An article examined the different model of disability that the United Nation Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities evinced (namely a predominantly social model and a rights-based approach) and compared this with the disability provisions in the Equality Act 2010. The Convention fundamentally challenged the existing conceptualization of disability and disability discrimination. If the United Kingdom's ratification of the Convention were taken to its logical conclusion and used to challenge and transform the law, it should have a 'ground-breaking' effect.
Source: Sarah Fraser Butlin, 'The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: does the Equality Act 2010 measure up to UK international commitments?', Industrial Law Journal, Volume 40 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Dec
A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales said that the Welsh Government should bring forward a disability-related harassment framework, drawing together all existing work in Wales and setting a strategic direction.
Source: Disability Related Harassment in Wales, Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee, National Assembly for Wales
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Dec
The government began consultation with disabled people on suggestions for a new cross-government disability strategy. It outlined three main areas for discussion: realizing aspirations, increasing individual control, and changing attitudes and behaviours.
Source: Fulfilling Potential: Working together to enable disabled people to fulfil their potential and have opportunities to play a full role in society, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Consultation document | Hansard | DWP press release | Scope press release
Date: 2011-Dec
A report summarized the key findings from the first wave of the Life Opportunities Survey – a large-scale longitudinal survey of disability that examined the social barriers to participation that people experienced. 29 per cent of adults aged 16 and over in Great Britain had at least one impairment, and 26 per cent had rights under the disability provisions of the Equality Act.
Source: Lisa Vine, Maxine Willitts, Martin Farmer, and Chris Gunning (eds.), Life Opportunities Survey: Wave One Results, 2009/11, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Report | Technical paper
Date: 2011-Dec
The first United Kingdom government report was published on implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People. The report identified the progress that had been made in a range of areas.
Source: UK Initial Report on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Report | Annexes | Additional information | Hansard
Date: 2011-Nov
A report said that hate crimes continued to be a serious problem across Europe – with numerous instances in 2010 of intimidation, threats, vandalism, arson, assault, and murder, targeting individuals or groups because of their ethnicity, religion, or other status.
Source: Hate Crimes in the OSCE Region: Incidents and responses, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Links: Report | OSCE press release
Date: 2011-Nov
A paper examined the progress that had been made in disability policy in the previous 20 years, and asked whether it was time to revisit underlying concepts. Campaigners for policies to tackle disabling barriers and enable equal access needed to 'explicitly and vigorously' promote the welfare state and the concept of social security in its broadest sense.
Source: Jenny Morris, Rethinking Disability Policy, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Nov
A report highlighted the serious consequences for disabled people if the coalition government were to go ahead with plans to cut entitlement to legal aid – leaving disabled people at the mercy of a complex system of reviewed, appeals, and tribunals.
Source: Legal Aid in Welfare: The tool we can t afford to lose, Scope
Links: Report | Scope press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2011-Nov
A report said that there had been a significant increase in the amount of negative reporting of disability issues in the print media between 2004-05 and 2010-11.
Source: Emma Briant, Nick Watson, and Greg Philo, Bad News for Disabled People: How the newspapers are reporting disability, Strathclyde Centre for Disability Research (University of Glasgow)/Glasgow Media Unit
Links: Report | Inclusion London press release | Glasgow University press release | United Response press release
Date: 2011-Oct
A report said that people with disabilities had poor access to the labour market and services in Europe, and called for their rights to be strengthened. Improving their life chances would benefit both society and the economy.
Source: Adam Kosa, Report on Mobility and Inclusion of People with Disabilities and the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020, Committee on Employment and Social Affairs/European Parliament
Links: Report | European Parliament press release
Date: 2011-Oct
A report for the equal rights watchdog examined disabled people's experiences and views of disability-related harassment. Harassment was reported in a wide range of settings: but there was significant under-reporting of it to public authorities.
Source: Wendy Sykes, Carola Groom, and Philly Desai, Disability-Related Harassment: The role of public bodies – A qualitative research report, Research Report 78, Equality and Human Rights Commission
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Oct
A report for the equal rights watchdog said that the number of hate crimes recorded by the police service in England and Wales had fallen to 47,229 in 2010 from 50,868 in 2009. But there was still significant under-reporting of some types of targeted violence such as disability-related harassment. Some police forces, local councils, and social landlords did not always recognize their role in preventing such incidents.
Source: Neil Chakraborti, David Gadd, Paul Gray, and Sam Wright, Public Authority Commitment and Action to Eliminate Targeted Harassment and Violence, Research Report 74, Equality and Human Rights Commission
Links: Report | EHRC press release
Date: 2011-Oct
A study examined whether the European Union had the legal competence to adopt legislation on crimes motivated by hatred against specified groups identified by reference to race, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, and religion.
Source: Steve Peers, The Legal Grounds for Inclusive EU Legislation Against Bias Violence and Hatred, ILGA-Europe
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Oct
The equality and human rights watchdog said that hundreds of thousands of disabled people regularly experienced harassment or abuse, but that a 'culture of disbelief' was preventing public authorities from tackling it effectively. Many disabled people had come to accept harassment – including verbal and physical abuse, theft and fraud, sexual harassment, and bullying – as inevitable.
Source: Hidden in Plain Sight: Inquiry into disability-related harassment, Equality and Human Rights Commission
Links: Report | EHRC press release | ACPO press release | Radar press release | Scope press release | Guardian report
Date: 2011-Sep
A report examined the main barriers that adults with impairments experienced across a range of life areas – including employment, education, leisure, transport, access to public services, social contact, and accessibility outside the home.
Source: Life Opportunities Survey: Analysis of barriers to participation across a range of life areas, 2009/10, Office for National Statistics
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Aug
An article reported progress in the development of new harmonized questions designed to measure disability in established national social survey sources using a face-to-face interviewing mode of data capture.
Source: Chris White, 'Update on the harmonisation of disability data collection in UK surveys', Health Statistics Quarterly 51, Autumn 2011, Office for National Statistics
Links: Article
Date: 2011-Aug
An article examined the implications of a European Court of Justice ruling in 2008 to the effect that the European Union directive prohibiting discrimination based on disabilities applied when the direct victim of discrimination was a person associated with the disabled person, such as a parent who was the primary carer for a disabled child.
Source: Ann Stewart, Silvia Niccolai, and Catherine Hoskyns, 'Disability discrimination by association: a case of the double yes?', Social and Legal Studies, Volume 20 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Jun
The European Union published a policy statement on disability. It called on member states to closely consult with, and actively involve, disabled people in the development of legislation and policies when implementing the United Nations Convention. It asked the European Commission to mainstream a disability perspective in the context of all actions that supported the Europe 2020 strategy.
Source: Support of the Implementation of the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020, European Union
Links: Statement
Date: 2011-Jun
A new book examined the history of disability, and of society's 'discomfort' with disabled people. It highlighted the social changes needed to ensure that disabled people were seen as equal citizens, rather than as targets for taunting, torture, and attack.
Source: Katharine Quarmby, Scapegoat: Why we are failing disabled people, Portobello Books
Links: Summary | Guardian report
Date: 2011-Jun
The coalition government began consultation on a draft report on the United Kingdom's implementation of the United Nations Convention on Rights for Disabled People since July 2009.
Source: Draft UK Initial Report: On the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Office for Disability Issues
Links: Consultation document | Annex
Date: 2011-May
An article said that the offence of 'hate crime' invited and depended on the identification of a person as different, thereby reinforcing culturally embedded ideas of normality and disability.
Source: Linda Piggott, 'Prosecuting disability hate crime: a disabling solution?', People, Place & Policy, Volume 5 Issue 1
Links: Article
Date: 2011-Apr
An article examined whether the portrayal of disabled people as categorically 'vulnerable' had weakened the impetus towards introducing hate crime provisions and legal justice for disabled people.
Source: Alan Roulstone, Pam Thomas, and Susie Balderston, 'Between hate and vulnerability: unpacking the British criminal justice system's construction of disablist hate crime', Disability & Society, Volume 26 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Apr
A new book examined the changing treatment of disabled people from the 1940s to the present day.
Source: Sonali Shah and Mark Priestley, Disability and Social Change: Private lives and public policies, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Mar
The government began consultation on proposals for improving access to elected office for disabled people. Disabled people who wanted to become local councillors or MPs would have access to a fund to help them overcome the barriers they faced.
Source: Access to Elected Office for Disabled People: A Consultation, Government Equalities Office
Links: Consultation document | Hansard | GEO press release | Scope press release
Date: 2011-Feb
The European Union ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities – the first time that the European Union had became a party to an international human rights treaty.
Source: Press release 5 January 2011, European Union
Links: EU press release | Convention | Disability Action press release
Date: 2011-Jan
An article reported the first-ever national study of the needs of disabled women experiencing domestic violence. Support services frequently overlooked or responded inappropriately to disabled women in this situation.
Source: Gill Hague, Ravi Thiara, and Audrey Mullender, 'Disabled women, domestic violence and social care: the risk of isolation, vulnerability and neglect', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 41 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Jan
An article examined attitudes to the concept of 'cure' within disability studies and the disability movement. For those who chose the path of cure, there were implications for identity and where the individual 'fitted in'.
Source: Karen Beauchamp-Pryor, 'Impairment, cure and identity: "where do I fit in?"', Disability & Society, Volume 26 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Jan
An article examined the problems associated with paying service users for involvement in research. Finding a solution was pivotal to improving research involvement for disabled people.
Source: Wendy Rickard and Rachel Purtell, 'Finding a way to pay in the UK: methods and mechanisms for paying service users involved in research', Disability & Society, Volume 26 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Jan