Disabled woman backs new hate-crime campaign (From Harrow Times)

Disabled woman from Kenton backs new hate-crime campaign

3:10pm Tuesday 21st February 2012 in News By Anna Slater

A disabled woman who was devastated after receiving hateful jibes about her parking badge is backing a campaign to encourage young disabled people to report hate crime.

Krishna Thalsania of Westfield Gardens, Kenton, has suffered from Charcot-Marie Tooth disease, a muscle wasting condition, since birth. She struggles to walk so she has a blue disabled badge to use when parking.

The 29-year-old, who lives with her parents, said she was left feeling “defenceless” during an incident last December when parking her car in a disabled bay in St Ann’s Road, Harrow.

Miss Thalsania, who has had three operations, said: “I don’t use a wheelchair, so if you were to see me on the streets you may not realise that I have trouble walking long distances due to my condition.

"When I parked my car that night, a woman came up to me and rudely asked if that was my badge. Then three well-built men approached me and said I didn’t look disabled at all.

"I pointed out that not all disabilities were restricted to wheelchair users, but they were very intimidating.

"I was defenceless because I didn’t have the strength in my arms to push them away, so it was very frightening. They then formed a ring around me so I couldn’t escape, it was frightening."

Miss Thalsania, who has a master’s degree in health psychology from the University of West London, said she now fears going out in the car alone.

The former Whitmore High school pupil is now backing a campaign by Muscular Dystrophy Campaign called Trailblazers to encourage young people to report disability hate crime.

She said: “There are many issues around disabled people with invisible disabilities – if you’re not in a wheelchair, many people will dismiss you as not being disabled. I want to raise awareness to ask the police to start taking these crimes more seriously.

“Many young disabled people might be reluctant to report hate crimes but it’s a grim reality of our lives. We know all about racial discrimination, but what about disability discrimination?

"By backing the campaign, I hope to raise more awareness of muscular disease that affect young people – it’s a very important issue.”