In the past five years, over 700 people with disabilities have been murdered by their parents, relatives or caregivers.
On Monday 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 80 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.
Everyone is welcome at our Virtual Vigil on Monday, March 1st – and we hope to see you there.
All vigils are virtual unless otherwise noted.
2021 Vigil Sites
USA
Autistic Self Advocacy Network, mbartley@autisticadvocacy.org
ALABAMA
Jasper, AL
McCartney Hagar, mccartney.hager@gmail.com
ARIZONA
Tucson, AZ
Tom Racey, cornelius@cornelius413.net
CALIFORNIA
Berkeley, CA
Spectrum: Autism at Cal (UC Berkeley), spectrumatcal@gmail.com
Orange, CA
Chapman University, lboyd@chapman.edu
Sacramento, CA
Disabled and Nondisabled Alliance at California State University – Sacramento, adindzans@csus.edu
COLORADO
Durango, CO
Community Connections, Inc., jnewman@cci-colorado.org
CONNECTICUT
Monroe, CT
Samantha Goldfarb, samanthagoldfarb@gmail.com
GEORGIA
Athens, GA
Presbyterian Student Center at University of Georgia, emmatpeacock@gmail.com
Atlanta, GA
Autistic Self-Advocacy Atlanta and Autistic Women and Non-Binary Network, kaylarod@awnnetwork.org
ILLINOIS
Chicago, IL
UIC Disability Cultural Center, Institute for Disability and Human Development, and Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition (Chicagoland DPOCC), tgordo7@uic.edu
INDIANA
Indianapolis, IN
Butler University Advocates For Autism, ldvander@butler.edu
MARYLAND
College Park, MD
Michelle Appel, mappel@umd.edu
Montgomery County, MD
Zeta Sigma Honor Society at University of Maryland-Baltimore County, zu03811@umbc.edu
MICHIGAN
Ann Arbor, MI
University of Michigan, emclain@vt.edu
MINNESOTA
Minneapolis, MN
Critical Disabilities Studies Collective – University of Minnesota, cdscol@umn.edu
Minneapolis & St. Paul, MN
Queer Grace Community, queergracecommunity@gmail.com
NEVADA
Reno, NV
Center for Self Determination, Csdlibrary@gmail.com
NEW YORK
Statewide
ADAPT Capital Region New York State, mphecker93@gmail.com
Statewide
Sylvia Rivera Law Project and Jae Casper, sasha@srlp.org
NORTH CAROLINA
Asheville, NC
UNC Asheville’s Disability Cultural Center, echiang@unca.edu
PENNSYLVANIA
Collegeville, PA
Jennifer Stevenson, jstevenson@ursinus.edu
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh Center for Autistic Advocacy, cori@autisticpgh.org
TENNESSEE
Johnson City, TN
Courtney Johnson, johnsoncp@etsu.edu
TEXAS
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
The Self Determination Group, TheSDG@thearcofdfw.org
Houston, TX
Cassandra Clement, cassiclement@gmail.com
UTAH
Salt Lake City, UT
Neurodiverse UT, NeurodiverseUT@gmail.com
VIRGINIA
Blacksburg, VA
Disability Alliance and Caucus at Virginia Tech, emclain@vt.edu
WASHINGTON STATE
Washougal, WA
Sebastian Rubino, rubinos1@hawkmail.newpaltz.edu
CANADA
Canada-wide
Autistics United Canada, info@AutisticsUnitedCA.org
ALBERTA
Fort McMurray, Alberta
Neurodiversity YMM, neurodiversityymm@gmail.com
ONTARIO
Guelph, Ontario
Disability Education Empowerment and Pride, kinnery@uoguelph.ca
Kitchener, Ontario
Tristan Fassel, fass5930@mylaurier.ca
Toronto, Ontario
Autistics For Autistics Ontario, mandy@acts319.com
SOUTH AFRICA
Johannesburg, South Africa
Emile Gouws, mieliemeel93@gmail.com
MÉXICO
Mérida Yucatan, México
Superbabe vs Daily Ableism, Monse.dom.na@gmail.com
THE NETHERLANDS
Netherlands-Wide
Madpride, info@madpride.nl
AUSTRALIA
Sydney, NSW – In-Person
Margot Beavon-Collin, margot.beavoncollin@protonmail.com