Real lives on the wall: disabled people use public murals to convey the reality of their lives in the UK

Understanding and improving the experience of claiming social security for mental health problems in the west of Scotland: A participatory social welfare study

“…Participants in this study noted that disability benefits claimants are frequently subject to negative media portrayals, which is in line with the evidence of a report on the media coverage of disability in the UK Research suggests that newspaper coverage about disabled people has become less sympathetic, with an increase in articles on disability benefits and fraud in 2010 and 2011 compared with 2004 and 2005 (Briant, Watson, & Philo, ). Negative media representations of disabled and long‐term sick individuals have been linked to rising levels of hostility and a 50 percent increase in disability hate crimes between 2009 and 2011 (Beresford, ; McWade, ). A recent summary (Mills, ) states that newspaper and television news portrayal of claimants embed a new form of common‐sense that garners public disgust towards ‘skiver’ claimants, which entrenches public consent for welfare reform.…”

“…Negative media representations of disabled and long-term sick individuals have been linked to rising levels of hostility and a 50 percent increase in disability hate crimes between 2009 and 2011 (Beresford, 2016;McWade, 2014). A recent summary (Mills, 2018) states that newspaper and television news portrayal of claimants embed a new form of common-sense that garners public disgust towards 'skiver' claimants, which entrenches public consent for welfare reform.…”

The Limits of Vulnerability: Arguments Against the Inclusion of Sex Workers Within Hate Crime Policy in England and Wales

“…We can see how successive governments, the police and the CPS often give out mixed messages: on the one hand deploring violence against vulnerable communities by legislating for sentencing uplift; and on the other, advocating hostility toward vulnerable communities through actions such as the Hostile Environment policy (Immigration Act 2014; Immigration Act 2016). The same government which supports hate crime legislation against disabled people (Criminal Justice Act 2003) has cut the benefit of Employment and Support Allowance and pulled funding from disability advocate charities such as Possibility People and the UK Disabled People's Council (Ryan, 2019;McWade, 2014). This mixed messaging is particularly evident when applied to the context of sex workto include sex workers within hate crime legislation as a vulnerable group in need of protection, without removing the policies which contribute to this perceived vulnerability, will make no meaningful difference to violence against this community.…”