I wish these words never had to be
written. I wish this was not an issue, because I want to believe the world I
live in would find such acts too heinous to be committed. But such things
happen, and leaving these words unwritten will only allow them to continue. Governor
Andrew Cuomo of New York recently established a new hotline dedicated to
reporting abuse and maltreatment of people with disabilities. The hotline
registered 5000 calls in 3 weeks. I hope you are disturbed, disgusted, and
outraged about the prevalence of abuse in our community, but please don't say
you are shocked. To be shocked would be to also be unaware of our society’s
history of oppression towards the millions of people with disabilities across
the globe. In fact, these kinds of acts are all too commonplace. According to a
National Crime Victimization Survey by the Department of Justice, “Adjusting for the varied age distributions of persons with and without
disabilities, the violent crime rate against persons with disabilities was 40
violent crimes per 1,000 persons age 12 or older, which was double the violent
crime rate for persons with- out disabilities (20 per 1,000)” (Harrell and
Rand, 2008).
This unsettling
trend has to stop. We people with disabilities are more vulnerable to abuse and
neglect for a number of reasons, including the fact that we face
discrimination, are more likely to be isolated, and sometimes rely on others to
provide basic needs such as dressing, bathing and eating. Admitting that we are
members of a vulnerable population does not mean calling ourselves weaker,
passive, or “less than”. It does not make me or you any less of an advocate. It
simply means acknowledging the challenges ahead of our population so we can
work together with our allies to best meet them. Abuse of people with
disabilities is sometimes and often times insidious. It might be physical, it
might be verbal, or it might be emotional. It doesn't always look like what you
see on TV, or should I say don't see on TV because the media is quiet about these
things, It is taking a device like a wheelchair away, it is making someone feel
like they don't deserve to go to the bathroom. It is letting someone who needs
help lie in bed for hours. It is all those similar incidents that go
unreported. It can happen at the hands of a family member, a friend, a
healthcare provider, or a personal care assistant, and no one should ever have
to endure it. Moreover, no cloak of
mercy, no “lack of resources”, no overt ableist attitude should ever justify
it. There are one hundred twenty six thousand people with disabilities in New
York. If our hotline received five thousand calls in three weeks, can you
imagine the staggering number that would result from a national one? This is
not about people with disabilities, about parents, about support staff. This is
about people, and knowing that if we fail a group of people, we fail all people.
To people with disabilities, educate yourself, love yourself, and never stop
believing that you deserve equal dignity and worth. To our allies, especially
those in caregiving professions, you are essential to ending this terrible
issue. Together, we can make that phone stop ringing, not because we will not
make the call, but because we don’t need to. Speak up about why the indignities
must end, or you will be choked by your silence.
Please read the following document about
abuse among people with disabilities here. If you need to report abuse, click here for cases in New York State.
References
Harrell, E. & Rand, Micheal. (2008). "Crimes against people with disabilities." United States Department of Justice. Retrieved from http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/capd08.pdf.
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