In the past five years, over 650 people with disabilities have been murdered by their parents, relatives or caregivers.
On Tuesday, 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 60 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. To learn more or sign up to lead a vigil, view the Anti-Filicide toolkit.
We’ll be at our local vigil on Tuesday, 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.
COVID-19
Some Day of Mourning vigils are virtual, while others are in-person. We recommend that each person consider the potential risks, and make sure to wear a mask and social distance if you attend an in-person vigil. If you are concerned about attending a vigil in-person, please consider attending ours or another virtual vigil in your area.
All vigils below are virtual unless otherwise noted.
2022 Vigil Sites
USA
ALABAMA
Birmingham, AL
Alabama Care, mccartney.hagar@gmail.com
ARIZONA
Tucson, AZ
Tom Racey, Cornelius@cornelius413.net
CALIFORNIA
Berkeley, CA
Spectrum: Autism at Cal, spectrumatcal@gmail.com
Burbank, CA
American Lutheran Church Burbank, Vicar@alcburbank.org
Sacramento, CA
The Disabled and Nondisabled Alliance at Sac State, dana.sacstate@gmail.com
COLORADO
Durango, CO
Community Connections, Inc., jnewman@cci-colorado.org
DELAWARE
Newark, DE
ADAPT DELAWARE, cherhamps@aol.com
GEORGIA
Tucker, GA
disABILITY LINK, Ncolman@disabilitylink.org
ILLINOIS
Chicago, IL
Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition, chicagolanddpocc@gmail.com
INDIANA
Indianapolis, IN (In-Person)
Butler University Advocates For Autism, ldvander@butler.edu
MARYLAND
Churchville, MD
Martina Kuzenski, martina.kuzenski@gmail.com
College Park, MD
University of Maryland PCDI, mappel@umd.edu
College Park, MD (In-Person, UMD Students)
Leah Fleischer, Lfleisc3@terpmail.UMD.edu
College Park, MD (In-Person)
Kathleen Nicole O’Neal, kathleen.n.oneal@gmail.com
MICHIGAN
Ann Arbor, MI
Disability Culture @ U-M, DisabilityCultureUM@umich.edu
MINNESOTA
Minneapolis, MN
Queer Grace Community & Minnesota Autistic Alliance, queergracecommunity@gmail.com
NEVADA
Reno, NV
Center for Self Determination, csdlibrary@gmail.com
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Statewide
Neighborhood Access, info@neighborhoodaccess.org
NEW JERSEY
Edison, NJ (In-Person)
Alliance Center for Independence, ctonks@adacil.org
NEW YORK
Statewide
Kathryn Carroll, kathryn@kecarroll.com
Hempstead, NY
Hofstra Law Disability, Rights, & Community, mrosen96@pride.hofstra.edu
NORTH CAROLINA
Durham, NC (In-Person)
Active Minds at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, kane22m@ncssm.edu
PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh, PA
The Pittsburgh Center for Autistic Advocacy, cori@autisticpgh.org
Collegeville, PA
Ursinus College, jfrymiare@ursinus.edu
TENNESSEE
Johnson City, TN
Courtney Johnson, courtney@justkeepstimming.com
TEXAS
Ft. Worth, TX
The Self-Determination Group, TheSDG@thearcofdfw.org
UTAH
Salt Lake City, UT
Neurodiverse UT, wlgeertsen@gmail.com
VERMONT
Putney, VT (In-Person)
Landmark College, katieroquemore@landmark.edu
VIRGINIA
Blacksburg, VA
Virginia Tech, shew@vt.edu
Williamsburg, VA (In-Person)
William & Mary Neurodiversity Student Group, neurodiversitysg@email.wm.edu
WASHINGTON, DC
Autistic Self Advocacy Network, mbartley@autisticadvocacy.org
Canada
Canada-wide
Autistics United Canada, info@autisticsunitedca.org
Toronto, ON
Autistics for Autistics Ontario, rayashields@hotmail.com