Thinking outside the box: intersectionality as a hate crime research framework.

Abstract

There is little sustained exploration of intersectionality within disability studies or hate crime research. Both concepts fail to fully acknowledge the multiple, over-lapping and complicated experiences of risk and victimisation. A unified approach to disability through the social model paradigm may have distracted from the diversity of experiences of those with disabilities. Additionally, intersectionality is at odds with the silo-framework of hate crime policy and legislation. Using data from a research study on disabled people’s experiences of hate crime, this article illustrates how applying intersectional analysis to hate crimes contributes to a greater understanding of experiences than the traditional single strand approach. It demonstrates that the current strand-based approach to hate crime disguises the variety of intersecting elements of identity. This paper provides an original contribution to existing literature on hate crime and intersectional criminology and offers an alternative human rights based approach.