STAMMA CALLS OUT A POLITICAL CULTURE WHICH SUSTAINS ABUSE AIMED AT PEOPLE WHO STAMMER

STAMMA condemns the recent stammering-related abuse directed at Chris Nelson, a Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate. Mr Nelson was forced to withdraw his candidacy after a series of hateful comments and mockery targeting his stammer from opposition candidates.

In a statement published on Twitter, Mr. Nelson refers to the abuse he received from fellow politicians who mimicked his speech and told him it was an embarrassment. Having had to face physical intimidation and verbal abuse from the general public, the “intolerable” and “puerile” behaviour towards his stammer from colleagues was the final straw.

STAMMA CEO Jane Powell said

"The consequences of mocking people because they talk differently can be, as in Mr Nelson’s case, career changing. It is unacceptable. For this to happen in a political environment, and one which seems to encourage bullying and prize fluency over content, should shame all our politicians."

"This is harassment. Harassment is subjecting someone to unwanted conduct relevant protected characteristics, where the conduct has the purpose or effect of violating the victim's dignity or creating an environment that is intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive. As such it is against the law."

"Yet we seem to have a culture which sustains such behaviour. As a society we shouldn't devalue what people say, because of how they say it. MPs need to model the behaviour that we want to see generally."

STAMMA deals with over a 1,000 calls, emails and chats from people who stammer, from parents and from those who believe they’ve been discriminated against because of how they talk every year. They have recently set up an Advocacy Service to take on complaints like Chris’s, to help cement their case that such behaviour is illegal.