Tales of disability discrimination

Life is unfair for those with a disability. It can feel like we are badgered on all sides. Our bodies rebel against us, won't do what we say, won't be normal. The government attacks funding and benefits we need to cover the costs of our illnesses, the very money we rely on to survive. Then there are those who judge us for being disabled, for being less able or for having an illness, for being less than perfect.

Later on this week I plan to talk about human rights, specifically the human rights which apply to the disabled and long term sick. I thought to start my week of talking about human rights I would focus on one specific point.

The Right to not be discriminated against

In the current political climate you would think that it was fine to openly discriminate against those who are sick and disabled, the government does it and if they do something that makes it legal and acceptable, or so most people would think. Hearing other stories from other spoonies and disabled people there are two sides. Sometimes disability discrimination is dealt with well, swiftly and efficiently and treated as the serious matter it is. Then there are the times that it is just ignored, that a blind eye is turned to it. I want to give you an example from both extremes from my own life.

An example of the good

Last summer my parents where visiting me and along with my husband we where all looking for somewhere to eat out together. I should explain first that the town I live in has a very strict no drinking zone enforced on the streets within the town centre. This is partly to do with the large student population for half of the year and the large tourist population for the rest of it. Between May and October the police patrol most heavily for people who are drinking on the streets and if you are caught it is either an £800 on the spot fine or an immediate official police caution. As we where walking to find a place to eat I could hear a crowd of men behind us screaming and shouting loudly. It was tourist season, tourists are often loud and drunk and you either get used to it or you don't live here. These men pushed past us nearly knocking me out of my wheelchair. It was annoying but I spent most of my years as student in my wheelchair and I am used to it being knocked by drunk people so again another thing that didn't really bother me that much. I did however see one of the men had a half empty pint of beer in his hand and a police car had not long gone past us round the one way system. This is the conversation that followed:

Me: Hey mate! Put your pint under your coat in your hand or the police will fine you, just hide it!
Him: F*** off, dumb disabled b****, if your so f***ing clever then get up and walk, f*** you four wheels.

I had tried to give him a friendly warning and not only got an earful back but an earful of discrimination. The guy went past us on his way to the train station which is also a pub. He went into the pub at the train station and we continued on to the corner. My parents where disgusted and I was shaking but refusing to cry. My husband told me to ring the local police number which I did and the police very quickly appeared. I was astounded by how quick and how controlled the response was. I had informed the police that the man was also drinking on the street and that he had gone towards the train station. I gave them a description of the man and two officers disappeared while a community support officer stayed with me. One of the two officers came back and began to take a statement from me. As I was giving my statement I noticed a police van pull up outside the train station and several officers get out and they proceded to search the pub at the train station and the platform. I was later informed that an officer on the platform realised that the man they where looking for was on the train as it was pulling out. The train pulled out and was swiftly called back by station staff (being a single line with train passing points all the trains have walkietalkies and all staff have company mobiles) and the police boarded the train from all exits and the man was swiftly, relatively quietly, and efficiently apprehended under the discrimination act. Not only did he spend the last day of his holiday in a police cell rather than on a train home he also got to appear in front of magistrates the next day and recieved a nice and hefty fine.

An example of the bad

I live in social housing, in a ground floor flat. This flat is sound proofed as much as possible and even has sound proofing ceiling paper in all of the rooms. When we first moved in our upstairs neighbours where perfectly nice. The would be sociable and friendly and when we had barbeques outside they would join us. One night as we where discusing benefits they informed us how they where cheating the benefit system and how we could to and explained exactly how they where doing it. I was shocked as was my husband and we both told them that we would rather be honest. This is where things began to change. First it was a night I had friends over and we where sat in our yard and our neighbour decided to insult one of my friends. Next incident our washing line 'myseriously blew over' at the same moment our neighbours where having an arguement outside. My husband and I then went away on holiday for a couple of days as my parents had paid for us to go with them. We had a pet sitter in who rang us in distress one night because our neighbours had threatened to kill her because of 'flies in the house' that where our fault. Now where I live is in a small village outside a town, even the town is rural so the village is even more so. We also live in a small hollow in the land which makes us slightly lower down and a stream runs at the end of the road. This is all perfect for attracting midges and the midges where apparently entirely our fault. We thought nothing of it and calmed the pet sitter down and came home when we where due to and it all seemed fine. Then the neighbour began to complain that we used the doors in our house too much, she even suggested that we remove all of the doors. It was ridiculous and unreasonable. All the doors to the rooms we use in our house are moved twice a day, once in the morning to open them, once in the evening to close them. Twice a day was us using doors too much.

You may be wondering how this is a story about discrimination, I am getting to it. The threats began before christmas. 22nd december to be precise. The neighbour came and knocked at the door and my husband answered. She complained again until I appeared out of the living room door way to see what was going on, at which point I was called a 'disabled b****' and told that there would be consequences. I told her that she was noisy too and that if they wanted us to be quieter she would have to also be quieter as it wasn't fair for only one flat to put in effort while the other still had parties so loud you could hear the lyrics to the music playing (and I wouldn't have minded but it was 3am and I don't like take that but at least it wasn't a song I completely hated by them, I could sing along as it was the song that is from Stardust the film). She then threatened me again and made to come through the front door past my husband who stopped her by closing the door on her. Since then there have been several incidents of threats including one where she stood outside our front door kicking it screaming that she was going to kill 'that disabled b****' causing dents on our door, she even had a car running with someone waiting in it for her. The police have been informed of every incident and the housing association ASB officer also has been informed.

You would think this being discrimination, anti social behaviour and threatening behaviour that something would have been done right? Wrong, nothing has been done. There is supposedly never enough evidence to do anything at all. The most we get is her in a cell for the night. The night she was outside with a knife she ran and the police didn't catch her, it took a week for them to arrest her despite the fact she spent the week after that night sat outside the house spreading lies about me and my husband loudly so we could hear while we where too afraid to leave the house to stop her. I am still afraid to go out now and have what I call my alarm grenade on me at all times (simply pull the pin out and drop the alarm then run if you can). We have door and window alarms now and we have a cctv camera sat waiting to be fitted but we don't have the skills to do it ourselves. I am deathly afraid of this woman and no one has helped me. She has descriminated against me, lied about me, threatened me and nothing has been done.

Every day discrimination

 So those are the examples of the two extremes but there is a whole lot in the middle too. Frequently I am treated like my brain doesn't work just because I am in a wheelchair. From people who talk loudly and slowly at me to people who hand the money back to my husband and address my husband even if it is me who handed them the money and me who is replying. There are those people who stare at you repeatedly when they see you are in a wheelchair or on a walking stick. There are those people who refuse to believe you are disabled, an example in my case is when I use my stick to get out of my wheelchair to get into a taxi or go somewhere I can't in my wheelchair because I can walk short distances - people have actually screamed cheat and fraud and scrounger at me before in the street when seeing me do this because they assume that your legs have to be completely unusable for you to be in a chair rather than you can't walk a long way so you need one. There are hundreds of thousands of small little wrongs done to those who are disabled every day which are discriminatory and we wont be able to stop people from doing these things big or small unless we call them on it every single time. Now the guy from the first story probably doesn't like disabled people any more than he did when he was nasty to me but at least he learnt a lesson, that discrimination is not acceptable, ever.

The UN are the ones who say we have the right to live without discrimination as disabled and sick people but the only people who can enforce this really is us, the people who feel that discrimination day in and day out. Our lives are one big fight when you're disabled or sick so just make sure you win!

A reply to Poverty Cooking and Swearing Against Disableism (Diary of a Benefit Scrounger)

Sue Marsh: it has taken me until today to write a comment on this. You had me full on wailing and in tears yesterday. I wish I could show this and your previous post and have my brother read and understand them. Let me explain myself.

I am the youngest of five children. In my Family it goes girl boy girl boy girl. We have both parents still together and we where brought up in an incredibly liberal household to the point where my Dad actually ran for local councillor as a Liberal Democrat and the local Mayor who was a great family friend and always at our house was also a Lib Dem. Now the eldest of my brothers is now a Tory. He grew up in the thatcher era and he agrees with so many tory principles.

Since I was very young I had problems with my joints, I had many dislocations. Earlier this year I was finally diagnosed with a rare type of hyper-mobility which is considdered very severe and degenerative. It took until I was unable to walk unassisted and was mostly in a wheel chair to get this diagnosis. I am also over weight because I have PCOS and even after dieting for a year when I was 17 on less than 100 calories a day I did not lose weight (I in fact gained 8st that year). I also suffer from M.E. and have some kind of immune system problem which means I pick up viruses and infections easily but the doctors don't know what it is. I have been seeing consultants and doctors for various years and have finally started to get answers as to what is wrong with me.

Having a disability is incredibly difficult as you appreciate yourself. Any kind of illness is difficult when it is long term. My doctors have advised that I don't work despite the fact that I want to and thus I am stuck at home every day bored out my mind with a degree I can't use.

My brother has torn my entire family in two to the point where both my sisters look down on me and I am not allowed to see any of my nieces or nephews. This is because my brother refuses to acknowledge the fact that I am disabled or sick at all. My brothers oppinion is that I am fat and lazy and that is entirely the only things wrong with me. My own brother actually sent a message to my husband on facebook bad mouthing me and saying that I am lazy and fat, not ill and just stealing and scrounging from the government.

This same brother knew I had tried to start a business from home, he knew I struggled to finish my degree, he knows that I have been ill for years and have done my best to fight against it. But because newspapers and the PM say that people who are disabled are scroungers and steal money then I must be. And because some people fake disabilities he assumes that I must too even though the evidence to the contrary is right in front of him every time he sees me. He seems to think we are rolling in tax payers money, that we are some how really rich off the money he earns. He doesn't realise just how dire things are. He sees that every now and then my Dad just gives me £100 but he doesn't realise this is because we haven't eaten for two days because the bills went up again and we couldn't afford them and food or we helped out a friend who was worse off. My Dad is a catholic and he is happy to give me £100 every now and then because he knows that even if I have nothing I will still be helping other people to the best of my ability with it. My brother doesn't understand why I got £150 'for a meal out' for my birthday from my parents because that was a meal out and two weeks worth of shopping and my parents understood that it would make things vastly easier for us.

He also thinks that I am lying when I say that I am being victimised by my upstairs neighbours because of my disability. He has never lived in a council house and thus been trapped because he owes the housing association money and there is no where else for you to live. He is able to get a mortgage and buy a house and I cannot and he also thinks that council houses are like nice little communities where everyone gets on and its an idyl paid for by tax payers. He wasn't here all the times the police where here because my neighbour threatened to kill me and tried to kick my door down while holding a knife with a get away car running and waiting for her. He wasn't there when the police said they couldn't help us and he doesn't understand when I say I am too afraid to go out side. He thinks I am being lazy.

Despite having so much right in front of him showing him my disability he refuses to believe that I am anything other than a scrounger who lives in a tax paid for idyl. He has disowned me, cut me from his life and wont even let me send birthday cards to my nephews and nieces. I cannot change his mind, even if I show him your articles because he will think you are a liar too with an imaginary disease even though you are not. He can't see what is infront of him. People like him are blind and it makes me so sad, even my own brother who was brought up liberal refuses to see how desperate my life is, how desperate life is for everyone who is disabled. He thinks we live in palaces watching sky tv, kickig our heels back eating caviar paid for by him working. Nothing can change anyones mind about this but this is reality for us, we are looked down on for being disabled every day, even by people who should know better.

It has broken my heart. You share the reality of what we go through but it feels like we are all banging our heads against brick walls because no one is listening or they turn their heads, the ones who are blind do anyway. I want to kick and scream and cry because half of my own family hate me because they can't see the truth. Even if I show them the truth written by you Sue it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference. Ignorance has always made me sad, especially what I call 'willful ignorance' and so many people with wrong views about the disabled of this country are willfully ignorant, they choose to have an incorrect view even if they are proven wrong time and time and time again, even if their opinions are proven invalid.

Thank you for making me cry, it was cathartic to realise I can't do anything to change my brother. Maybe some day he will change his mind and we can but try to make other people see the truth but they will see it when they are ready to see it.

Antiquated ideas in parliament and out of touch ministers

Is it just me or does parliament seem to be filled with ministers who have antiquated ideas and are completely out of touch with reality in every way? I can give you two really good examples of this:

Case One: Maria Miller; Minister for disabilities.

Repeatedly it has been pointed out by several organisations that this minister refuses to interact or listen to people who actually have disabilities in this country. There is now a petition and campaign to get a vote of no confidence against her which can be found here on facebook. She has systematically failed to understand the needs of disabled people in the UK and has also failed to act to protect disabled peoples interests. You would think that as her job is to make sure the disabled of the country get a fair deal that she would have opposed some of the cuts to disability benefits and support; she didn't. She also did not attend the hardest hit march which took place earlier this month in London. If anyone was responsible for ensuring it got such a small amount of coverage as it did get it will have been her, she could have just helped get the march more coverage but even this is beyond her capabilities. The predominant complain of those who are disabled in the UK right now is that ATOS, the people who assess your capability for work whilst on benefits, have an unfair system. The only thing I have heard Ms Miller say on the subject can be found in this blog here. Frankly her opinion on that matter is insulting to everyone and in my opinion just shows how out of touch with not just public opinions but also with facts she is.

Case Two: Ken Clarke; Minister for Justice

Today Ken Clarke out did himself on the matter of antiquated views and ideas by making it plain that he doesn't considder some rapes to be 'serious rapes'. I mean come on! How is a violation of a woman's body never serious? Its more than ridiculous to even insinuate that any case of rape or even sexual harassment is less than a serious matter to be taken will all seriousness, As a woman I find it incredibly frightening that the man in charge of the justice system in this country could have such a poor grasp of the effects a rape or sexual assault has on a woman's life. His opinions seem more in line with those ideas still held by much of Britian that somehow a woman who is raped asked for it or deserved it some way either by wearing skimpy clothes or by being intoxicated. Rape Charities frequently remind us that even if sex has already begun and a woman changes her mind if the act continues that is rape. It shows a frightening lack of comprehension and also a massive lack of respect for women, The person who discusses the Ken Clarke issue best is Laurie Penny on the New Statesman blog here and best expresses the outrage at his comments from a feminist point of view.

But seriously these are the people we have entrusted with the laws and policy making in this country? These people with dusty antiquated views who are so out of touch with reality that it almost beggars belief. They have a fundamental lack of understanding of the common people. It frightens me a great deal that the fate of so many lie in hands such as these.

A confusion of consultation and change

Can anyone work out what this mysterious e-mail I received is about? I couldn't at first until I realised that it was a request for me to appear before a select committee to give evidence about the changes being made to ESA. Now when I first agreed to give evidence should it be needed I provided my phone number and made it explicitly clear that I would prefer to be called to be informed than to be e-mailed. So why did I recieve an e-mail?

The primary conclusion I came to, seeing as I first got the e-mail two days after the date given on the e-mail, was that the request was little more than a farce. They are asking people to make statements or give evidence but they don't really want to hear it. It supports the governments possition if those called to give evidence don't show up - we are scroungers who can't be bothered rather than being genuinely ill people. Had I gotten the e-mail on time I still would not have been able to attend as I have a disability and particularly a wheelchair which means that moving around the country is incredibly difficult for me and requires a great deal of forward planning. I do not have my own transport and therefore am at the mercy of the public transport system so therefore I have to book tickets at least a week in advance to ensure I can book assistance/ramps at the right stations.

There is also the cost of getting to London. Being on benefits limits how often you can travel because you are limited by what you can afford. I can't afford to buy a last minute ticket to London for any reason. This would cost me nearly £250 return for me and that's not including my husband who is my carer.

If this is the way the consultation periods for benefits reform are being run then no wonder the cuts are being approved, no one with an invested interest in them can get there to oppose them. This means that important services for those who are disabled and sick but want to work are being lost and also means that support and funding for those who are sick and disabled and cannot work is being drastically cut. The services I have lost to date are the want to work scheme, the disability work support team and a joint support venture between the job centre and the NHS called the condition management team. All of these services are invaluable and gave fantastic support to me and many others who wanted to return to normal work or start their own businesses. All of these services have been lost in my area due to cuts and badly run consultations.

I currently have a fantastic advisor at the job centre who has tried their best to help me. His job is to advise those in the work related activity group on ESA and also as a disability advisor for those who want to work. I worry that his job will be entirely cut and that there will be no support what so ever for those who are disabled. This advisor being disabled himself understands the needs and peculiarities of peoples disabilities better than anyone else possibly could but he is also at risk of losing his own work in the face of hefty cuts.

Cuts are dangerous for a variety of reasons. Firstly those who are mentally ill or suffer from conditions such as Aspergers who find change distressing will be faced with a myriad of confusing and difficult to understand cuts. Letters and forms from the DWP are already difficult enough to navigate and understand so you can imagine the confusion that will be caused by the new reforms. They are also dangerous to those who are vulnerable to the degree that they rely completely upon carers. Cuts to DLA, ESA and Carers Allowance will mean a threefold cut to these peoples lives putting their health and lives at risk. There is also the involvement of ATOS, the government sanctioned doctors. A lot has already been said about the inefficiency of ATOS and how most appeals against their decisions are successful. The level at which they deem people fit for work is ridiculous. There is also the threat of compulsory community work for those on any kind of benefit. In the initial plans for this the government said that it would be across the board and without exception. There are people who are so beyond the capability to work that it would be ridiculous to expect them to do community service activities for their benefits. If they do not though their money will be withdrawn and these people will die. It is a ridiculous idea and completely unworkable. If they do decide that certain people are exempt how will they be deciding this, where do they draw the line?

Now for a little bit of opinion. As a disabled UK citizen I feel more than neglected by the ConDem government. I feel victimised. I feel like they have decided who is useful to society and who is not and drawn a line and those not on the good side they will let suffer. I honest to God feel like the government is trying to kill me and anyone else who has a disability. I would be surprised if I was the only disabled person in the UK feeling this way. Being disabled in the UK right now is bewildering and frightening. The people who are already some of the most vulnerable in society are about to become even more vulnerable and it seems that the government refuses to hear our voice between ensuring poor publicity for disability rights marches and poorly run consultations we have pretty much no voice. Others are speaking up and now I will join them because there are those disabled who can't speak up for themselves, its up to those who can to speak for all of us before its too late.

About me and my blog

This blog is primarily for me to discuss the topics that worry me in todays society in Britain. Predominantly the vilification of those who are sick and disabled and their lack of rights and power in this country to do anything to assist themselves against vicious government cuts and a hideous slander campaign. I read other peoples blogs and am involved in several groups and after seeing the apathy and lack of activity in one group recently have decided that rather than wait I shall start my own blog and raise the issues that need raising myself.

I am 24 years old and I live in mid wales. The current health conditions I have are PCOS, M.E., an unspecified immune deficiency, severe dental problems and hyper mobility. The predominant problem for me is the hyper mobility which has left me wheelchair bound as I have a very severe form of this condition which went undiagnosed and untreated for many years. As you can understand, being in a wheelchair means that I am as concerned as anyone else in the UK at the moment about the government cuts to the welfare system with regards to the long term sick and disabled as they will directly affect me.

I should point out now that despite what the government may wish people to believe very few people on benefits, particularly those who are on benefits specifically for the sick and disabled, are scroungers. I myself am not a scrounger. I would love the opportunity to work but very few positions exist out there for someone who can only work part time in a wheelchair and would need a lot of time off due to illness. I have attempted to start my own business but was unable to because my hyper mobility worsened and I was unable to do the tasks that I would have needed to do to start a business at home.I should also point out that I am severely dyslexic and so please forgive any spelling or grammar errors that I make. To this day the dyslexia support team at the university I attended are puzzled as to how I managed to completely my degree with such a severe level of dyslexia.

The current state of the welfare system in the UK is atrocious and the governments plans to cut the welfare budget severely are dangerous and harmful. I will talk about this and also my own health and experiences and the lack of media support for those who are sick and disabled in the UK. If this sounds good to you then please follow me :)