Disability Rights on the Global Agenda

On May 3, 2008, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and Optional Protocol became "one of only seven international human rights treaties to enter into force in the 60 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights" (1). The legally binding treaty builds upon earlier, non-legally binding international reports (2, 3) and highlights human rights issues of particular concern to the disabled including increased incidence of poverty, reduced access to health care, education, and employment, increased rates of harassment, exploitation, and violence, especially among women and girls, and lack of autonomy and independence. It also emphasizes "the importance of mainstreaming disability issues as an integral part of relevant strategies of sustainable development" (4).

In order to address these issues, the population in question must be identified and counted. What is the definition of disability? And how many people are disabled? The latter is difficult to answer because the CRPD avoids explicitly defining disability, instead preferring to call it "an evolving concept [that] results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinders full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others" (4). This builds upon the work of the aforementioned international programmes and reflects the redefining of human ability occurring within academia (5).

Nevertheless, there are estimates on the number of disabled persons in the world. From over 500 million disabled in 1982 (2), there are now in excess of 650 million persons living with disabilities, or about 10% of the world's population (6). Approximately 300 million of these are women (7) and approximately 80% of all disabled persons live in developing countries (6). In isolated, rural areas of some developing countries, up to 20% of people were disabled in 1982. When effects on the family were included, the percentage jumped to 50% of people affected by disability (2).

Given these percentages, the framing of disability rights as a development issue becomes apparent. In addition to the fundamental need for development aid in affected communities, the development aspect of disability rights may act to increase its salience by providing an alternate venue of appeal. While cases of physical and sexual abuse are compatible with the issue characteristic of "involving bodily harm to vulnerable individuals" (8), other forms of discrimination such as lack of autonomy and reduced access to education do not. Nor do they, to the best of the author's knowledge, generally satisfy the other major issue characteristic of "legal equality of opportunity" (emphasis added) (8). However, with the inclusion of development rights in the campaign, another venue of persuasion becomes available to the advocate. For those actors less persuaded by the human rights violations, the solid statistics on disabled persons and developing countries act to increase both the salience and viability of disability rights as a global issue.

Is it possible the tying of disability rights to development as well as human rights was essential for its successful ascension to the global agenda? To answer this question, I will investigate how disability rights were framed in early efforts to gain access to the global agenda and how the framing changed throughout the campaign.

I will also explore the relationship between disability rights and issues not explicitly mentioned in the CRPD's Preamble: fatal and highly communicable diseases, particularly those associated with sexual transmission such as HIV/AIDS, the right to bear and keep children, and freedom of sexual expression.

References

1. AIDS and Rights: The XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. (2008). Retrieved 9/5/2008, from http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/08/05/mexico19544_txt.htm

2. World programme of action on disabled persons (1982). Retrieved 9/5/2008, from http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=23

3. Standard rules on the equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities (1993). Retrieved 9/5/2008, from http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/dissre00.htm

4. Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and option protocol. Retrieved 9/5/2008, from http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/convention/convoptprot-e.pdf

5. Baker, D. L. (2006). Children's disability policy in a global world: A question of convergence. International Journal of Public Administration, 29, 397.

6. United Nation Secretariat. (2008). Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and its protocol. Retrieved 9/5/2008, from www.un.org/disabilities/documents/ppt/crpdbasics.ppt

7. Women and girls with disabilities. (2006). Retrieved 9/5/2008, from http://hrw.org/women/disabled.html

8. Keck, M.E., & Sikkink, K. (1998). Activists beyond borders : Advocacy networks in international politics. p. 27. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.