In the past five years, over 650 people with disabilities have been murdered by their parents, relatives or caregivers.
On Friday, 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 70 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 the news 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 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 Friday, 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.
2019 Vigil Sites
USA
ARIZONA
Tucson, AZ
Tom Racey, cornelius41389us@gmail.com
CALIFORNIA
Berkeley, CA
BHS Neurodivergent Student Union, susannahbell@berkeley.net
Claremont, CA
Donnie TC Denome, cdenome@gmail.com
Oakland, CA
Mills College Disability Advocacy Club, dyovel@mills.edu
Orange, CA
Chapman University, sfitzger@chapman.edu
GEORGIA
Savannah, GA
Lydia X. Z. Brown, lydia@autistichoya.com
IDAHO
Moscow, ID
Tina Baldwin, christina.ann.baldwin@gmail.com
ILLINOIS
Chicago, IL
Amaranthe Zinzani, arzinzani90@gmail.com
KANSAS
Valley Center, KS
Sabrina Percival, silver47protons@gmail.com
MAINE
Portland, ME
Maine Autism Collective, maineautismcollective@gmail.com
MARYLAND
College Park, MD
University of Maryland President’s Commission on Disability, mappel@umd.edu
MASSACHUSETTS
Lynn, MA
Anna Mackie, amackie1512@gmail.com
MICHIGAN
Ann Arbor, MI
Jeff Edelstein, jeffrede@umich.edu
NEW JERSEY
Edison, NJ
Alliance Center for Independence, ctonks@adacil.org
Ewing, NJ
TCNJ Disability PRIDE, dispride@tcnj.edu
NEW YORK
Rochester, NY
Center for Disability Rights, ejones@cdrnys.org
Syracuse, NY
Disability Student Union, ppenner@syr.edu
Troy, NY
ADAPT NY Capital Region, gberatan@cdrnys.org
NORTH CAROLINA
Asheville, NC
University of North Carolina Asheville, echiang@unca.edu
Boone, NC
Autistic Students & Allies of the high country, whitejd4@appstate.edu
OHIO
Kent, OH
Autism Connections Kent, ngaj1@kent.edu
PENNSYLVANIA
Allentown, PA
Muhlenberg Disability Advocacy Group, me251248@muhlenberg.edu
Collegeville, PA
Jennifer Stevenson, jstevenson@ursinus.edu
Philadelphia, PA
Aja Beech, beech.aja@gmail.com
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh Center for Autistic Advocacy, jess@autisticpgh.org
TENNESSEE
Johnson City, TN
Courtney Johnson, johnsoncp@etsu.edu
UTAH
Salt Lake City, UT
Neurodiverse Utah and Disability Caucus, wlgeertsen@gmail.com, jlms_qkw@yahoo.com
VIRGINIA
Charlottesville, VA
Ava Collins, avaecollins@protonmail.com
Christiansburg, VA
New River Valley Disability Resource Center, tallison@nrvdrc.org
Williamsburg, VA
William & Mary Neurodiversity Student Group, neurodiversitysg@email.wm.edu
WASHINGTON STATE
Tri-Cities, WA
Carly Coburn, carlycoburn4109@gmail.com
WASHINGTON, DC
DC Metro ADAPT, DCMetroADAPT@gmail.com
WISCONSIN
Milwaukee, WI
Autism Society of Southeastern Wisconsin, emilyl@assew.org
CANADA
New Westminster, BC
Autistics United Vancouver- Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh Territory, vancouverautistics@gmail.com
Halifax, NS
Autistics United Nova Scotia, novascotiaautistics@gmail.com
Winnipeg, MB
Autistics United Manitoba, rsalahub@mts.net
Guelph, ON
Kinnery Chaparrel, kinnery@live.ca
Toronto, ON
Autistics for Autistics, rayashields@hotmail.com
CHINA
Shanghai, East China Normal University Zhongbei Campus
Holly Miller, hollyirenehollins@yahoo.com
AUSTRALIA
Brisbane
Kit McGuren, caitlin.mcguren@gmail.com
Perth
Samantha Connor, moondyne@iinet.net.au
UNITED KINGDOM
Manchester
Emlyn Scott, lotusthefish@gmail.com