New Campaign to Raise Awareness of Disabled Harrassment Launched

A new campaign designed to combat harrassment and bullying of disabled people in Dorset is to be launched county-wide tomorrow (Friday 22nd February 2013).

The campaign is a response to concerns that many disabled people are not reporting incidents for a variety of reasons, not least that they feel the subject may not be taken seriously enough.

The campaign, called "Speak Out" has been designed by students at Bournemouth and Poole college to give disabled people the confidence to report incidents and to provide support and advice to victims.

Councillor Lawrence Williams, Cabinet Member for Corporate Policy and Implementation, Bournemouth Borough Council, said: "Many people are shocked to hear that disabled people are victims of bullying and harassment. It is great to see local students from Bournemouth and Poole College wanting to help tackle this important issue and support disabled people across Dorset."   

Councillor Judy Butt, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Communities, Public Engagement and Participation, Borough of Poole, said: "Disabled people must never feel that they should have to tolerate verbal abuse, bullying or harassment. We are confident that the excellent 'Speak Out' campaign will make people aware that disability related harassment is never acceptable."

Detective Superintendent Garrick Smith of Dorset Police, said: "No one needs to suffer in silence. Every day, victims of racial, homophobic and other hate crime contact Dorset Police and we take these reports very seriously – I urge anyone who is the victim of disability related hate crime to report it.

"Victims do not have to report the incident directly to Dorset Police, they can report all incidents of hate crime by logging on to the Dorset Police website, or their local authority website. They can also choose to use a third party to report the crime or incident and there are links on our website for this."