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Violence against people with disabilities among 'Project Censored' top 25
Note to readers: links to news articles may not work after a few weeks, as news media remove current stories to their archives. The link may take you to the archives section, where, for a fee, you can view the article.
July 3, 2001 -- Each year, 'Project Censored' selects stories it says have been consistently overlooked by mainstream media. This year, number 20 of "2000's Top 25 Censored Stories" concerns a disability issue: "Disabled Most Likely to be Victims of Serious Crime." The story selected by Project Censored staff at Sonoma (CA) State University is from the March 2000 TASH Newsletter, "The Invisible Victims" by Dan Sorensen.
"Research consistently finds that people with substantial disabilities suffer from violent and other major crime at rates four to ten times higher than that of the general population. Estimates are that around 5 million disabled people are victims of serious crime annually in the United States. . . . The press and media continue to largely ignore this issue. I know of only three significant stories on this issue over the last ten years. Most reports describe isolated crimes with no hint that there is a large, serious, and persistent pattern of violence directed against people with disabilities." Read more at http://www.projectcensored.org/c2001stories/20.html
As the Project Censored website notes, Dan Sorensen can be contacted at dsorense@dmhhq.state.ca.us.
At Inclusion Daily, a subscription email service, Dave Reynolds consistently alerts readers to stories on violence and abuse that have been reported in the nation's news media: http://www.inclusiondaily.com/
Another excellent source on disability and abuse is the website of the International Coalition on Abuse and Disability at http://www.quasar.ualberta.ca/ddc/abuse/index.html -- *** PLEASE NOTE: This is the correct URL; the URL listed on the Project Censored link is outdated. ***
Project Censored, which has operated for 25 years, says its job has been to "publicize the extent of censorship in our society by locating stories about significant issues of which the public should be aware, but is not" and to "stimulate responsible journalists to provide more mass media coverage of those issues and to encourage the general public to demand mass media coverage of those issues.