Closed petition Abuse against the disabled should be treated as a hate crime

Closed on 12 July 2012

At present, racial abuse or homophobic abuse is branded as a 'hate crime' under the law and government legislation. This ensures that the police take such offences far more seriously than they do abuse of the disabled. It also ensures that many people choose other targets, such as the disabled, to vent their spleen in the knowledge that such abuse will not attract the serious interest of the law. I want the Government to draft and present to Parliament a Bill to classify abuse of the disabled as unacceptable as the abuse of black people or homosexuals.