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Conclusion

The stories collected through this study revealed an overall pattern of denial of human rights of people with disabilities who live in St. John’s.

Among the eight domains of life considered in this study - social participation; privacy and family life; education; work; information and communication; access to justice; income security and services; and access to health, habilitation and rehabilitation services - the domain of social participation was the one which gathered the greatest number of reports, denoting the importance of social inclusion for the well-being and human rights of people with disabilities. The domain of access to income security & support services was next in importance for the interviewees, followed closely by the domain of work. In relation to social participation and work the reports collected emphasized the denial or violation of human rights principles more often that the full exercise of human rights and freedoms, thus documenting a disadvantaged status for people with disabilities living in St. John’s. However, in the sphere of family life, interviewees encountered more positive experiences of inclusion and human dignity than negative ones. In accessing income security and supports, participants reported both negative and positive experiences.

Gender was found to affect people’s experiences in relation to aspects of privacy and family life and income and support services. Women tended to report more experiences (both positive and negative) than men in the sphere of family life. Men, in contrast, were more prone to discuss instances of denial of human rights in relation to income security and support services. Significantly more women than men also reported instances of feeling disrespected, labelled or stigmatized which may be linked to the multiple forms of discrimination experienced by women.

The impact of age was also found significant in two domains – health, habilitation &rehabilitation, and education. Younger participants (18-34 and 35-54 age groups) reported their human rights experiences in the domain of Education more often than the older interviewees. In contrast, the domain of health was of greater importance for mature participants (55+ and 35-54 age groups).

In response to situations of abuse and discrimination, about one third of the participants reported taking legal or formal action. However, almost a quarter chose to avoid those situations and places where they experienced discrimination instead of taking action.

Recommendations

Based on the results and the issues identified above, the recommendations from this study are as follows:

  1. The virtual consultation:
    The recommendations that follow were generated from an on-line meeting between participants (both monitors and interviewee’s) and Steven Estey, who was has been part of the DRPI work in Canada since it began in 2007, his involvement included co-facilitating the training of the St. John’s monitors in August of 2009.  Originally the plan had been to host a one-day session to review findings and make recommendations, but planning and coordination for this proved to be a significant challenge and in the end it was decided that on on-line consultation would have the best chance of success.
    Before proceeding to the specific recommendations it is worth taking a moment to discuss the online format, as it is something that may have potential for DRPI at an international level, where travel and access costs are often a good deal more expensive than they are in Canada.   Indeed the opportunity to test this in with St. John’s participants was one factor making the decision to proceed with this “virtual” consultation in the first place.   
    We were fortunate that the ILRC has access to an online communication and training package that they use for other purposes.  They also had a technical support person who was able to assist with configuring the system for the meeting, and was on stand-by during the meeting to assist if there were any difficulties.  What actually happened on the day of the consultation is that Steven Estey made a web-based presentation of the findings of the research, this was with a combination of a web Camera and software that facilitated the presentation of a power point presentation, which Estey spoke to over the webcam.  Participants were logged on both at the ILRC and from their homes.  
    While the presentation itself went smoothly and was fully accessible to all particiants, it was noted by several people that interaction in such a sphere is unfamiliar to most people, and on balance the sense of the group was that the approach was not as participatory or engaging as it would have been “live.”  Nevertheless the potential for this sort of engagement and consultation was apparent, and may be something that DRPI wishes to develop in the future.
  2. What the participants had to say:
    As noted above the format for this consultation was less interactive than a face-to-face exchange, but participants did offer some specific recommendations for the continued advancement of human rights for persons with disabilities, as follows:

    • Several participants noted that there were many cases of using the human rights commission on Newfoundland and Labrador to file complaints when violations occurred.  This was felt to be an extremely effective vehicle for dealing with discrimination;  Many called for more information about filing complaints and using the system efficiently.  While there was recognition that filing a complaint was a time-consuming, and potentially expensive, process participants endorsed the approach both as a way to deal with immediate issues and as a way to promote a ‘rights-based’ understanding of disability in Canadian society.
    • Another key area where consensus emerged was the importance of investing and supporting disabled peoples’ organizations (DPOs) at a grass –roots level.  People spoke of the need to support people to learn about their rights and to speak out collectively in instances where these rights are violated.
    • A third recommendation flowed from discussion about challenges people face in the job market and enjoying their own right to work.  Participants felt that often there was a misunderstanding on the part of employers about costs associated with job accommodations, and employment-related supports.   Further to this they suggested that DPOs do more to expose these myths in an effort to promote employment opportunities.

 

Finally, when asked specifically about ongoing monitoring of human rights for people with disabilities in St. John’s and beyond, the participants agreed that any ongoing monitoring work would require financial and institutional support to make it sustainable.  They suggested that the ILRC needs resources to continue this sort of monitoring over time, with a view to tracking trends and identifying opportunities to promote human rights for persons with disabilities.

Bibliography

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