Disability Hate Crime: Perspectives for Change

Bringing together perspectives from academics, practitioners, campaigners, and activists, this book explores the victimology of disability hate crime (DHC).

For the first time, this book brings together recent academic thought, the stance of those working for the United Nations to further the rights of disabled people, and a helpful toolkit on how to advance the status of the disabled victim of hate crime.

Campaigners, support workers, and legal scholars present a tangential approach to revealing the plight of disabled victims and their associates. The book will reveal the expertise required to understand experiences of victimisation and how to help reconstruct the lives of those affected by this type of violence. Never before has a book produced such a nuanced and multidisciplinary approach to discussing disability hate crime.

This volume will be useful not only for those academically interested in how disability hate crime is perpetrated but also for scholars who wish to study how to raise awareness and lobby for change. It is essential reading for those engaged with hate studies, victimology, disability, and vulnerable communities, as well as practitioners and campaigners.

Leah Burch is a senior lecturer in the School of Social Science at Liverpool Hope University. Leah is a member of the British Society of Criminology Hate Crime Network, where she co-leads postgraduate and early career researcher events. Leah has also published in numerous learning journals on the topic of disability hate crimes and affect theory.

David Wilkin is a self-funded campaigner, activist, and supporter of victims of disability hate crime. David, as an academic, is an Honorary Fellow at the University of Leicester, an Associate Lecturer at the Open University, and a member of the British Society of Criminology Hate Crime Network, where he co-leads postgraduate and early career researcher events. In 2022, David also co-directed the world’s first international conference on disability hate.