Deaf ‘being abused’

DEAF AND HEARING-impaired people are being abused, but police have no idea whether the perpetrators being prosecuted.
In addressing a public discussion on The Role Of Interpreters In The Life Of The Deaf last Tuesday, Sergeant Stephen Griffith acknowledged that deaf people were being abused in Barbados but police did not know how many cases had been prosecuted because there was no local category of crimes against the disabled.
Griffith also told the DAILY NATION that he was unable to disclose the number of prosecutions of crimes against the disabled because those crimes fell under general offences.
“In those cases we would be charging under the Offence Against the Person Act which deals with assault, serious bodily harm and those other offences,” he said.
He pointed out that charges against people for abuse of the physically challenged fell under a general category because Barbados had no law specifically for the disabled – a fact that was bemoaned throughout Tuesday’s discussion at the National Union of Public Workers’ headquarters.