Exploring Disablist Hate Crimes in Portugal: Vulnerability Building, Manifestations, and Prevalence

Disability prejudice, that is, disablism, generates multiple forms of oppression magnified when intersecting with other forms of discrimination. Discrimination and violence are two forms of disablist hate crime and end results of disablism. Data about this phenomenon in Portugal are scarce. This study aimed to characterizing these two manifestations of hate crime experienced by disabled people in Portugal. A nonprobabilistic sample of 392 Portuguese disabled adults completed an online survey on the living conditions of disabled people in Portugal, including a sociodemographic questionnaire, and questions about previous experiences of discrimination and violence. Analysis reveals high levels of discrimination and violence against disabled people in Portugal, with 71% of the participants declaring to have been discriminated against and 20% to have experienced some form of violence.