On Saturday, March 1st, the disability community will gather across the nation to remember these disabled victims of filicide [[link removed]] – disabled people murdered by their family members or caregivers.

Every year, people with disabilities are murdered by parents, relatives or caregivers. In the year since our last vigil, 50 people have been lost to filicide, bringing the total number of deaths since 2019 to 542. These are only the cases that we know of thanks to police reports and news coverage.

Today, the criminal legal system as well as the news media continue to treat the deaths of disabled people at the hands of their families and caregivers as understandable acts of violence. The lives of people with disabilities are vibrant, rich, and worth living. Our lives are just as valuable as anyone else’s and when we are killed by the people who should have loved and protected us, that violence should be treated with the same seriousness that other forms of violence receive.

Day of Mourning is a day to honor those we have lost to senseless violence and demand better for the living. Join us for a virtual vigil on Saturday, March 1st [[link removed]]. Until the day comes where people with disabilities' lives are valued and respected, where there is serious effort put in to prevent our deaths at the hands of caregivers, and where filicide is treated as an act of violence that cannot be allowed, we will continue to mourn our dead and fight like hell for the living.

Since 2012, ASAN and other disability rights organizations have come together to send a clear message that disability is not a justification for violence. Our site coordinators have been hard at work planning events that bring their local disability community together safely and significantly for this important day. Find one close to you [[link removed]], pick one whose time fits into your schedule, or join us for our Virtual Vigil [[link removed]].

Find a vigil: [link removed]


Autistic Self Advocacy Network
PO Box 66122
Washington, DC 20035
United States
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