London Reports High Incidence of Abuse of Disabled Persons

A report of high incidence of abuse against disabled people in London was presented by the city's mayor, Ken Livingstone during the Mayor's Disability Capital Conference held in early December. A survey of disabled Londoners found that nearly 50% had sustained verbal or physical abuse such as bullying.

The findings were based on about 500 questionnaires returned so far, citing such incidences as being told to get off buses. One respondent stated that a dog had been permitted to bite him because he was in a wheelchair. The Mayor discussed plans to have the police tackle this type of violence in the same way attacks on ethnic or religious or sexual identity minorities have been addressed. An article about the study and the Mayor's conference is available online at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3316903.stm.

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