Published: June 13th 2009 - at 2:00 pmUK Finally Ratifies CRPD
I’ve been waiting for this moment since November 2008. On Monday, 8th June 2009, the UK government finally ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
The Convention is a landmark agreement that aims to give the world’s 650 million disabled people full equality, and ratification means that a country accepts its legal obligations under the treaty and ensures that any necessary laws are passed.
But what rights are guaranteed for disabled people by this Convention? Well, in summary, it’s about protecting our rights when it comes to making our own decisions; saying no to being placed in an institution; saying no to medical or psychological treatment; and living in the community. It also seeks to remove barriers to participation in daily life and enable equal opportunities for all.
This story has, unfortunately, been ignored by the mainstream media. So ignored that I’ve only just found out the news from the blog at the BBC disability website, Ouch. But, no matter what, this means real progress for the UK’s DisAbled population. As a DisAbled person, I am thrilled to hear it, and know that many of my friends are as well. To borrow the words of a very famous astronaut, this one small step for the mainstream is a giant leap for DisAbility.
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Sarah is a DisAbled blogger with a degree in Creative Writing. Sarah blogs at Same Difference about DisAbility issues and worked as a copy editor for the magazine Society Today. She has written a collection of poetry about life with a physical disability 'Listen To The Silence'.
· Other posts by Sarah Ismail
Story Filed Under: Equality
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Reader comments
Interesting post Sarah, thanks. This process of standard-setting at the international level and then getting governments to ratify treaties and take on the obligations that they entail has been shown to be an extremely effective way of campaigning (I was involved in similar campaigns over torture and the death penalty when I worked at Amnesty). It does not get attention from the mainstream media because it seems too technical, but it really does help to achieve lasting change.
You might also be interested in this – which I wrote many, many years ago:
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies/archiveuk/BCODP/human%20rights%20conv.pdf
“saying no to being placed in an institution; saying no to medical or psychological treatment;”
Would that include those suffering with schitzophrenia and other pathological psychoses?
I don’t think so. I think the police cn force them into treatment under the Mental Health Act… unless the Convention changes that. But do those count as disabilities, or are they considered illnesses?
Both, I would have thought, and certainly a menace.
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