In September 2011 the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) had published “Hidden in plain sight: Inquiry into disability-related harassment”. The report had uncovered that harassment is a commonplace experience for disabled people but a culture of disbelief and systemic institutional failures are preventing it from being tackled effectively.
In July 2012 the government had published its response. Included in this response, was the rejection, by the Department for Education (DfE), of the EHRC recommendation that primary research is needed in order to better understand how segregated education affects attitudes towards disabled people. At the time, we had expressed our astonishment at this by reporting: “We struggle to understand how the DfE can support segregated education without knowing, and without being willing to find out, its full impact on the future life chances of disabled young people.”
Today, 22 October, the EHRC has published its follow-up report “Out in the open: Tackling disability-related harassment. A manifesto for change”. This summarises the formal responses received from relevant organisations and sets out the EHRC’s final recommendations for local and national governments, as well as for police, transport, health and education authorities.
Having looked at the number of disability hate crimes recorded by police forces in England and Wales, and compared this with information from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, the report states that 2011 saw a very sharp increase (24.1%) on the number of disability hate crimes recorded by the police and that disability was the only equality strand to have seen an increase in the police recording of hate crimes. It is not yet clear if this is because more disabled people are being harassed or because more people feel able to report incidents of harassment. What is clear, however, is that there seems to be some kind of “postcode lottery” in recording patterns, with 255 incidents being recorded in one authority and just a handful in others. The report concludes that “some police forces are simply not trying hard enough to encourage disabled people to report these incidents or to take them seriously when they do.”
The report also picked up on the contradiction between the positive reporting on disability surrounding the 2012 Paralympics, and the day-to-day reality for many disabled people, often labelled as scroungers or benefit cheats or ‘not trying hard enough’.
We are particularly pleased to see that the EHRC has challenged the DfE’s rejection of the recommendation for more research on the long-term impact of segregated schooling. The DfE had made the point that quality of provision, rather than setting, is what matters. The EHRC, however, has reiterated that setting may also be important and that separating disabled children from their peers at an early stage may have an adverse long-term impact. This should be investigated, insists the EHRC, and the call for more research is included among the final recommendations of this report: “The Department for Education and devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales should review existing evidence on the extent to which segregated education (or inadequately supported integrated education) affects the ability of disabled children to be included within mainstream society. They should also consider evidence on the extent to which segregation adversely affects non-disabled people’s views of disability and disabled people. Where sufficient primary evidence is unavailable, they should consider commissioning new research.”
Other education-related recommendations include the suggestion that “Schools and colleges should develop material for helping students understand disabled people and the social model of disability, and the prejudice that disabled people face within society” and that “Schools and colleges should ensure disabled pupils and those [categorised as having] special educational needs (SEN) are able to participate in all school/college and after-school/college activities on an equal basis with non-disabled pupils”. The DfE had already accepted both these in its July 2012 response, citing the Equality Act 2010 and the schools’ duty to make reasonable adjustments so that disabled children are not discriminated against by being prevented from participating in school activities.
CSIE welcomes these recommendations, particularly the call for research into the long-term impact of segregated schooling, and looks forward to seeing how the DfE will respond. The EHRC has said it will publish a report in September 2013 on the initial response by authorities to its final recommendations. Further follow up reports are expected in September 2015 and September 2017.
