A matter of focus

Following the verdict in the inquest into the death of Fiona Pilkington and her daughter, I wrote in my blog that, while there appeared to be outrage a-plenty, what was missing was any sense of real anger.

The fact that this woman with her two disabled children was living in their community was entirely as it should be. The fact that others living in that community openly challenged their right to do so is not acceptable. The fact that this naked prejudice led to two people being harassed to death really ought to beggar belief. The fact that Ms Pilkington’s attempts to have something done went largely unheeded and the actions of the perpetrators unpunished should be a matter of nothing less than shame for those charged with the protection of individuals and the community.

To compound the injustice, after the event, representatives of charities who really ought to know better and politicians (who probably never will) held forth on the iniquity of “vulnerable people” being targeted and drawing parallels with incidents of bullying. Disablist bullying is reprehensible, but this was harassment on an altogether different scale. The attacks were not motivated by the family’s vulnerability because the family members were not innately vulnerable. In other circumstances, in another place they might have lived full and happy lives as integrated members of the community. It was the prejudice and hatred in the minds and attitudes of the perpetrators which caused them to do what they did. To major on the families “vulnerability” is to put the focus, if not actually the blame for what happened on them instead of on the people who committed the crime which is where the focus and the blame absolutely belong.

This was a disability hate crime. It’s sad but likely that it will never be prosecuted as such.