#ImWithSam

Date: 11/10/2016

Learning Disability England welcomes and supports the launch of the Dimensions campaign #ImWithSam.

#ImWithSam is about tackling Hate Crime that people with learning disabilities experience every day.  Hate Crime is:

  • Verbal abuse
  • Physical abuse
  • Theft
  • Intimidation
  • Property damage
  • Someone (you do or do not know) getting you to do something you don’t want to do

73% of people with learning disabilities and autism have experienced hate crime.Too many people with learning disabilities suffer hate crime simply because of their disability. Sam could be me or you, Sam could be your child, your sibling, your parent. Sam could be the person you care for, your colleague, your friend.Gary Bourlet, Co-Founder of Learning Disability England says ‘enough is enough – we need to end hate crime’.What the campaign wants to see:

  • Separate disability hate statistics for learning disability, autism and other disabilities.
  • A change in the law to make disability hate a crime online too.
  • The Department of Education to adapt resources to better support all primary and secondary schools with positive messages around difference.
  • Manufacturers to incorporate greater learning disability sensitivity into toys, games and other children’s entertainment.
  • The Department of Health to develop simple guidance to help families and support workers identify and manage cases of hate crime.
  • The Crown Prosecution Service to improve investigation protocols within the criminal justice system in situations where there is a learning disabled victim.
  • The Home Office to improve resources and training for police officers and others to help them when receiving a report of hate crime from a person with a learning disability or autism, including funding self-advocates to provide specialist victim support.
  • Together, we and our campaign partners, will evaluate the effectiveness of new coercive behaviour legislation on people with learning disabilities or autism, leading to specific change recommendations and/or a green paper recommendation on stronger legislation to protect  people from mate crime.

Learning Disability England will support Dimensions to achieve these aims by working with Dimensions and other partners to help the organisations responsible put these things in place.Simon Cramp, self-advocate and Lifetime Member of Learning Disability England says:“My main recollection of school life was being bewildered and bullied. I want to live in a society where it is unacceptable for the strong to belittle, bully and pick on the less able, and we must each of us stand up to those bullies.The law is there to protect all citizens but the implementation is key. The #ImWithSam campaign says how we can do this and we should all support it.”To find out more about the campaign click here.