Barriers to advocacy and litigation in the equality courts for persons with disabilities

Abstract

This invisibility of disabled people as subjects of human rights and equality law is an inevitable consequence of their separation from the mainstream: a separation caused by their inability to access mainstream facilities due to physical and social barriers. Even if their exclusion and humiliation are noticed, those who conceive of disability primarily in a medical or individual sense are unlikely to recognize such marginalization as involving any form of violation of human rights. It is likely to be attributed to the disabled person's impairment rather than to an inadequate social response to it. 1 Legal awareness is the foundation for fighting injustice. The poor and other disadvantaged people cannot seek remedies for injustice when they do not know what their rights and entitlements are under the law. Information on remedies for injustice must be intelligible to the public and knowledge provided to them must serve their practical purposes. 2 *

Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa: a Scoping Review

“…There is some evidence of monitoring compliance of the UNCRPD. In South Africa, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) plays a role in monitoring the implementation of the Equality Act and disability rights, including at the international level (Holness & Rule, 2015). Furthermore, SAHRC has pushed the South African government to finalise its progress report on the implementation of the UNCRPD as well as progress on implementation of recommendations made by the Equality Court.…”

“…Furthermore, SAHRC has pushed the South African government to finalise its progress report on the implementation of the UNCRPD as well as progress on implementation of recommendations made by the Equality Court. In 2017,the Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled (SAFOD) facilitated a training for Disabled People's Organisations (DPOs) from its member states, to equip them with knowledge and skills for developing parallel UNCRPD reports as a way of improving monitoring compliance with implementation of the Convention (Holness & Rule, 2015). According to Holness and Rule (2015), countries like Namibia and Botswana have government departments that are responsible for disability affairs.…”

“…In 2017,the Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled (SAFOD) facilitated a training for Disabled People's Organisations (DPOs) from its member states, to equip them with knowledge and skills for developing parallel UNCRPD reports as a way of improving monitoring compliance with implementation of the Convention (Holness & Rule, 2015). According to Holness and Rule (2015), countries like Namibia and Botswana have government departments that are responsible for disability affairs. However, this limits effectiveness in monitoring compliance because such entities are not independent bodies.…”

“…The rights of persons with disabilities are dealt with in a fragmented fashion, often in disparate pieces of legislation (Basson, 2017) because many countries believe that they do not have the financial and infrastructural capacity to actually implement the policies (Fernandez et al, 2017). Non-profit organisations for disability fund specifically targeted services for persons with disabilities to implement aspects of the UNCRPD, but this is only to a limited extent and cannot replace the responsibilities of governments (Mwendwa et al, 2009).For example, CREATE, a non-profit organisation in South Africa, funded workshops on education and advocacy on forwarding discrimination claims in the Equality Court (Holness & Rule, 2015), while the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID)funded the community-based rehabilitation and mainstreaming programmes of persons with disabilities (Mwendwa et al, 2009).According to Mwendwa et al (2009), the DPOs have failed to convince the local business communities and government about the benefits of investing in persons with disabilities. There are reports of government ministries being less collaborative in addressing disability and development issues, with disability issues remaining on a low profile with less priority in funding allocation (Chataika et al, 2012).…”

“…Vol. 32, No.4, 2021; doi 10.47985/dcidj.532 designated to assist persons with disabilities, and, for example, the pervasive attitude displayed by frontline workers at Equality Courts in South Africa was found to negatively impact on the ability of persons with disabilities to access litigation service (Holness & Rule, 2015). Furthermore, participation of persons with disabilities in community development has been affected by negative social attitudes and cultural beliefs held by some of the general community members, as for example the case of persons with disabilities in many African countries who experience limited inclusion in activities of daily living (Mwendwa et al, 2009).…”