Disability Day of Mourning

What is Disability Day of Mourning?

Disability Day of Mourning is a day to remember and mourn disabled people who were murdered by their family members or carers. Many people mark this day by holding a vigil where participants will read out the names of victims who had been murdered the previous year, hold a moment of silence and light candles.

When is Disability Day of Mourning?

Disability Day of Mourning is observed annually on 1 March.

Why is there a Disability Day of Mourning?

Ableism is discrimination and social prejudice against disabled people or people who are perceived to have disabilities. In 2012 Zoe Gross, director of advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, created Disability Day of Mourning to call out ableism in the justice system and society in general after George Hodgins, a 22-year-old autistic man was killed by his mother Elizabeth Hodgins in a murder-suicide. Many criticised the mainstream news coverage of George’s murder, which described Elizabeth as a “devoted and loving mother” while George was called “low functioning and high maintenance.”

Zoe noticed that this type of ableist coverage was a common pattern in the media, where it would portray the murders of disabled people as justifiable and “inevitable” due to the “burden” of having a disabled person in the family. Disability Day of Mourning therefore has two goals:

1. To document and remember disabled victims of filicide on the Disability Day of Mourning website
2. To raise awareness and discuss the nature of ableism which results in the deaths of disabled people, and how we can stop these deaths from happening.

Disability Day of Mourning facts you should know

Here are a few quick Disability Day of Mourning facts to know:

• The event was originally organised by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.
• Many disability rights groups organise and attend Disability Day of Mourning events e.g. Not Yet Dead, Chiltern Music Therapy, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, etc.
• The event has had a positive impact on the way news organisations speak about autism and disability. For example, The Washington Post’s coverage of autism became more likely to highlight the strengths of autistic people and more likely to discuss accommodations to allow them to fully participate in society.
• In the United States the White House liaison to the disability community read a supportive statement from Barack Obama at the vigil in Washington, D.C.

How to mark Disability Day of Mourning in the workplace

There are numerous ways to commemorate Disability Day of Mourning at work, including:

• Holding a vigil for the disabled people who lost their lives the previous year
• Downloading and sharing the “anti-filicide” toolkit by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network
• Learning from disabled people about their experience of ableism
• Reading our blog about understanding disability and mental health to understand how you can emotionally support disabled colleagues during this time
• Learning more about the experiences of disabled people in our Disability in the workplace and Neurodiversity podcasts
• Read our guide on how to support disabled people in the workplace

If you’re a member and need more support with participating in Disability Day of Mourning, contact your account manager. If you’re not yet a member, get in touch today to see how we can help.