‘Heart-breaking’ report for UN details isolation, harassment and humiliation

A “heart-breaking” report into how disabled people’s human rights are being breached across England is set to demonstrate to the UN how the coalition is failing to implement its disability convention.

The report by the UK Disabled People’s Council (UKDPC) concludes that inequality and discrimination are affecting “every aspect of disabled people’s lives”.

And it warns that discrimination has actually worsened since the Labour government ratified the convention in 2009.

The UK Disabled People’s Report, which will be sent to UKDPC members this week for their comments, includes scores of case studies showing discrimination in areas such as public transport, social security, banking, housing, employment and leisure facilities.

It details multiple examples of the isolation, harassment, poverty, bullying and humiliation experienced by disabled people, who face daily barriers in every area of their lives.

The report has emerged from UKDPC’s lottery-funded Disability Rights Watch UK (DRWUK) project, which was supported by the Disability LIB alliance.

It was set up to ensure that disabled people and their organisations and allies were involved in monitoring implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

There were more than 1,400 responses through the DRWUK website. The new report summarises those responses, and further research carried out on behalf of UKDPC.

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