Times are changing. The disability rights movement has sunk deep
roots in many countries including India, especially over the past
decade. It is in many ways a ‘visibility project’. Its prime message is
to remind us that people with disabilities are human beings and
therefore share the same human rights as everybody else.
Visibility and revaluing the difference of disability
A human rights approach should now be used to restore full civil rights, including adequate safeguards, to persons with disabilities. In other words, they should enjoy all the protections of private freedom that most others in society enjoy. Its goal is to secure acknowledgement that persons with disabilities have a rightful place in the mainstream of life. The achievement of independence and participation on equal terms is not only a desirable goal but also a right.
Visibility and human rights violations
The next question is how best to characterise human rights violations in the context of disability. It is possible to focus on specific violations like the right to vote, to a fair trial, to education or the right to work, or physical and sexual abuse in institutions. Focusing on violations makes sense, especially when a culprit can be identified and an effective remedy found.
It also makes sense to examine patterns of violations. It is possible to characterise specific violations in terms of the over arching problem of the invisibility of people with disabilities and the need to use rights to counter that legacy.
Visibility and the equal enjoyment of all human rights
More often than not, invisibility has meant that a universal right is simply not applied equally to persons with disabilities. For example, in the case of education, violations have as much to do with the right to an equal and effective education as with the right to education. Likewise, in the case of civil commitment, the relevant principles are not applied equally to persons with mental illness. A reform of the law on mental disability can be campaigned for as requiring restoration of equal rights and equal protection of the rule of law.
The answer to invisibility is an insistence on the equal application of all human rights to people with disabilities. This addresses the need to restore parity for people with disabilities in terms of private freedom and public freedom. It goes a long way towards explaining why the ‘equal opportunity model’ has been the dominant rights model in the context of disability for the last twenty years or so, especially since the adoption of the United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities in 1993. The Standard Rules define the notion of equal rights as follows:
The principle of equal rights implies that the needs of each and every individual are of equal importance, that those needs must be made the basis for the planning of societies and that all resources must be employed in such a way as to ensure that every individual has equal opportunity for participation. Persons with disabilities are members of society and have the right to remain within their local communities. They should receive the support they need within the ordinary structures of education, health, employment and social services.
The ‘equal opportunity’ model rests on the assumption that people with disabilities share all human rights - civil, political, economic, social and cultural - with others. While it focuses on the need to increase levels of public freedom, it also has a great deal to say about private freedom and appropriate social support. It places the accent where it should be - on the capacity and willingness of people with disabilities to lead independent lives and play active and productive roles in society.
The answer to invisibility is an insistence on the equal application of all human rights to persons with disabilities.
Human rights should be available to disabled people also The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) is an international instrument that provides persons with disabilities the same human rights that everyone else enjoys. It marks a radical shift in defining and understanding disability. It moves from a medical and social perspective to a human-rights based approach.
The UNCRPD is the first legally binding international instrument which sets out the rights of people with disabilities. It aims to ‘promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.’ The UNCRPD was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 13, 2006. India ratified the UNCRPD on October 1, 2007. India was the seventh country and the first significant one to do so, and it came into force on May 3, 2008.
General Principles
Article 3 sets out general principles which should guide the implementation of all articles of the UN CRPD. Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy, including the freedom to make one’s own choices, and independence of persons; non-discrimination; full and effective participation and inclusion in society; respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity; equality of opportunity; accessibility; equality between men and women; respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities and respect for the right of children with disabilities to preserve their identities.
Source : The New Indian Express , 22nd Dec 2013
Visibility and revaluing the difference of disability
A human rights approach should now be used to restore full civil rights, including adequate safeguards, to persons with disabilities. In other words, they should enjoy all the protections of private freedom that most others in society enjoy. Its goal is to secure acknowledgement that persons with disabilities have a rightful place in the mainstream of life. The achievement of independence and participation on equal terms is not only a desirable goal but also a right.
Visibility and human rights violations
The next question is how best to characterise human rights violations in the context of disability. It is possible to focus on specific violations like the right to vote, to a fair trial, to education or the right to work, or physical and sexual abuse in institutions. Focusing on violations makes sense, especially when a culprit can be identified and an effective remedy found.
It also makes sense to examine patterns of violations. It is possible to characterise specific violations in terms of the over arching problem of the invisibility of people with disabilities and the need to use rights to counter that legacy.
Visibility and the equal enjoyment of all human rights
More often than not, invisibility has meant that a universal right is simply not applied equally to persons with disabilities. For example, in the case of education, violations have as much to do with the right to an equal and effective education as with the right to education. Likewise, in the case of civil commitment, the relevant principles are not applied equally to persons with mental illness. A reform of the law on mental disability can be campaigned for as requiring restoration of equal rights and equal protection of the rule of law.
The answer to invisibility is an insistence on the equal application of all human rights to people with disabilities. This addresses the need to restore parity for people with disabilities in terms of private freedom and public freedom. It goes a long way towards explaining why the ‘equal opportunity model’ has been the dominant rights model in the context of disability for the last twenty years or so, especially since the adoption of the United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities in 1993. The Standard Rules define the notion of equal rights as follows:
The principle of equal rights implies that the needs of each and every individual are of equal importance, that those needs must be made the basis for the planning of societies and that all resources must be employed in such a way as to ensure that every individual has equal opportunity for participation. Persons with disabilities are members of society and have the right to remain within their local communities. They should receive the support they need within the ordinary structures of education, health, employment and social services.
The ‘equal opportunity’ model rests on the assumption that people with disabilities share all human rights - civil, political, economic, social and cultural - with others. While it focuses on the need to increase levels of public freedom, it also has a great deal to say about private freedom and appropriate social support. It places the accent where it should be - on the capacity and willingness of people with disabilities to lead independent lives and play active and productive roles in society.
The answer to invisibility is an insistence on the equal application of all human rights to persons with disabilities.
Human rights should be available to disabled people also The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) is an international instrument that provides persons with disabilities the same human rights that everyone else enjoys. It marks a radical shift in defining and understanding disability. It moves from a medical and social perspective to a human-rights based approach.
The UNCRPD is the first legally binding international instrument which sets out the rights of people with disabilities. It aims to ‘promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.’ The UNCRPD was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 13, 2006. India ratified the UNCRPD on October 1, 2007. India was the seventh country and the first significant one to do so, and it came into force on May 3, 2008.
General Principles
Article 3 sets out general principles which should guide the implementation of all articles of the UN CRPD. Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy, including the freedom to make one’s own choices, and independence of persons; non-discrimination; full and effective participation and inclusion in society; respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity; equality of opportunity; accessibility; equality between men and women; respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities and respect for the right of children with disabilities to preserve their identities.
Source : The New Indian Express , 22nd Dec 2013
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