Dr Mark Brookes
Hate Crime Campaigner, Dimensions
Dr Mark Brooks has worked in the disability field for decades, campaigning for the rights of people with a learning disability.
Mark was a project worker for Values into Action for over ten years where he campaigned for people to live ordinary lives in ordinary communities and provided training that promoted the rights of people with learning disabilities. Mark joined the charity in the late 90s, leaving in 2009 to become a Quality Auditor for Dimensions.
Mark is now a campaigns advisor at Dimensions. Most recently he is involved in campaigns aiming to raise awareness of hate crime directed towards people with learning disabilities and autism. As part of Dimensions #ImWithSam campaign, Mark has shared his own experiences of experiencing hate crime and spoken on BBC TV and radio about the need for more to be done to stop it.
A shocking 73% of people with learning disabilities and autism have experience of hate crime, which can range from cyber bullying and manipulation to physical attacks. The #ImWithSam campaign is a long-term plan to make sure there is greater awareness, better support for victims and specific changes in law to further recognise and combat hate crime against people with learning disabilities. Mark said: “We must get the message out there that people with learning disabilities are being targeted by hate. This must stop. People must be brought to justice and hate crime towards people with learning disabilities enshrined in law”.
Mark has spoken at the Government’s All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Hate Crime, contributing his expertise.
Most recently Mark has taken his work to India as an Ambassador for IPCAI (Institute for Person Centred Approaches in India) and, to reward his life-long efforts on hate crime, received an honorary doctorate in law from the University of Kent.