Disability hate crimes on the rise in Dorset
The Leonard Cheshire charity is concerned victims are being overlooked.
A report from the disability charity has found that Dorset Police dealt with 97 disability hate crimes in 2019/20 - that's a 12% rise on the previous year.
Someone was charged in connection with an incident in just TWO of those cases.
The figures from Leonard Cheshire also found just over half of the incidents in Dorset (54.6%) involved violence.
The level of online hate crimes has risen by 22.2%.
ALICE'S STORY
One mum has been sharing her experiences of disability hate crime and the effect it's had on her family.
Alice has children with autism and says the abuse they get has led to sleepless nights:
"We've felt threatened, not safe in our own home. My children haven't been able to play in their back garden now for more than a year, because they're too frightened.
"(We've had people) scaring my children with lights at night, shining them into the windows, banging on the door and shouting over the fence. We've had social services on the door with false allegations. I can't sleep at night, I'm worrying constantly about who's going to turn up at the door, are they going to be reporting me to someone, are they going to be shouting at me when I go out?"
A spokesperson for Leonard Cheshire, working alongside learning disability charity United Response, said:
"As this abhorrent crime continues to rise year on year, it's time for the authorities, Government and online platforms to start taking this damaging behaviour more seriously. Offenders must face appropriate repercussions and be educated on the impact of their cowardly acts, while increased funding for advocacy services is also urgently needed.
"Victims need to have better access to support across the entire reporting, investigative and judicial process. This is the only way to make victims feel safe and confident in reporting these crimes to the police, helping lead to more concrete charges and ultimately convictions.
"With online hate crime showing no signs of slowing down, provisions also need to be made to make the internet a less threatening place for disabled people with effective monitoring and recording of hateful activity. Disabled people must also be involved in the development of digital strategies to help ensure this type of damaging behaviour doesn't slip through the cracks."