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These Disturbing Videos From Vancouver Underline a Deeper Problem of Homeless Abuse

Homeless people nationwide face beatings and assault, but Vancouver's homeless are now also dealing with sadistic people looking to use degrading acts and video to humiliate them as much as possible.

​Screencap​ ​via YouTube.

​​Last week, a disturbing video in which a homeless man lights his hair on fire at the behest of some bros offering him a cigarette understandably outraged people a​cross the country.

While Const. Brian Montague told th​e Province that the video doesn't show anyone forcing the man to light his hair on fire, but given the obvious edit points in the video, it's impossible to corroborate that claim.

As disturbing as it is, this is unfortunately not the first video to show Vancouverites abusing their less-fortunate peers. A similar video surf​aced in February showing a man offering money to a panhandler under the condition of being able to attack him. In the video, the man is shown yelling at the panhandler, asking if he "wants the fucking money" before kicking him, hard, in the groin. Another man steps forward for the same treatment but backs off when the assailant prepares to kick him. His retreat is unsuccessful, and he not only gets two shots to the crotch but is then chased down the street, with the kicker demanding his money back.

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When asked if these sorts of incidents were common, Vancouver homeless outreach and support group Raincity H​ousting communications director Bill Briscall told VICE that these two videos are the only such incidents he's aware of, writing that "ignoring homeless folks or crossing the street to avoid panhandling is common, but not these kinds of incidents."

But before we break out the champagne to celebrate Vancouver's seemingly limited thirst for humiliating the less fortunate, The Tye​e has some sobering evidence that highlight the dangers of being homeless. The site mentions a report, cited in a University of Ottawa study, which found that 78 percent of homeless people in Canada said they had been victims of crimes, though only 21 percent reported the crimes. In a society where sleeping outdoors is often illegal and homeless people are, according to Pivot Leg​al Society, "more likely to be charged with minor property offences, drug offences, and violations of bylaws compared to those with a fixed address," it's hardly surprising that homeless people don't feel comfortable going to police, or reporting unfortunate encounters.

As crimes against homeless people are underreported, (a University of Ottawa study found that while 78 percent of homeless people had been victims of a crime, only 21 percent reported it to the police) there's no way of knowing how many homeless people suffer attacks like the ones on those videos, or worse. What we do know is that US studies suggest violent attacks on the homeless have been in​creasing.

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"Bum hunt​ing," the disturbing term for attacking homeless people, has led to homeless people being beaten and sometimes killed across Canada. The CBC documented several high-profile cases in the last few years: Harley Lawrence was beaten to death in Berwick, NS; a man was "badly beaten" in Burnaby, BC in 2009; and in 2004, two 19-year-old men beat and urinated on Kelly Littlelight, a homeless man in Calgary. In 2012, at least six ​men were attacked in Vancouver's Stanley Park.

But beyond drunk bros paying to kick other less-fortunate men in the crotch, the mistreatment of homeless happens at the institutional level as well. In an apparent effort to force the dispersal of an unofficial homeless campsite, the city of Abbotsford, BC consistently sent out a dump truck to confiscate any possessions the people living there couldn't carry. On the final day, they instead dumped chicken manure on the site. They later apolo​gised.

The fact that these two videos came out of Vancouver may not be surprising. Vancouver, like most large cities, is home to starkly contrasting demographics. Some of the country's richest and poorest people flock to the city, enjoying its beauty and—vitally important for people with no permanent home—temperate weather. But the coastal city is host to even more extreme highs and lows than others in Canada.

The wealthiest 10 per​cent of British Columbia residents control more than half the province's wealth, while the poorest half control just three percent. Additionally, the median net worth for BC families is the highest in the country at $344,000; the national average is $244,000.

Yet living among the wealthy in the Metro Vancouver region are nearl​y 3,000 homeless people (per Vancouver's 2014 Homeless Count), who are inherently more visible than others by dint of, you know, not having a home to go to. Adjusted for population difference, Vancouver has more homeless people than Toronto, which had just over 5,200 homeles​s people in 2013.

​Briscall wrote that "the distribution of wealth in any society can exacerbate homelessness," but added that "any perceived difference… can lead to the mistreatment of others." Many homeless people are also part of other marginalized groups—people of colour, queer people, those with mental illnesses or physical disabilities—that can increase their stigmatization.​

​Videos of people abusing homeless people may be relatively rare, but it's clear that the abuse itself is not. While the end of poverty and homelessness remain elusive goals, we need to work towards a society in which fellow humans, no matter how vulnerable or exposed, are still seen as humans with the dignity and respect that entails.


​​@tyelland