Justice Committee Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Bill Written submission from the Royal National Institute for Deaf People Scotland About us 1. RNID Scotland welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Justice Committee s call for evidence Stage 1 consideration of the Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Bill. 2. RNID Scotland is the largest charity working to change the world for the 758,000 deaf and hard of hearing people in Scotland. RNID Scotland s vision is a world where deafness and hearing loss do not limit or determine opportunity and where people value their hearing. We aim to achieve this vision by campaigning and lobbying, with the help of our members, raising awareness of deafness and hearing loss, providing services and through social, medical and technical research. 3. Our submission focuses on issues of particular relevance to deaf and hard of hearing adults and children. Deafness and hearing loss 4. It is estimated that 1 in 7 of the general population has some degree of hearing loss. There are many reasons why some people are deaf or hard of hearing. The most common is age-related deafness with more than 50% of people over the age of 60 having some hearing loss. Other people may lose their hearing because of exposure to noise at work or because of prolonged and repeated exposure to loud music. Deafness can be congenital with 2.6 in every 1,000 born with a significant hearing loss, and many more born with mild to moderate hearing loss. There are also some conditions such as damage to the eardrum or inflammation in the middle that cause deafness. There is also a broad spectrum of levels of hearing loss ranging from people with mild deafness to people who are profoundly deaf. 5. Depending on their level of deafness and on when they became deaf or hard of hearing, deaf and hard of hearing people use a range of methods to communicate. Between 5-6,000 deaf people in Scotland use British Sign Language (BSL) as their preferred or first language; around 25% deaf and hard of hearing people rely on lip reading, others use note takers or rely on equipment such as hearing aids; and some use a combination of these. For those who use BSL as a first language, often English is a second language and access to written English can be challenging. 1
Hate crime 6. Hate crime against disabled people happens when the perpetrator of the offence is motivated by their prejudice towards disabled people. 7. RNID Scotland welcome Patrick Harvie MSP s Private Members Bill on Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland). The Bill was preceded by the 2003 Working Group on Hate Crime and RNID Scotland responded to the Working Group consultation. We welcome the inclusion of legislation on hate crimes in the SNP Government s manifesto 1. We are also pleased that the Scottish Ministers agree with the Working Group recommendations and support legislation which will give effect to it 2. We support the principles in the Bill to create new statutory aggravations to protect victims of crime who are targeted as a result of hatred of their actual or presumed disability and this may lead to a longer custodial sentence or higher fine or a different type of disposal than otherwise would be the case. 8. We further welcome the Bill because it brings it in line with existing legislation in particular with Section 96 of the Crime and Disorder Act (Scotland) 1998 which makes provision for offences that are racially aggravated ( racial hatred ) and section 74 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 which makes provision for the statutory aggravation of an offence by religious prejudice ( religious hatred ). It also brings it in line with existing legislation in England, namely with section 146 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. 9. The law in England protects disabled people from hate crime by ensuring that it is recorded as an additional, aggravating factor by police and by requiring courts to give criminals tougher sentences where there is an element of disability hate crime in their offence 3. In England, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has made the fight against disability hate crime a priority. They have issued a policy statement 4 and guidelines which state that the police, the criminal courts, magistrates and judges all have roles to play in promoting greater confidence of disabled people in the criminal justice system. We work with the police and other colleagues in the criminal justice system, both locally and nationally, to help us improve our understanding of disability hate crime to ensure that the whole criminal justice process brings perpetrators of disability hate crime to justice. 10. RNID Scotland hope that the Committee and the Scottish Parliament pass this Bill is which will send out a strong message that hate crimes against people because of their disability is unacceptable in 21 st century Scotland. 1 SNP Manifesto (2007) Promoting Equality in Scotland Expand hate crime legislation to protect disabled people, and people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community, as recommended by the Working Group on Hate Crimes set up by the Scottish Executive (p.66). 2 PQ S3W-08323. 3 Section 146 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. 4 Crown Prosecution Service (2007) Disability Hate Crime: Policy for Prosecuting Cases of Disability Hate Crime available at http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/prosecution/disability.html 2
We would also like to see a code of practice or guidance published to support implementation of the Bill. Central to the code of practice or guidance should be actions to ensure that deaf and hard of hearing people can report crime and access the judicial system on an equal footing with the non-disabled population. The following evidence gives examples of some of the barriers that deaf and hard of hearing people experience and examples of good practice. We would like these to be taken into account when writing the code of practice or guidance. Deaf and hard of hearing people and hate crime 11. Disabled people are more likely to be victims of hate crime. A 2004 survey by the Disability Rights Commission and Capability Scotland 5 found that 47% of respondents had been attacked or frightened by someone because of their impairment. One in five had suffered an attack at least once a week. Of those who were attacked, 35% were physically assaulted, 15% were spat at and 18% had something stolen. Hate crime had a particular impact on the victims. One third avoided certain places and one quarter had moved house as a result of an attack. 12. Deaf and hard of hearing people are also more likely to be victims of hate crime. An RNID survey of our members found that 14% of respondents in Scotland said that they had been a victim of physical or verbal assault because of their deafness or hearing loss 6. Deaf and hard of hearing people are victims of a wide range of crimes, from name calling through having tyres slashed to grievous bodily harm. 13. In this context, disability-related crime creates an environment where deaf and hard of hearing people and their relatives and friends feel unsafe and unable to enjoy life to the full. Living in a climate where abusive behaviour occurs instils a fear in disabled people which may prevent them from leaving their home, particularly in the evening. Only 34% of the respondents to the RNID s Annual Membership Survey who live in Scotland said that they felt safe when walking around their neighbourhood during the night 7. The case studies below illustrate that deaf and hard of hearing people are the target of hate crime. Case study 1: A deaf young man became homeless and was housed in a hostel. He was placed in a ground floor room in a hostel (which made it easier to break into) where he shared facilities with other people. Because people knew that he could not hear them, the man experienced a string of robberies when he was asleep. Case study 2: A deafblind woman who uses a mobility cane to get around has had to stop her daily walks in the park after a group of young people repeatedly attacked her, taking away her mobility cane. Without her 5 Disability Rights Commission and Capability Scotland (2004) Hate Crime against Disabled People in Scotland: A survey report. 6 RNID (2006) Annual Membership Survey 7 RNID (2006) Op Cit. 3
mobility cane the woman cannot move around safely and her impairment makes it very difficult for her to ask for help. 14. Victims of hate crime can include people associated with deaf and hard of hearing people. Hearing people such as carers, friends and family who are associated with the deaf person, for example because they use sign language, can become victims too. In 2006, the BBC s See Hear programme 8 showed a deaf family in Bristol who were victims of a series of crimes related to their deafness. There is anecdotal evidence that hearing members of families with a deaf person may fall victim to crimes because their relative is deaf. These people, especially where it concerns children, need protection too. 15. We welcome the inclusion in the Exploratory Notes to the Bill that aggravation can be applied even in cases where the malice or ill-will is expressed towards a wider group as a whole, without the need for a specific or individual victim to have been identified for example, where a building used by disability organisations is vandalised or daubed with graffiti that suggests prejudice against those with a disability 9. This ensures that people associated with people with disabilities are protected too. Reporting hate crime 16. It is generally agreed that around 60% of all crimes affecting the general population are unreported 10. However, deaf and hard of hearing people are even less likely to report crimes against them because some find it difficult to access police services. For example, police stations may struggle to find interpreters at short notice when deaf people who use BSL as a first language want to report a crime. As a young deaf man who tried to report a crime at his local police station recalls: I had to wait for an interpreter at the police station from 4.30pm to 10pm and in the end, I was tired 11. Also, police officers may not be trained in deaf awareness and therefore may not be aware of how to communicate with deaf and hard of hearing people. Good practice would include police officers facing someone reporting a crime who relies on lip reading, speaking clearly but not too loudly or slowly, and using plain English. 17. There are initiatives such as Police Link Officers for Deaf People (PLOD) in Hampshire 12, Westminster and Barnet, whereby police actively reach out to deaf community and can communicate using sign language. Similarly, deaf or hard of hearing people who live in Tayside can now alert 8 BBC See Hear programme, 10/06/06 9 Exploratory notes to the Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Bill, note on Subsection (2) 10 Scope (2008) Getting Away with Murder: Disabled People s experiences of hate crime in the UK available at http://www.scie-socialcareonline.org.uk/profile.asp?guid=f7c083de-0705-4518-a7fe-ca741703afc6 11 Deaf young man speaking at a peer support event organised at Donaldson s school for the deaf on 24/6/08. 12 Further information on the Hampshire PLOD is available at http://www.hampshire.police.uk/internet/advice/plod.htm 4
the police to emergencies using a text message 13. RNID Scotland would welcome the expansion of such schemes throughout Scotland. 18. It is very important that deaf and hard of hearing people are made aware of the new provisions in law if this Bill is passed and that they are encouraged to report crimes. RNID Scotland recommends that all awareness-raising publications used by the criminal justice system are published in a BSL version on DVD as well as online. Publications should also be written in plain English for deaf people whose first language is BSL and for whom access to written English may be challenging. Deaf and hard of hearing people and justice 19. Deaf and hard of hearing people experience a number of barriers to accessing legal advice and justice. An RNID / Citizens Advice Bureau report on Equality of Access to Advice and Information for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People 14 revealed that deaf cases take an average of four times longer than other cases to resolve because of their complexity. Although BSL interpreters are usually made available to deaf and hard of hearing victims as well as defendants, Equality before the Law 15, a research report into the use of interpreters in the (predominantly criminal) justice system highlighted the need to equip interpreters with skills to work in a legal setting and to raise awareness in the legal sector of the role of interpreters. 20. Deaf people must be able to use the courts whether they are victims, defendants or witnesses. RNID Scotland welcomes the Scottish Court Service s Disability Equality Scheme and Action Plan 2006-2009 16 that illustrates how the Scottish Court Service intends to promote equality for disabled court users and members of staff. Good practice would include extending the availability of loop induction systems in courtrooms; promoting the availability of RNID Typetalk facility; training for criminal court sign language interpreters and users to assist them in understanding the criminal court process; monitoring the use of BSL interpreters; and training all legal professionals in deaf awareness. 21. Once communication support is in place, ongoing checks and reviews are necessary. For example, loop induction systems must be tested regularly to make sure they still work. As part of RNID s research in England 17, we randomly called courts and found that of the 70 courts called, 61 said they had an induction loop however it was difficult to establish whether this was in the reception area only or also in the court room. When we asked whether they were working, only half of the 44 courts could say yes. 13 BBC News, Police set up text message scheme, 11/08/08 available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7554363.stm 14 Williamson Consulting (2007) RNID / CAB Advice Project: Evaluation Report. 15 M. Brennan and R. Brown (2004) Equality before the law: Deaf People s Access to Justice. 16 Scottish Court Service (2006) Scottish Court Service Disability Equality Scheme and Action Plan 2006-2009. 17 RNID s survey was carried out in England in April 2007. 5
22. Disability related crimes may never reach trial in the first place. The report Getting Away with Murder: Disabled People s experiences of the Hate Crime in the UK 18 highlights that in 2007/8, 42 disability-related cases in England never even reached trial. One of the reasons for this was the view that the victim was considered to be an unreliable witness. The report also points to sentencing inequalities and shows that comparisons with sentencing for crimes against minority groups reveal that those motivated by religious, racial and homophobic hatred are more likely to be recognised as such and are therefore punished more harshly than crimes against disabled people. 23. Clearly there are issues in the criminal justice system that appear to create barriers for people with disabilities to get justice. However, RNID Scotland believes that this Private Members Bill sends out a strong message to people with disabilities that hate crime against them is unacceptable and is taken seriously in Scotland. We hope that if the Bill is passed, the criminal justice system should look again at access for people with disabilities to ensure that people are properly supported in reporting hate crimes throughout the whole legal process. RNID Scotland will be happy to work with the criminal justice system to make this happen. Conclusion 6. RNID Scotland welcomes the Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Bill. We recommend that a code of practice or guidance should be published taking into account the issues facing deaf and hard of hearing people and hate crime. Deaf and hard of hearing people are more likely to be victims of hate crime and they are victims of a wide range of crimes which creates an environment where they and their relatives and friends feel unsafe and unable to enjoy life to the full. RNID s vision is of a fully inclusive society and in this context, hate crime against deaf and hard of hearing people is unacceptable. We hope that the criminal justice system will look again at access for deaf and hard of hearing people and support them adequately through the whole legal process. 7. Our response has been endorsed by the National Deaf Children s Society (NDCS). Florence Edmond Policy and Research Officer 18 Scope (2008) Getting Away with Murder: Disabled people s experiences of hate crime in the UK. 6