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Conclusions

The stories collected through this study reveal a pattern of discrimination and violation of human rights facing people with disabilities who live in the city of Toronto.

Of the eight realms/areas of life considered (social participation; privacy and family life; education; work; information and communication; access to justice; income security and services; and finally, access to health, habilitation and rehabilitation services), the area of social participation was the one which gathered the greatest number of reported incidents, suggesting the importance of social inclusion for the well-being and human rights of people with disabilities. The realm of work was second, and the domain of income security and support services followed. In relation to all these three domains the reports emphasized the denial or violation of human rights principles more often that they showed the full exercise of human rights and freedoms, thus documenting the disadvantaged citizenship status of people with disabilities, who were currently living in the city of Toronto, despite the fact that this was a relatively privileged group given the education level and the employment rate of the participants in this study.

According to the data, negative human rights experiences appeared to intersect with age and gender in various and complex ways. Older participants (those in the age group 41 years old and over as opposed to those 18-40 years old) were more prone to report rights violations in the realms of access to justice and health/habilitation and rehabilitation, thus suggesting that ageism and ableism might compound their daily life experiences. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that no report at all (either positive or negative) relative to the domain of access to justice has been collected from younger cohorts, and significantly fewer stories were gathered relative to the domain of health/habilitation and rehabilitation. While the number of participants in the younger group was smaller than in the older one, it was also possible that the lack or reduced number of reports collected in these domains from younger interviewees indicates their limited involvement with both these spheres of social life, particularly when compared to that of older generations.

Gender was found to moderately affect the rights experiences of people with disabilities in this study. While overall both genders report more negative than positive human rights experiences, male respondents were less likely than female respondents to report experiences of respect for difference while female respondents were slightly less likely than male respondents to report experiences of self-determination, inclusion and accessibility.

In response to situations of abuse and discrimination experienced, the majority of the participants reported that they have taken legal or formal action, an outcome that shows a high level of activism and proactivity, likely related to the high level of education of those interviewed.

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