positive contribution to society and receiving disability benefits shouldn’t be perceived as someone being a burden. Having a disability is a part of you and it isn’t something that is negative, it can however become negative through lack of support and understanding around disabilities. Marc said that having Spina Bifida has helped him be a more compassionate and empathetic person, this is something that clearly we all need. Marc said it is not about understanding all the struggles someone with disabilities face, it is about having an awareness that you don’t understand.

From talking to Marc it has made me aware of how much having a disability is a social construct perpetuated by ignorance, intolerance and impotent governmental legislation. People without disabilities need to think more about these issues and we all need to put pressure on our institutions to make changes to legislation as well as challenging these prejudices when we see them in our daily lives. Because if we start making places more accessible and be kinder to other people, we will start to bring some really incredible people into our lives as well. My hope is that if we make these changes people with disabilities will never have to go through the experiences that Marc has and is still experiencing now and that if we could eliminate these marginalising attitudes we would therefore eradicate some of the most painful experiences of having a disability, and by doing this I hopefully we see people simply as differently abled rather than disabled.

Be kind whenever possible. It’s always possible.

[1]BBC News (2019). Disability hate crime: Number of reports rising. [online] BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-49975697 [Accessed 30 Oct. 2020].

[2] Springfield, F. (2020). A Human Rights Approach to Disability Campaigning — Disability Labour. [online] Disabilitylabour.org.uk. Available at: https://disabilitylabour.org.uk/blogposts/a-human-rights-approach-to-disability-campaigning/ [Accessed 30 Oct. 2020].

‌[3]Springfield, F. (2019). UK in clear violation of Human Rights obligations — Disability Labour. [online] Disabilitylabour.org.uk. Available at: https://disabilitylabour.org.uk/blogposts/uk-in-clear-violation-of-human-rights-obligations/ [Accessed 30 Oct. 2020].