Online abuse of people with disabilities increases by more than 50 percent during lockdown | UK news

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Keri Thompson was only 24 when she was diagnosed with a rare form of muscular dystrophy.

Now 42, lifestyle and disability blogger Milton Keynes uses her online forums to raise awareness and campaign for disability rights.

But she says that when she goes online, she sometimes encounters horrific abuse.

“I was told I should have had an abortion,” Kerry explained. “I’m told I’m a drain on society, so just die fast,” Kerry explained.

She said that despite receiving “hundreds” of positive messages as well, she finds herself focusing on negative messages, which can become “mentally exhausting.”

She added, “It’s not necessary. I’m human, I’m just like everyone else. The only difference is that I’ve got a set of four wheels that make me independent.”

According to Freedom of Information data requested from 39 police forces in England and Wales by two charities Leonard Cheshire and United Response, 9,200 disability-related hate crimes were reported to police in 2020-21, both online and in person.

Of those, 44% were classified as “violent,” including assaulting or possessing a weapon, up 4.4% from the past 12 months.

But with the lockdown forcing people to stay home for most of the year, the largest increase in online abuse was observed with 981 cases, up 52% ​​in 2019-20.

However, charities suspect the number of reports does not really reflect the scale of the incidents, as many people are reluctant to go to the police, fearing they won’t be taken seriously.

With only 104 reported crimes referred to the Public Prosecution Office or resulted in an indictment in 2020-2021, it is no wonder that the number of perpetrators has increased by 88.5% compared to the previous year.

A spokesman for Leonard Cheshire and United Response said: “The stories we’ve heard indicate that many police officers do not have a good understanding of disability.

“So we’re calling for a disability liaison officer in every police force. We want the government to make reporting disability hate crimes easier as well.”

Lionel Aidan, Chief Prosecutor for London South and CBS Police Director of Hate Crimes, said: “Hate crime against people with disabilities is truly abhorrent and has a significant detrimental impact on victims and the wider community.

“The Department of Child Protection has a tremendous amount of sympathy and concern for all victims of disability hate crime, and always takes these crimes very seriously.

“We continue to work closely with the police to improve outcomes for victims and to connect with our communities to build greater trust and reassurance.”

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