Dorset charity plays crucial role in tackling disability hate crime (From Dorset Echo)
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Dorset charity plays crucial role in tackling disability hate crime
3:00pm Monday 4th March 2013 in News By James Tourgout
ACTION: Jonathan Waddington-Jones, chief executive of Access Dorset
A DORSET charity has played a crucial role in a national initiative to tackle disability hate crime nationwide.
The report by Access Dorset was officially launched by the minister for disabled people, Esther McVey.
Now its findings have been published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The research brings together case studies from around the country about approaches taken by Disabled Peoples User Led Organisations (DPULOs) in tackling hate crime.
The Dorset charity’s report DPULOs Making A Difference: Disability Hate Crime is being sent to every police force and crime commissioner in the country.
Jonathan Waddington-Jones, chief executive of Access Dorset, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen to lead on this important work that affects so many disabled people – including many in Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole.
“We are very pleased to be working with Dorset Police and the local councils towards implementing the learning from the study in Dorset and we recently presented the report to the new police and crime commissioner.”
The document can be found in various formats – including “easy read” and Welsh – on the Office For Disability Issues (ODI) website.
Access Dorset is a partnership of 17 disabled and older people’s organisations in the county.
Its report has highlighted how important it is for police forces and councils to work in partnership with disabled people’s organisations to increase confidence in reporting.
Earlier this year a survey by Access Dorset highlighted that 40 per cent of disabled and older people in Dorset have experienced harassment or hate crime, but very few report it.
Recommendations include establishing independent reporting centres, offering more support to people affected. It also suggested regular briefings between councils, police and user-led organisations to ensure disability hate crime is always on the radar. Another recommendation was to involve disabled and older people in in-house training.
Visit odi.dwp.gov.uk and accessdorset.org.uk for more details.
Comments(2)
rogace
says...
7:52am Tue 5 Mar 13
it would be rather interesting to see now had the boy lived whether the rhetoric from downing st and IDS in particular about the disabled problem and benefits reform would be right now ?
hmm rather different imho
rogace says...
7:46am Tue 5 Mar 13
due to this governments current stance that the disabled are a ''problem'' - which was a recent top ministers own quote take note the Nazis saw the Jews were a problem not long ago, remember.
then it is no wonder that disabled people are either seen as Olympic medal winners or benefit scroungers that which is totally distressful and nasty which has led to hate.
because of the negative waves emanating from HM government AND some of the main media the disabled cause has been put back 30 years with language and stories they use.
remember the banks caused the finance deficit NOT disabled people.
i hope this campaign starts to help.