‘Mate crime’: ridicule, hostility and targeted attacks against disabled people

Abstract

A common understanding of the term ‘hate crime’ involves opportunistic street crime and physical assault. The perpetrators do not usually have a relationship with their victims, although they may be known to live within the same neighbourhood. There are similarities between these types of targeted attacks against disabled people and people in other identity groups, such as BME communities, lesbians and gay men, transgender people. The term ‘mate crime’, is a play on the term ‘hate crime’, and refers to considered actions against disabled people at the hands of someone, or several people that the disabled person considers to be their friends, or they may be relatives. There does not seem to be a comparable set of hostile acts against the other identity groups who may be subjected to ‘hate crime’. Acts of ‘mate Crime’ are acts of cruelty, humiliation, servitude, exploitation and theft. The occurrences of cruelty and servitude indicate that what is currently being termed ‘mate crime’, has more in common with domestic violence than ‘hate crime’ which is perpetrated by people with whom there is no relationship beyond acquaintance.