In the past five years, over 550 people with disabilities have been murdered by their parents, relatives or caregivers.
On Thursday, March 1st, the disability community will gather across the nation to remember these disabled victims of filicide – disabled people murdered by their family members or caregivers.
In the year since our last vigil, our community has lost over 100 more people to filicide. These are just the cases that we are aware of – since we began monitoring this issue, we learn about more murders every week. We read the victims’ names, see their photographs, and gather what information we can about their lives. The criminal justice system has continued to give lighter sentences to parents and caregivers who murder disabled children. And we have seen both news and entertainment media continue to portray these murders in a sympathetic light. We hold the Day of Mourning vigils to draw attention to these injustices, to commemorate the lives of victims, and demand justice and equal protection under the law for all people with disabilities.
Since 2012, ASAN, ADAPT, Not Dead Yet, the National Council on Independent Living, the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, the American Association of People with Disabilities, and other disability rights organizations have come together to send a clear message that disability is not a justification for violence. We’ll be at our local vigils on Thursday, March 1st – and we hope to see you there.
If you cannot attend a vigil in-person, please consider taking part in our Virtual Vigil.
2018 Vigil Sites
USA
ARIZONA
Phoenix, AZ
Tara Marshall, [email protected]
CALIFORNIA
Claremont, CA
Donnie TC Denome, [email protected]
Long Beach, CA
Christana Koch, [email protected]
Merced, CA
Megan Lambert, [email protected]
Napa, CA
Espi, [email protected]
Port Hueneme, CA
Karen Reilly, [email protected]
San Francisco, CA
George Fuller, [email protected]
Siobhan Travers, [email protected]
FLORIDA
Miami, FL
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami, [email protected]
Orlando, FL
Florida ADAPT, [email protected]
GEORGIA
Tucker, GA
disABILITY LINK, [email protected]
IDAHO
Moscow, ID
Elizabeth Stevens, [email protected]
ILLINOIS
Champaign, IL
Kathleen Downes, [email protected]
Chicago, IL
Euree Kim and Timotheus Gordon, Jr, [email protected]
KANSAS
Valley Center, KS
Sabrina Percival, [email protected]
MAINE
Portland, ME
Meg Dyke, [email protected]
MARYLAND
College Park, MD
Blair Chisholm, [email protected]
MASSACHUSETTS
Salem, MA
Saoirse Tilton and Hala O’Keeffe, [email protected]
NEVADA
Reno, NV
Center for Self Determination, [email protected]
NEW JERSEY
Ewing, NJ
Elyan Chuba, [email protected]
Lakewood, NJ
Melanie Clark Mogavero, PhD, [email protected]
NEW YORK
Albany, NY
Gregg Beratan, [email protected]
Bronxville, NY
Amanda Wall, [email protected]
Rochester, NY
Ericka Jones, [email protected]
Syracuse, NY
Elly Wong, [email protected]
NORTH CAROLINA
Asheville, NC
Evelyn Chiang, [email protected]
Boone, NC
Autistic Students & Allies of the high country, [email protected]
PENNSYLVANIA
Collegeville, PA
Jennifer Stevenson, [email protected]
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh Center for Autistic Advocacy, [email protected]
TEXAS
Fort Worth, TX
Sarah Christian, [email protected]
Galveston, TX
Katherine Sanger, [email protected]
Houston, TX
Maria Town, [email protected]
TENNESSEE
Johnson City, TN
Courtney Johnson, [email protected]
UTAH
St. George, UT
Barbara Lefler, [email protected]
VIRGINIA
Manassas, VA
Independence Empowerment Center, [email protected]
Williamsburg, VA
Alanna Van Valkenburgh & Chloe How, [email protected]
WASHINGTON STATE
Seattle, WA
Zack Siddeek, [email protected]
WASHINGTON, DC
Kings Floyd, [email protected]
WISCONSIN
Beloit, WI
Beloit Cross-Disability Coalition, [email protected]
Milwaukee, WI
Autism Society of Southeastern Wisconsin, [email protected]
CANADA
Vancouver, BC
Vivian Ly & Sam McCulligh, [email protected]
Winnipeg, MB
Ron Salahub, [email protected]
Halifax, NS
Alex Kronstein, [email protected]
Newmarket, ON
Mandy Klein, [email protected]
Toronto, ON
Anne Borden, [email protected]
AUSTRALIA
Brisbane
Kit, [email protected]
Sydney
Robin Eames, [email protected]