Campaign to target disabled hate crime

Council chiefs are concerned that there were only 16 instances taken to police last year, even though anecdotal evidence suggests the problem is more widespread.

The new initiative aims to raise awareness among the general public but also encourage those who suffer verbal or physical abuse because of their disability to report it.

It is estimated that hate crimes against disabled people account for around one per cent of all police calls, a figure experts are convinced is disproportionate.

Organisers said a lack of faith in the justice system was one reason people failed to involve authorities, a mindset they also hope to alter.

Another objective is to force hate crime against the disabled further up the agenda alongside discrimination on grounds of race and sexuality.

The project will see posters put up with the slogan: "I'm disabled, deal with it."

Councillor Paul Edie, the chairman of Edinburgh Community Safety Partnership, said a scheme to involve a volunteer taking the complaint forward on a disabled person's behalf could improve the situation.

"The under-reporting of hate crimes against the disabled community is a great concern to us," he said. "This is why we recognise the value of the remote reporting scheme.

"Hate crimes are very real and affect the lives of Edinburgh citizens every day. We will not tolerate this sort of behaviour."

The remote service, which involves public sector agencies, can also allow people to report hate crime anonymously.

Police and city organisation ECAS, which supports disabled people and their carers, are included in the strategy.

ECAS chief executive David Griffiths said: "I know many people with disabilities who have not reported crimes in the past because they feel that nothing will be done.

"I know from experience that times have changed. I am convinced that the authorities are taking this issue seriously."

Superintendent Ivor Marshall, of Lothian and Borders Police, insisted the force takes the matter extremely seriously.

'Some people are too scared to go outside'

VERBAL assaults and threats against disabled people are commonplace in the Lothians, according to one long-suffering victim.

The 42-year-old said teenagers were the worst for the "hate crimes" and that it could be attributed to immaturity as much as anything else.

The St Leonard's woman, who suffers from a rare condition similar to Cerebral Palsy, said some she had spoken to were too scared to leave the house after attacks.

She has been threatened with knives and subjected to verbal sexual assaults on her doorstep. She said: "It's a horrible thing to happen. I know I am targeted because of the way I look, and because I've got an unusual gait.

"You've got no back-up, there's no-one you can call when it's happening. But I always call police afterwards.

"I speak to a lot of disabled people who don't report it, they find it embarrassing, and some are too scared to go out or use public transport."