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Disability hate crimes documentary

Dec 22 12:19

Its no secret hate crimes are a common occurrence among people with disabilities. Read the news in cities all over the world, and you’ll always find the same awful things - people in wheelchairs getting mugged, long-term abuse of people with disabilities by family members being revealed and sub-human things such as stealing a wheelchair right in front of the user.

Some of the worst stuff to happen however are disability hate crimes - people targeting you for the sole reason of having a disability. Yes, evil lurks.

A documentary in the works by Lancaster Documentary is set to expose this injustice that continues to purvey in societies across the world. The working title is “Twice the Violence” (some think it’s a bad name; saying it makes you think it glorifies violence). Despite the opinions on the title, the purpose of the film is wonderful, and no one can deny this is a documentary that has long been needed. In fact, I don’t think any film has yet to really do the subject of disability hate crimes justice.

In an effort to make sure they get as many important stories included in their documentary as possible, they have created this video putting out the call for YOUR story. Have you been harassed because of your disability? Have you been targeted by an attacker simply because you use a wheelchair? Then you should consider contacting the producers. The more people who are willing to share their stories, the better chance we all have of getting more attention on this critical subject.

Maybe you’re lucky and feel like no one ever tried to injure you because they didn’t like people with disabilities. I think in my own wily disability travels, it’s only happened a handful of times, but it was never criminal. It’s been mainly just people being rude, complaining about me being in the way or whatever. Punch-inducing, yes, but not necessarily a disability hate crime.

Have you experienced a disability hate crime? Do you want your story included in the documentary? Click here to watch an early trailer (and to see some familiar faces from the disability world) for Twice the Violence

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By Tiffiny Carlson

Tiffiny Carlson Disability buzz, travel, fashion and dating — fun things to amp up everyday wheeling life.

Tiffiny Carlson is freelance writer and writes the “SCI Life” column for New Mobility. She's also a C6 quad from a diving accident that occurred when she was 14 years old. A lifelong resident of Minneapolis, Tiffiny has been a writer in the disability community for over 10 years and writes for several publications and blogs, as well as her personal blog BeautyAbility. Her work has also appeared in mainstream publications such as Nerve.com and Playgirl.