At the beginning of the work period 2000-2003, the Board of the European Blind
Union (EBU) asked the EBU Commission on Human and Social Rights to consider the
evidence of violence directed against blind and partially sighted people because
of their disability, and to advise what action should be taken to combat such
violence. The Board wish to ascertain
* Whether there is evidence of a higher incidence of crimes of violence against
visually impaired people, especially women and girls.
* Whether legislation exists in some countries that impose higher penalties on
the perpetrators of violence against disabled or visually impaired people.
* Whether law enforcement agencies provide sufficient protection to visually
impaired people, especially women and girls.
* Whether there are examples of good practice in the provision and
implementation of legislation.
The EBU Commission on Human and Social Rights therefore decided to carry out a
short survey on the violence experienced by blind and partially sighted people
in EBU Member countries.
Questionnaires were developed and circulated via e-mail to the EBU members in 44
countries in 2003. After two follow up requests for the return of completed
questionnaires, 14 responses were received.
Plans had been made for the results of this and two other surveys undertaken by
the Commission at that time to be collated and analysed by a university in
Norway. However, the university considered that it would not be worthwhile to
collate the survey data, as any conclusions that were drawn from the small
number of responses that had been received could be unreliable. It was therefore
necessary for the collation and analysis to be undertaken by Helen Aareskjold,
Vice Chairman and Tony Aston, Chairman of the Commission. This work was
completed in March 2006 and the results are reproduced in subsequent sections of
this report.
1.2 Respondents from 14 EBU member organisations from the following countries
completed and returned questionnaires
Albania
Armenia
Austria
Cyprus
Finland
Germany
Hungary
Italy
Lithuania
Norway
Poland
Russian Federation
Switzerland
United Kingdom (UK)
1.3 The introduction to the questionnaire explained to the respondents that, for
the purposes of the survey, violence constituted an act against an individual or
group of individuals that would be considered to be a criminal act in their
country and subject to criminal prosecution in a court of law. This might for
example include physical or psychological violence, neglect, lack of care or
financial exploitation.
2.1 Evidence of a higher incidence of crimes of violence against visually
impaired people, especially women and girls
All 14 respondents stated that no surveys had been undertaken that specifically
established the incidence of violence against blind and partially sighted
people.
Norway and Poland referred to surveys on violence in the general population and
Norway provided information about a survey concerning sexual offences against
visually impaired children. The UK briefly described a survey on hate crime
experienced by disabled people, including those who are blind and partially
sighted.
Albania and UK stated that statistics are collected on the incidence of violence
against visually impaired people. Albania stated that the statistics indicate
the incidence of violence is lower for visually impaired people compared with
the general population. UK explained that information had recently begun to be
collected by the police in the London area on incidents of hate crime
experienced by disabled people.
2.2 Legislation that imposes higher penalties on the perpetrators of violence
against disabled or visually impaired people
Albania, Italy, Lithuania and the UK have legislation that imposes more severe
penalties on the perpetrators of violence against visually impaired people.
Italy, Lithuania and the UK have legislation that related to disabled people in
general and not specifically relating to visually impaired people. Hungary has
legislation on violence that encompasses the general population that imposes
more severe punishments where crime 'abuses the situation of others'.
2.3 Law enforcement agencies provision of sufficient protection against violence
for visually impaired people, especially women and girls
Albania and Finland considered that law enforcement agencies protection was
good; Germany, Hungary and the Russian Federation considered it was adequate;
Switzerland and UK considered it to be poor; Norway considered it to be very
poor.
2.4 Examples of good practice in the provision and implementation of legislation
to combat violence against visually impaired people
Albania quoted a law relating to crimes of violence against disabled people. UK
referred to recently approved legislation that addresses hate crime.
Hungary and Switzerland referred to effective legislation for the general
population.
Germany and UK gave examples of good practice by the police.
2.5 Violence as an issue for EBU member organisations
Albania and UK stated that violence had been an issue for their organisations in
the past. Italy, Norway and UK recognised violence as a current issue for their
organisations.
Albania, Italy, Lithuania, Norway and UK gave examples of actions currently
being taken to address violence experienced by blind and partially sighted
people. Hungary considered there is no need for special measures to protect
visually impaired people; the issue has to be dealt with within society as a
whole, in order to pave the way for integration. The community needs to become
more mature and protect each of its members, without explicit legislation.
3.1 The subsequent narrative is based on the structure of the questionnaire,
reproduced at Annex II. Each section commences with a re-statement of the
question to which responses were requested. This is followed by the collation of
the answers. The number of answers received to each part of the question is
given, followed by a list of the respondents' countries in brackets and in
alphabetical order. Where a respondent has made a brief comment or
qualification, this is given immediately after the name of the country and is
contained within '-…-'. Many countries provided additional narrative. Where it
is considered this information adds breadth or
Depth to the survey results, this information is reproduced in a series of notes
after each related question.
3.2 No attempt has been made to assess the relative importance of the
information that has been elicited from this study. This is for two main
reasons.
* The number of responses in relation to the total sample size is comparatively
small.
* Several of the questionnaires were only partially completed. This is because
of the dearth of information on this subject and the low profile of the issue in
most European countries.
The Commission is indebted to the respondents, all of whom found time to complete this and two other questionnaires for the Commission, despite their other commitments and responsibilities. Without their participation, this survey could not have taken place.
5.1 Incidence of violence against visually impaired people -
Have any surveys been undertaken in your country that
include evidence on the incidence of violence against visually
impaired people?
Yes: 0
No: 14 (Albania, Armenia, Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy,
Lithuania, Norway - see note below, Poland - see Note 2 below, Russian
Federation, Switzerland, UK - see note 3 below)
Note 1: Norway states that there is a Governmental Report which discribes
violence in general. Here women and disabled people are mentioned explicitly,
but there is no research that focuses on this group specifically.
Note 2: Poland refers to some surveys on violence in the general population.
Note 3: the UK states that they are not aware of any specific surveys about hate
crime against visually impaired people but the Disability Rights Commission (DRC)
has done surveys about general disability hate crime in England, Wales and in
Scotland in 2003.
The DRC 2003 Scottish Attitudes and Awareness Survey due to be published in
December 2003 and a DRC survey of 800 disabled people in Scotland on hate crime,
due to be published in February 2004 was expected to provide further
information.
5.1.1 If the answer to this question is ’yes’, please provide the following
information -
The title of the study(s), the authors, details of where and when publication
took place and an abstract of approximately 100 words for each study, that
describes the purpose, scope and main findings of the study(s) Please provide
information on an additional sheet.
Norway provides the following information -
"Retten til et liv uten vold" (The right to a life without violence)
http://odin.dep.no/jd/norsk/publ/utredninger/NOU/012001-020029/index-dok000-b-n-a.html
Summary in English:
http://odin.dep.no/jd/norsk/publ/utredninger/NOU/012001-020029/index-ved001-b-n-a.html
There is a study of sexual offences against visual impaired children:
Kvam, Marit Hoem (2003) ’Seksuelle overgrep mot synshemmede barn i Norge’,
SINTEF Unimed, Februar 2003
Report from a seminar: (People with disabilities’ protection from abuse)
Sandvin, Johans Tveit (2003) ’Funksjonshemmedes Vern Mot Overgrep’, Statens råd
for funksjonshemmede
5.2 Are statistics collected in your country on the
incidence of violence against visually impaired people?
Yes: 2 (Albania, UK - see note 1 below)
No: 12 (Armenia, Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania,
Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, Switzerland)
Note 1: UK stated that the Metropolitan Police who cover the Greater London Area
started to collect statistics in 2003 and it is known that at the time of
completing the questionnaire, 80 incidencies of disability hate crime had been
recorded.
5.2.1 If the answer is ’yes’, please state whether this data gives details of
the incidence of violence against visually impaired people? (please tick as
appropriate)
Visually impaired men and women 1 (Albania)
Visually impaired children -
Visually impaired women -
Visually impaired girls 1 (Albania)
5.2.2 Does this data indicate any difference in the levels of violence against
visually impaired people compared with the population as a whole?
Yes (Albania)
5.2.3 If the answer is ’yes’ please indicate whether the incidence of violence
against visually impaired people is higher, the same or lower than the
population as a whole
Lower (Albania)
5.2.4 Does this data provide information on the levels of violence against
visually impaired women and girls?
Partly (Albania)
5.2.5 If the answer is ’yes’ please indicate whether the incidence of violence
against visually impaired women and girls is higher, the same or lower than the
population as a whole
Lower (Albania)
5.3 Legislation relating to violence -
5.3.1 Does legislation in your country impose more severe penalties on the
perpetrators of violence against the following groups -
Visually impaired men and women
Visually impaired children
Visually impaired women
Visually impaired girls
If the answer to any of these questions is ’yes’, please indicate whether there
is any evidence that this legislation has any impact
Yes: 4 (Albania, Italy - see note 2 below, Lithuania - see note 3 below, UK -
see note 5 below)
No: 6 (Armenia, Cyprus, Hungary - see note 1 below, Norway - see Note 4 below,
Russian Federation, Switzerland)
Note 1: Hungary stated that there is no explicit reference to the visually
impaired in legislation, but the Penal Code imposes more severe punishment for
the perpetrator, if he or she commits a crime ’abusing the situation of others’.
Note 2: Italy stated that there is no specific legislation relating to blind and
partially sighted people. However, there are more severe penalties on the
perpetrators of violence against disabled people, especially persons with mental
disabilities (law 66 of 1976).
Note 3: Lithuania stated that the law relating to violence against disabled
people is considered as ”aggraviating circumstances”. There is no special
reference to blind and partially sighted women or girls.
Note 4: Norway stated that the only discrimination is to the age of the victim
and whether the offender is known to the victim or not. No difference relates to
disability.
Note 5: UK stated that the Criminal Justice Act was passed in 2003. This
includes provision to make hate crime an aggravating factor in relation to
criminal offences against disabled people. This applied to England and Wales. It
was anticipated that similar legislation would be implemented in Scotland and
Northern Ireland.
5.4 Do the law enforcement agencies in your country provide protection and
support to visually impaired people that is
Good: 2 (Albania, Finland)
Adequate: 3 (Germany, Hungary, Russian Federation)
Poor: 2 (Switzerland, UK)
Very poor: 1 (Norway)
5.5 Examples of good practice in the provision and implementation of
legislation. Do you consider that in your country there are examples of good
practice in the provision of legislation to address any increased risk of
violence against visually impaired people?
Yes: 3 (Albania, Germany, UK)
No: 5 (Armenia, Austria, Cyprus, Italy, Switzerland - see note 1 below)
Note 1 - Switzerland stated no, but there are measures taken for the population
in general which are also available for visually impaired people. The protection
given by the law is good.
5.5.1 Description of legislation:
Albania provided the following information -
Low 8098, (editorial note; should this be 'law'?) date 28.03.1996, “For status
of blindness, Penal Code, Violence against disabled people is considered penal
action”.
Germany has good cooperation between the police and the blind organisations at
the local level. Police provides special advice about protection against
violence or carry out information campaigns
Hungary stated that There is no explicit reference to visually impaired people
in legislation, but the Penal Code imposes more severe punishment for the
perpetrator, if he or she commits a crime ’abusing the situation of others’.
UK referred to the introduction of the Criminal Justice Act, which addresses
hate crimes against disabled people. UK also referred to 'voice identity
parades'. UK government was planning to issue guidance on their application when
blind or partially sighted people were called upon by the police to identify
crime suspects.
6.1 Has violence against visually impaired people been an issue for your
organisation in the past?
Yes: 2 (Albania, UK)
No: 10 (Armenia, Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Norway,
Russian Federation, Switzerland)
6.2 Is violence against visually impaired people a current issue for your
organisation?
Yes: 3 (Italy, Norway, UK)
No: 8 (Albania, Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Switzerland,
Russian Federation)
6.3 If the answer to either of these questions is ’yes’ what action has, or is,
being taken or contemplated
Albania began a penal prosecution and provided public support.
Hungary stated that the problem is mainly stealing. In our opinion there is no
need for special measures for the visually impaired; it has to be dealt with
within society as a whole, in order to pave the way for integration. The
community needs to become more mature and protect each of its members, even
without explicit legislation.
Italy stated that The Italian Union of the Blind is currently involved in the
European Blind Union’s Daphne project "Preventing and fighting violence against
visually impaired women in the 15 EU countries”. This project started in January
and will end in December 2003. The four partners coordinated by EBU are the
national organisations of the visually impaired of France, Italy, the
Netherlands and Spain.
The objectives are to disseminate and collect a questionnaire among visually
impaired women from all Europe, to organise peer groups and to hold self-defense
training workshops in each country and to hold two European seminars. The
project aims to obtain information about violence of any kind against visually
impaired women.
Lithuania stated that the Lithuanian Association of Blind and Visually Impaired
people has attempted to innitiate a special ”safety course” for blind and low
vision people.
Norway stated that the organisation has a project called ’Forsvar deg Kvinne’
(’Girl - defend yourself’). Through this project we have arranged a seminar
where violence against disabled women was on the agenda. This seminar also
included self defence classes.
UK plans to utilise the statistical information obtained from the recording of
the incidence of hate crime against blind and partially sighted people to inform
police hate crime strategies.
TA/HA
9/6/06
Abstract submitted by United Kingdom in response to Question2 - incidince of
violence against visually impaired people -
The DRC 2003 Attitudes and Awareness Survey
A survey of 2,026 people aged 15+ living in Great Britain was conducted for the
DRC by BMRB between 17th April – 14th May 2003. The survey asked people about
their attitudes towards disabled people and their awareness of the Disability
Discrimination Act and Disability Rights Commission.
3.1.5 Harassment
Just over a fifth (21%) of disabled respondents say they have experienced
harassment (such as verbal abuse) in public in relation to their impairment. 5%
say they experience this often, and 16% say they sometimes experience it. A
third of disabled respondents (33%) in the younger age group (15 – 34) say they
have experienced harassment.
More than a quarter (27%) of people who know someone who is disabled say that
they have witnessed the disabled person they know being harassed because of
their impairment.
Of those who are not disabled and do not know anyone who is, over half (58%)
think that disabled people are harassed in public because of their impairments,
with 12% saying “Yes, often”. A quarter of these respondents (24%) think
disabled people are not harassed because of their impairments and 17% are not
sure.
The DRC Scottish Disability Awareness Survey 2002
Harassment
A quarter (26%) of disabled people reported experiencing harassment in public in
relation to their disability such as verbal abuse in the street. 1 in 20
disabled people said they often experienced harassment. Almost two fifths of
respondents who know a disabled person said they have witnessed the disabled
person being harassed. One tenth said this often happened.
INTRODUCTION:
The Board of the European Blind Union (EBU) have asked the EBU Commission on
Human and Social Rights to consider the evidence of violence directed against
blind and partially sighted people because of their disability, and to advise
what action should be taken to combat such violence. The Board wish to ascertain
* Whether there is evidence of a higher incidence of crimes of violence against
visually impaired people, especially women and girls
* Whether legislation exists in some countries that impose higher penalties on
the perpetrators of violence against disabled or visually impaired people
* Whether law enforcement agencies provide sufficient protection to visually
impaired people, especially women and girls
* Whether there are examples of good practice in the provision and
implementation of legislation
The (EBU) Commission on Human and Social Rights has therefore decided to carry
out a survey on violence against visually impaired people in EBU member
countries. The Commission will collate the results of this survey, submit the
findings to the Board of EBU and circulate the analysed results to all members
of EBU.
IMPORTANT:
Please note that, for the purposes of this survey, violence constitutes an act
against an individual or group of individuals that would be considered to be a
criminal act in your country and subject to criminal prosecution in a court of
law. This might for example include – physical or psychological violence,
neglect, lack of care or financial exploitation.
ACTION REQUESTED:
Please arrange for this questionnaire to be completed by a person with
appropriate knowledge and experience and returned to-
Tony Aston, Chairman
European Blind Union
Commission on Human and Social Rights
2 Greenlands Close
Burgess Hill
West Sussex
RH15 0AR
UK
Tel: +44 1444 870462
e-mail: taston@enterprise.net
By 1 September 2003
An electronic format is preferred please.
SECTION 1: Organisational details-
Name of person completing this questionnaire……………………………………………
Status of person completing this questionnaire……………………………………………
Name of organisation that employs the person completing this questionnaire
…………………………………………………………………………………………
Country where the organisation is located…………………………………………………
Date when the questionnaire is being completed…………………………………………
SECTION 2: Incidence of violence against visually impaired people -
Have any surveys been undertaken in your country that include evidence on the
incidence of violence against visually impaired people?
If the answer to this question is ’yes’, please provide the following
information -
The title of the study(s), the authors, details of where and when publication
took place and an abstract of approximately 100 words for each study, that
describes the purpose, scope and main findings of the study(s) Please provide
information on an additional sheet.
Are statistics collected in your country on the incidence of violence against
visually impaired people?
If the answer is ’yes’, please state whether this data gives details of the
incidence of violence against (please tick as appropriate)
Visually impaired men and women
Visually impaired children
Visually impaired women
Visually impaired girls
Does this data indicate any difference in the levels of violence against
visually impaired people compared with the population as a whole?
If the answer is ’yes’ please indicate whether the incidence of violence against
visually impaired people is higher, the same or lower than the population as a
whole.
Does this data provide information on the levels of violence against visually
impaired women and girls?
If the answer is ’yes’ please indicate whether the incidence of violence against
visually impaired women and girls is higher, the same or lower than the
population as a whole
SECTION 4: Legislation relating to violence-
Does legislation in your country impose more severe penalties on the
perpetrators of violence against (please tick as appropriate)
Visually impaired men and women
Visually impaired children
Visually impaired women
Visually impaired girls
If the answer to any of these questions is ’yes’, please indicate whether there
is any evidence that this legislation has any impact
Is there evidence that the law enforcment agencies in your country provide
protection and support to visually impaired people that is (please tick as
apropriate)
Good
Adequate
Poor
Very poor
SECTION 5: Examples of good practice in the provision and implementation
of legislation
Do you consider that in your country there are examples of good practice in the
provision of legislation to address any increased risk of violence against
visually impaired people
If the answer is ’yes’, please give a brief description of this legislation
SECTION 6: Unresolved issues
1 Has violence against visually impaired people been an issue for your
organisation in the past?
2 Is violence against vislally impaired people a current issue for your
organisation?
If the answer to either of these questions is ’yes’ what action has, or is,
being taken or contemplated