11 the future…in our hands! paradigms and accessibility for persons with disabilities in the...
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11
The Future…In Our Hands!
Paradigms and Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities in the Electoral Process: from “patients” (“the ill”) to CITIZENS
Pamela Molina ToledoProject Manager– OAS Secretariat for Legal Affairs
September 22, 2014
2
We’re still hungry…
For our rights!!......
What are we talking about when we talk about disability? Someone who is…
A PERSON WITH
DISABILITIES
Handicapped, impaired?
Special?
God’s punish-ment ?
Differently abled?An avatar… ?
A burden on society?
A cripple, a deaf-mute, a little old
blind man, a crazy, a sick person?
A Patient?
An invalid?
Disabled? A person
The main cause or root of exclusion:stigma, “labels”
• “The lights are on but nobody’s home…”• “She has a screw loose…”• “The elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top
floor.”
Words, “labels”...
Different feelings about diversity: fear, pity, discomfort, nervousness, rejection...
Ideas: danger, violence, less value, laziness, crime, uselessness, incapacity, inability...
These “words” respond to a pattern, a model created by society to judge people’s worth: a conceptual paradigm. A paradigm is not a representation of things that already existed; it is a new construct. The sum total of the discourse that makes up a paradigm constitutes a culture’s reality. There is no discourse independent of us, nor are we independent of the discourse.
Result: EXCLUSION
Why is it considered a cost and not an investment to address the specific needs of persons with disabilities?
Because of the historical “cycle of invisibility” to which they are subject.
• Policies to “eliminate and prevent,” but not to INCLUDE.
The second cause or root: invisibility
Persons with disabilities are
not seen as part of the community, are not provided
goods, rights, and services.
Without access to goods, rights, and services there is no inclusion.
Discrimination and exclusion
continue.
Persons with “invisible”
disabilities are hidden away at
home.
“I don’t know what to call you.”
“Sam. You can call me Sam.”(“I Am Sam” – 2001)
I am going to need that list of names.
Disability and Human RightsArticle 9, CRPD: Accessibility
• States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas.
Article 29, CRPD: Participation in political and public life• Ensure that persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in
political and public life on an equal basis with others, directly or through freely chosen representatives, including the right and opportunity for persons with disabilities to vote and be elected.
• Promote actively an environment in which persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in the conduct of public affairs, without discrimination and on an equal basis with others, and encourage their participation in public affairs.
"Medical model"
• The "problem" lies in the person.
• Disability is the direct consequence of the impairment.
• Disability is a problem related solely to health.
• Solutions are designed by experts based on a diagnosis.
• Approach: Eliminate or cure the disability: "normalize."
Disability from a medical and social perspective: 2 main contrasting models
Adapted from Rioux, 1997 - Cité par Interactif déc 2002 - Understanding disability : look, then act
Disability seen as an individual pathology
Disability seen as a social pathology
“Social model"• The problem lies mainly in the
environment and in society, in general. • Disability is the direct consequence of
social limitations to accessibility and to equality of opportunities.
• Disability is a human rights issue.• Persons with disabilities should
participate in designing solutions.
Approach: Eliminate physical, social, political, and economic barriers. Persons with disabilities are considered the citizens they are. HUMAN RIGHTS perspective.
Disability is part of human diversity
Accessibility: Absolutely essential right and prerequisite for the
exercise of other human rights….
Disability is a result of the relationship between the individual and the environment, and manifests itself when the individual’s intentions or aims cannot be realized because the characteristics of that environment do not allow it.
OPCS (Office of Population Censuses & Surveys), 1986
Alternative questions proposed by Michael Oliver
What complaint causes your difficulty in holding, gripping or turning things?
What defect in the design of everyday equipment like jars, bottles and tins causes you difficulty in holding, gripping or turning them?
Are your difficulties in understanding people mainly due to a hearing problem?
Are your difficulties in understanding people mainly due to their inability to communicate?
Detecting and Identifying Disabling Situations
What does it mean to have accessible elections?
To ensure equal opportunities in access to the right to participate in political and public life. This implies:• Laws ensuring the right to vote with no exclusions• All public agencies involved in elections implement
measures to ensure accessibility and inclusion• This should be the case for every element of the
electoral process: Information (free of charge, from public sources,
accessible) Awareness of proposals, access to debates Incorporation into public life (voting, holding public
posts, etc.) Full citizenship recognition (legal personhood,
access to justice)
Significant Electoral Abstention Rate among Persons with Disabilities
• Worldwide, the rate of abstention from the electoral process is higher among persons with disabilities than among voters without disabilities.
• Many citizens with disabilities end up not voting because the entire electoral system, from the registration process to the act of voting, presents a series of barriers—physical, architectural, information- and communication-related, attitudinal, bureaucratic—that make the election environment inaccessible.
• An inaccessible electoral system, in turn, leads to a violation of the human and constitutional rights and fundamental freedoms of persons with disabilities.
• Among the main reasons for abstention:
Inaccessible polling center Inaccessible voting booth No privacy at polling place Inaccessible ballots Lack of information Denial of right to vote by family members or those in charge Attitude of election workers Attitude of other voters Attitude of disabled voter: no interest, no sense of belonging or
citizenship
Significant Electoral Abstention Rate among Persons with Disabilities
General Recommendations
1. Before the elections:
• LAW ENSURING THE RIGHT TO UNIVERSAL, ACCESSIBLE VOTING: including forms of PUBLIC, SEMI-PUBLIC, AND ASSISTED VOTING.
• PROTOCOLS FOR ACCESSIBLE ELECTORAL PROCESSES• ACCESSIBLE ELECTION ADVERTISING: Election advertising should make use
of accessibility tools: visible subtitling or closed captioning; Braille guide; list of candidates in Braille; and the name of the political party, list number, and name of the first candidate on the list provided in both audio and visual form.
Information should be provided in different formats so that everyone can receive it.
The message should “get it” when it comes to any situation concerning its recipients, and should be appropriate for the context in which they live.
Include the participation of persons with disabilities in crafting messages that involve their own needs.
General Recommendations
1. Before the elections:
• ACCESSIBLE INFORMATION FOR CITIZENS: The design of informational and training websites should respect existing requirements and norms on web accessibility.
• ACCESSIBLE WAYS TO CHECK VOTER ROLLS: It should be possible to check voter rolls using accessible forms of communication: websites with audio, text messages, telephone numbers.
• ACCESSIBLE ELECTORAL-CIVIC EDUCATION: Different training methods should be used for electoral authorities depending on the nature of the service and the characteristics and needs for differentiated support.
• SELECTION OF POLLING PLACES: accessible, made known.
2. During the electoral process:
• ACCESSIBLE VOTING FACILITIES: In other words, they should not have different levels or obstacles that make it difficult for voters to get in or to move around once they are inside. If such obstacles do exist, ensure that there are ramps and visible signage, as well as adapted bathrooms and spaces where appropriate.
• ACCESSIBLE VOTING BOOTHS: It is proposed that accessible voting booths be included in each facility, to be used by any voters with disabilities who might need them. These are placed in rooms with appropriate signage and identification, located in the most accessible place in the facility, and can be used by persons with disabilities.
• VOTING DEVICE FOR VOTERS WHO ARE BLIND OR HAVE IMPAIRED VISION• EXPLANATORY GUIDE PRINTED IN BRAILLE WITH SIMPLE GRAPHICS• LIST OF CANDIDATES IN BRAILLE• SIGNAGE with simple drawings, located in very visible places, to easily locate
voting areas and provide voting instructions.• SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETERS at all polling stations.• TRAINED STAFF at the polling stations.
General Recommendations
2. During the electoral process:
• ASSISTED VOTING, or public or semi-public voting allowed: A voter with a disability may ask to be assisted by a person he or she trusts or by the polling station president.
• GUIDE DOGS: If a voter with a disability shows up with a guide dog or assistance dog, the electoral authorities should allow them to enter the facility and the room set up for voters with disabilities.
• PARKING: It is recommended that parking be restricted in front of polling centers to allow access for persons with disabilities.
• CONSIDERATION OF INTERNET VOTING OR DISTANCE VOTING: when physical and geographical conditions represent a very large and costly obstacle for persons with disabilities.
• UNBRIDLED RESPECT FOR THE ABILITY AND RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES TO MAKE DECISIONS
General Recommendations
3. After the electoral process
• Turn in all information related to results in a format that is accessible to everyone.
• Facilitate conditions so that persons with disabilities can serve as leaders, advisers, consultants, or “observers” during the entire electoral process and in the observation of compliance with public policies and the exercise of duties and rights.
• Persons with disabilities are citizens with political rights, and therefore their ability to make decisions and participate, their right to vote and to be elected, and their political choices must be respected.
• Consultation with persons with disabilities themselves, through the organizations that represent them in the country, should always be considered.
• Include experts with disabilities in positions of public service and in social ministries and departments, so that they can advise directly on disability-related services and decision-making concerning laws, programs, and public policies.
General Recommendations
Pamela Molina Project Manager
Secretariat for Legal AffairsOrganization of American States
Chilean citizen with a humanities degree from the University of Chile. She has a master’s degree in Disabilities and Human Rights from the University of Chicago. She participated as a Latin American expert in the process of drafting and approving the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She currently works as Project Manager in the disability area of the Secretariat for Legal Affairs at the Organization of American States, in Washington, D.C.
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