Disability Hate Speech and Everyday Life

Burch, Leah (2025) Disability Hate Speech and Everyday Life. In: The Routledge Handbook of Disability, Crime, and Justice. Routledge, Abingdon. ISBN 9781032391731

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Abstract

This chapter considers the ordinariness of disability hate speech for many disabled people. Although offensive and unwanted, these incidents can become anticipated encounters within disabled people’s everyday routines. Despite this, they are very rarely reported, and there is no specific policy in England and Wales to prosecute against this. The chapter draws upon data generated as part of a broader qualitative research project exploring disability hate crime. By drawing upon the experiences of disabled people, the chapter explores the nature of disability hate speech and the impacts that this can have. These impacts are presented to be wide ranging, shaping how disabled people come to see themselves as belonging within certain spaces, their own identity construction, and their everyday routines and decisions. By presenting the nature and impacts of disability hate speech, this chapter argues for greater dialogue that includes disabled people and a stronger policy response that reflects the targeted nature and harmful impacts of disability hate speech.

Item Type:	Book Section
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Education and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences
SWORD Depositor:	RISE Symplectic
Depositing User:	RISE Symplectic
Date Deposited:	22 May 2026 15:12
Last Modified:	22 May 2026 15:12
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/4922

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