Let’s Stop Disability Hate Crime: A guide for disabled people

Hopefully, only a few people will be the victim of crime at some point during their life. If you are the victim of a crime, at any time, it is important that you report it. You should also consider whether the crime is a disability hate crime.

Recognising that a crime is a disability hate crime can be difficult:

• What does hate mean?
• Was what happened hate?

Connecting hate with why a crime took place can be complicated. A disabled person might not think that being bullied, harassed, abused, shouted at, taken advantage of, or picked on because they are disabled is a hate crime. In spite of this the law might view them as hate crimes if they meet the definition.

In this guidance we are focusing on the Police and Crown Prosecution Services agreed definition of hate crime to give people a better understanding of how the law works.