Humans are confusing and ever changing creatures. When given the opportunity they can demonstrate the greatest of compassion and beauty. However, if you allow them to sink as far as they want they can become the most depraved animals possible. They are predisposed to racism and when given the chance will always choose a group to single out, no matter the reason. Doesn't matter why people do it that's the problem it's what happens when it goes unchecked.
If a society has a certain group that is clearly shown to be physically inferior to other humans then how would they react? Maybe they would create rules and regulations to protect those people but these rules would only be as strong as the will that is enforcing them is. If the rule creators don't enforce their own rules then these inevitably become technicalities that people have to follow but don't "Have" to follow.
This is the case with Shrinkers; people who have been infected with a strange conditions that actually reduces their size. It makes them smaller, weaker and generally less fit. Extreme exercise is required if one wants to stay in shape when contracting the illness. Because of these disadvantages the very culture that surrounds them now puts them on a lower pedestal and treats them as second class citizens (Or much worse)
It first started out as simple logical decisions that people had to make. A doctor was presented with two patients; A shrinker and a none shrinker. The doctor chose to save the latter and when asked why he did it he said "It was a tough call that no doctor should have to make. But what right do I have to sacrifice a life to save another which is doomed anyway?". A logical choice but this statement sparked a fire which would soon turn into an inferno.
After that there were more cases where someone would choose a normal over a shrinker and justify it with the same logic. It quickly became the norm to put non-shrinkers ahead of shrinkers. Why give that man insurance if he is destined to die? Why give that teenager a scholarship if he has no future? Why treat this perosn with the smae level of respect when they are clearly not equal?
In the first few years that the virus was introduced society had changed dramatically, but it hadn't gone as far as it was destined to. There hadn't been any cases of someone actually "killing" or even "Abusing" a shrinker in the manner that would soon become acceptable. However it was quickly pushed along but main stream media and celebrities.
The second wild fire was caused by Julia Minrow, a beautiful red headed teenager who was charged with murder. Apparently when her manager (A shrinker) failed to get her the lead role in a movie she wasn't exactly happy with him. The video footage showed her pinning him against a wall and screaming, his feet clearly off the ground as he yelled in agony. In her power trip of anger she accidently crushed his rib cage and killed him. However, she was let off with a slap on the wrist.
This was huge. Even though she was a famous celebrity she had just murdered a person and got off scott free. It was the second piece of evidence that people needed to believe that shrinkers weren't equal. Hell, if you can kill a person and not get charged for it then that person's life mustn't been worth anything! And after that case it seemed like there was a sudden explosion of cases where people were mistreating, abusing and even killing shrinkers.
All the smaller cases like domestic assault or abuse was almost always dealt with the usual warning. Higher cases like severe injuries inflicted to shrinkers or other charges that would earn a person years in prison was suddenly handled with a few months in the slammer. Maybe (If the person was a hot woman) community service. But the real trouble started when you investigated higher cases and the sentences that those people received.
Charges such as "enslavement", "rape", "murder" "pedophilia" and "molestation", any atrocious acts committed against a shrinker were no longer handled with sentences like "Life imprisonment", "Death penalty" or even 5 years and above in prison. Shrinkers were clearly seen as inferior and the government, judicial system and social media were all enforcing it. A couple years later and the world had finally changed into a butterfly of evil.
Shrinkers were now seen as property (When they reached a certain height) and those who still looked normal were treated like scum if someone found out what you really were. Those laws and rules that were first put in place were still there but no one actually cared about them. You could technically charge someone with those laws but you'd have to find a dedicated cop to investigate, a court that would try the accused and a jury that wouldn't be absolutely biased against the shrinker.
However, there were certain rules still in place that were enforced with extreme tenacity. Rules that can't just be forgotten and the government refused not to enforce. These rules mostly centred around the "Ownership" of the shrinker and the "rights" of the shrinker.
A "guardian" was a person who had the job of looking after a shrinker. These people were often chosen by the shrinker themselves but if they took too long they were then given one by the government. This "guardian", because they were charged with the shrinkers safe keeping, was therefore in control of their everyday lives. What they ate, what they did and how they were cared for. However, the laws surrounding how the "guardian" was able to treat the shrinker specifically was a little hazy.
Because Shrinkers were extremely fragile and when they reached a certain size it was almost laughably easy to kill them there were very little laws put in place to protect them. After all if there was a law saying that a "Guardian" could not kill a shrinker then if the guardian accidentally crushed that shrinker when they were actually trying to help them then they would be serving an unjust punishment. Why should this person's life be ruined just because they accidently killed a shrinker? Completely unfair, the law would say.
Similar logica was used when talking about how the shrinker was suppose to be handled. Everyone takes care of their pets in their own way and shrinkers were much harder to take care of then a pet. Therefore it was expected that the shrinker conform to the guardian's method of care rather than the law enforcing some universal rule that might put unnecessary stress on a normal person. After all, why should normal people be taxed just to protect a few shrinkers? The law would say.
Now, I said that these laws didn't exist but that wasn't technically true. After all, if a law existed but no one enforced it did it really exist? Was it really a law? Same logic. These laws "Existed" but were "invisible". Therefore, a young woman looking after her sick, shrinker husband could technically enslave him, abuse him and ultimately kill him and no one would punish her. Even if she were charged the case wouldn't go any further.
Now in this culture certain groups began to form that didn't like how shrinkers were treated. They weeded themselves into every government organisation and group in order to get their voice heard and finally the government caved and gave them what they wanted. Their goal was to try and give Shrinkers equal rights and freedoms or at the very least enforce the actual laws they had in place. Therefore the government did this and created the very first "shrinker institution"
The role of this organisation and it's technical power was enormous as it was their job to make sure people followed the laws laid out to protect shrinkers. If a case was presented of someone abusing a shrinker then they would pounce of that case and make sure it went through the entire process. of course the perpetrator was only given a light sentence but they were at least given an actual sentence.
Their other roles included "Shrinker support", "Shrinker adoption", and "Shrinker science". The first role was similar to any support group in which they offered support to any shrinker in need for any reason. Second Role was helping shrinkers find guardians so that they weren't forced into government programs where they were given to horrible people. Third role was trying to discover what the virus was and how to cure. These three roles, as well as enforcing all the minor laws created, made up the organisation.
However, just like any organisation they became too big and started becoming corrupt. Think about, if you wanted a shrinker all to yourself then how would you go about getting one. Join up with the organisation that was designed to handle shrinkers of course. And that's what happened. Shrinker organisations quickly became a huge governmental arm which had major influences on the world and shrinkers in general and was led by corrupt and power hungry individuals. And even though they still followed their duties they gave them a little twist.
They started creating program after program designed to test and experiment on shrinkers. if you were sent to a shrinker facility this was your most likely fate. But they also created programs outside of laboratories designed for the general public. They would pay families handsome some of money to test their new found product on their shrinkers in order to see the reaction. This was immediately gobbled up by the general public who loved the idea of getting paid enough money to quit their jobs to look after their shrinkers. It was the ideal situation.
Other programs were like the "Return to school" program in which they wanted to see how school children would treat shrinkers if introduced to them at an early age. They advertised this by saying that it helped calm shrinkers by being around people their own age but of cause this was all bull shit. They just wanted to see the reaction. See if shrinkers would be treated nicely by innocent children or if they would follow the main stream culture and view the tiny people as nothing more than vermin. Creatures with no rights.