Attacked for just being different
TARGETED: THE TRUTH ABOUT DISABILITY HATE CRIME
BBC2, 9pm
“IT is very rare you can be in the public eye without someone pointing, laughing, staring, shouting or name calling.”
Andrea has dwarfism and is routinely treated with contempt, with people taking photos of her and hurling vile verbal abuse.
She’s had cigarette ash flicked at her, had her legs kicked out from under her and was once kicked in the head after a man was dared to do it by his mate.
Sadly, disability hate crime is extremely common. There are 14million disabled people in Britain and last year police recorded over 8000 disability hate crimes.
And these were just the incidents that were reported. Many disabled people face abuse and aggression as a part of everyday life.
This is a shocking and thoughtprovoking film, featuring horrific and sad personal testimony from a wide range of people.
Among them is Hannah, a young nursing assistant with cerebral palsy that mainly affects her walking.
She tells how a man in a nightclub attacked her, asking “why’s she walking like that?” before throwing a drink and punching her sister.
She says: “I think when some people see difference, it scares them.
“They don’t understand the unknown. So they poke fun at it.”
Meanwhile, Ailsa – a nurse before a road traffic accident left her needing to use a wheelchair – was the victim of a vicious campaign of harassment from neighbours that eventually forced her to move.
She says: “I don’t understand it. Just because we are different.
“The only conclusion I’m left with is that I didn’t fit in.”