magazine 2021
Ableism around the World
By Ainsley Gill, Raiaab Ajmal, Penelope Xenou, and Oliver Polachini
Understanding Ableism in Developing Nations
Sexism, racism, nationalism, classism, homosexism are words in the endless -ism list of common terms describing the hatred against those who are “different.” However, despite the millions of people affected by a disability, ableism has not received proportional awareness. While developed countries have noted significant progress over the years in an effort to battle the discriminatory phenomenon, the developing ones are, unfortunately, falling behind. Ghana, a country of 25 million in the sub-region of West Africa, remains a nation widely criticized as ableist. Is such a characterization warranted?
One cannot accurately answer the question, unless the term is fully explained. “Ableism” is the “social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior.” For ableists, individuals with physical, intellectual or psychiatric disabilities require “fixing” setting them up as targets of discrimination. This set of beliefs perfectly exemplifies the eugenics movement of the early 1900s or the mass murder of disabled people in Nazi Germany. However, one does not have to think of such extreme manifestations of the ableist behavior to comprehend its acceptance; mocking disabled people, segregating students with disabilities into separate schools or not equipping buildings with braille on signs and elevator buttons constitute practices of “ableism.”
The characterization of Ghanaian society as “ableist” depends on mainly two factors: the degree to which disabled persons’ legal rights are secure and the type of social response they receive. As far as the former is concerned, it is of crucial legal importance that Ghana signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Finally ratifying the document in 2012, the African country was the 119th in the world to do so. Additionally, the Persons with Disability Act (Act 715), passed by Ghana’s parliament in 2006, provides rights such as free health care, unrestricted access to public spaces and education. Among several sections of other legislation, the basic rights of disabled people are also detailed in Ghana’s constitution. However, it is, unfortunately, one thing to have one’s rights legally guaranteed, and another to practically enable the rights’ enjoyment. The promise of setting up institutions and structures, vital for the implementation of the act’s provisions, remains unfulfilled. The employment opportunities supposed to be provided by the state are yet to be actualized.
Meanwhile, the allocation of a scant percentage of Ghana’s revenue for persons with disabilities and the limited action on the part of the supposed national vanguards of citizens’ rights (such as the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice) have, in reality, led to a standardization of discrimination. Furthermore, it would be a mere falsehood to allege that disabled Ghanaians stand as equal citizens under the law, when their rights remain not fully recognized nor actively safeguarded.
However, the level of legal protection their rights enjoy merely reflects Ghanaian society’s standpoint on disability in general. Disabled people experience social stigma and exclusion. They are marginalized due to the misrepresentation of disability in the Ghanaian tradition: disabilities are attributed to witchcraft, juju and supernatural forces, a misbelief which resulted in the common Ghanaian assumption that those born disabled are possessed by evil spirits. If a child with physical deformities escapes infanticide, it is very likely that he or she will be abandoned at an orphanage or face a life of homelessness. If the child happens to have a mental illness, then the patient, instead of receiving conventional hospital care, will encounter institutionalization at a prayer camp. “Prayer Camps” are religious institutes, in which people with any mental illness are involuntarily kept; as part of their treatment there, they are starved, chained and suffer beatings.
Individuals with disabilities in Ghana make up an estimated 3% of the population of 25 million, rendering them one of the largest oppressed groups in the country. Apart from being deprived of the most fundamental human rights due to lack of political will to actively render them equal citizens, they have to wake up every day to a reality of hostility and suspicion. Internalizing the predominant traditional misconceptions surrounding disabilities, they end up feeling trapped in the idea of their inferiority and problematic nature; thus, they hardly ever develop to their full potential. Until the day that all of their rights are legally recognized and freely exercised, being disabled in Ghana will still, by definition, be disabling.
In the United States: Mutation, Growth, and Awareness
As the use of the word “ableism” gains popularity on various social media platforms, many individuals have started to bring to light issues which were previously disregarded as problems. What could have been thought of as goodwill or sensitivity can be classified as a clear act of ableism. ” Ableism is a somewhat complicated topic to fully grasp, as minor acts might, in reality, be discriminatory towards the population of those with disabilities in our society.
Due to factors such as mutation, population ageing and an increase in chronic health diseases, the number of physically and mentally disabled individuals is increasing. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately 15% of the population, or 1 billion individuals, have significant difficulties in functioning. This means that around 1 in 7 individuals encounter issues related to ableism on a regular basis.
Around 26% of the population of the United States of America (USA), or, 61 million adults in the USA have some kind of disability, with the South having the highest number of cases. Despite their substantial population, the U.S government is often criticized for the approaches it has taken to tackle the prevailing issue of ableism. Even though action has been taken in the form of the “Americans with Disabilities Act,” and the signing of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), not much has changed. Although the U.S. signed the CRPD in 2009, the act has still not been ratified by the U.S. Government.
1 in 3 disabled adults (ages 18 to 44 years) of the U.S population do not have a usual health care provider and have been unable to meet their health care needs due to financial restraints. This includes 10.8% of the disabled population with cognitive disability. A cognitive disability includes a variety of symptoms such as difficulty concentrating and remembering or making decisions. 6.8% of the population have an independent living disability and face difficulty doing day-to-day tasks by themselves. In article 28, the CRPD specifically clarifies that “people with disabilities” have a “right to an adequate standard of living and social protection.” However, the U.S. Government has not hesitated to continue allowing the Social Security Administration to keep people who are experiencing forms of disability on incomes at the “poverty level.” Approximately over 75% of disabled adults are without employment.
Approximately 6.5 million children or 13% of school-going individuals in the United States live with physical and mental disabilities and need to attend schools with specific accommodations. Due to the IDEA Act of 2004, federal law allows disabled students to have access to free, public education. However, many of these public schools are not accommodating of disabled children and are not prepared to deal with all the requirements of a disabled individual. Despite there being 30,861 private schools, many of which use research-based techniques to make a comforting environment for their “special” students, many parents cannot afford to send their children to these institutes due to the high tuition rates.
These issues are deep-rooted not-only within our society, but also our government and industries, and it is of ample importance that we tackle them as efficiently and swiftly as possible to ensure equal protection under the law for all.
The German Perspective
In Germany, companies with more than 20 employees must have measures to accommodate every individual with a disability. To provide employment for disabled people and encourage diversity in the workplace, those with a physical and/or mental disability are required to make up at least 5% of hired employees. Though, despite these measures, it is hard to forget about the 300,000 disabled people who were euthanized by the Nazis. According to the Center for Talent Innovation, “a cultural tendency toward keeping such information private, perhaps rooted in Nazi policies that targeted people with disabilities in the run-up to World War II, make meeting the government quota quite difficult.” This tendency is not only to blame on the country’s traditions themselves, but also the rise of far-right and fascist movements.
Since the end of the war, there has been a lack of infrastructure, political preparation and social assistance for people with disabilities. Disabled persons either live in institutions or with their families. They have little to no access to public services like public buildings and transportation and no accessible housing or assistance services. In 1990, to have their needs recognized by the “Initiative for the Legal Equalization of Disabled People,” there were nearly 30 of protests and demonstrations by people with disabilities. In 1996, the Bundesnetzwerk von Frauen Lesben und Mädchen mit Beeinträchtigungen (Federal network of Women, Lesbians and Girls with Impairments) finally brought up the matters involving the sexual abuse and rape of disabled girls and women, also discussing the questions around selective abortion. Since then, disabled people have gained a voice in the media, but the fight for the rights of people with disabilities is far from over.
For example, refugees with disabilities have to wait for months for wheelchairs and general and specialized healthcare. Even though the number of disabled people seeking asylum is high, an example being Nujeen Mustafa, who traveled from Syria to Germany in her wheelchair, it is the country’s responsibility to offer refugees the same treatment and support offered to German citizens.
Internationally, while the 28 member states of the European Union have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which guarantees children with disabilities the right to inclusive education, the Human Rights Watch and the European Disability Forum do not consider institutions like the European Schools appropriate for children with disabilities. 4% of its students are in need of special educational accommodations, yet the school made none of the necessary arrangements to aid in the education of these students. German children are often harmed by such situations, emphasizing the urgency for change.
While the disabled community faces diverse challenges, some of them seem to be harder to overcome. Even though the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights recognized issues towards eugenics through the words of UN Special Rapporteur Catalina Devandason the rights of persons with disabilities, current nationalist and Nazi-aligned movements make clearer and stronger the ableist ideals in the country. “People with disabilities are genuinely concerned that these developments could result in new eugenic practices and further undermine social acceptance and solidarity towards disability - and more broadly, towards human diversity. If assisted dying is made available for persons with health conditions or impairments, but who are not terminally ill, a social assumption could be made that it is better to be dead than to live with a disability”, said the Rapporteur.
It is essential to recognize the roots of ableism in Germany and listen to disabled voices in resolving such situations. While currently unable to adapt to the needs of people with disabilities, Germany continues to be a safe place for ableist thoughts to surge. Yet, through cooperation with other countries in Europe, Germany can start taking its strides towards improving the lives of disabled individuals and stifling ableist undercurrents.
Sexism, racism, nationalism, classism, homosexism are words in the endless -ism list of common terms describing the hatred against those who are “different.” However, despite the millions of people affected by a disability, ableism has not received proportional awareness. While developed countries have noted significant progress over the years in an effort to battle the discriminatory phenomenon, the developing ones are, unfortunately, falling behind. Ghana, a country of 25 million in the sub-region of West Africa, remains a nation widely criticized as ableist. Is such a characterization warranted?
One cannot accurately answer the question, unless the term is fully explained. “Ableism” is the “social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior.” For ableists, individuals with physical, intellectual or psychiatric disabilities require “fixing” setting them up as targets of discrimination. This set of beliefs perfectly exemplifies the eugenics movement of the early 1900s or the mass murder of disabled people in Nazi Germany. However, one does not have to think of such extreme manifestations of the ableist behavior to comprehend its acceptance; mocking disabled people, segregating students with disabilities into separate schools or not equipping buildings with braille on signs and elevator buttons constitute practices of “ableism.”
The characterization of Ghanaian society as “ableist” depends on mainly two factors: the degree to which disabled persons’ legal rights are secure and the type of social response they receive. As far as the former is concerned, it is of crucial legal importance that Ghana signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Finally ratifying the document in 2012, the African country was the 119th in the world to do so. Additionally, the Persons with Disability Act (Act 715), passed by Ghana’s parliament in 2006, provides rights such as free health care, unrestricted access to public spaces and education. Among several sections of other legislation, the basic rights of disabled people are also detailed in Ghana’s constitution. However, it is, unfortunately, one thing to have one’s rights legally guaranteed, and another to practically enable the rights’ enjoyment. The promise of setting up institutions and structures, vital for the implementation of the act’s provisions, remains unfulfilled. The employment opportunities supposed to be provided by the state are yet to be actualized.
Meanwhile, the allocation of a scant percentage of Ghana’s revenue for persons with disabilities and the limited action on the part of the supposed national vanguards of citizens’ rights (such as the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice) have, in reality, led to a standardization of discrimination. Furthermore, it would be a mere falsehood to allege that disabled Ghanaians stand as equal citizens under the law, when their rights remain not fully recognized nor actively safeguarded.
However, the level of legal protection their rights enjoy merely reflects Ghanaian society’s standpoint on disability in general. Disabled people experience social stigma and exclusion. They are marginalized due to the misrepresentation of disability in the Ghanaian tradition: disabilities are attributed to witchcraft, juju and supernatural forces, a misbelief which resulted in the common Ghanaian assumption that those born disabled are possessed by evil spirits. If a child with physical deformities escapes infanticide, it is very likely that he or she will be abandoned at an orphanage or face a life of homelessness. If the child happens to have a mental illness, then the patient, instead of receiving conventional hospital care, will encounter institutionalization at a prayer camp. “Prayer Camps” are religious institutes, in which people with any mental illness are involuntarily kept; as part of their treatment there, they are starved, chained and suffer beatings.
Individuals with disabilities in Ghana make up an estimated 3% of the population of 25 million, rendering them one of the largest oppressed groups in the country. Apart from being deprived of the most fundamental human rights due to lack of political will to actively render them equal citizens, they have to wake up every day to a reality of hostility and suspicion. Internalizing the predominant traditional misconceptions surrounding disabilities, they end up feeling trapped in the idea of their inferiority and problematic nature; thus, they hardly ever develop to their full potential. Until the day that all of their rights are legally recognized and freely exercised, being disabled in Ghana will still, by definition, be disabling.
In the United States: Mutation, Growth, and Awareness
As the use of the word “ableism” gains popularity on various social media platforms, many individuals have started to bring to light issues which were previously disregarded as problems. What could have been thought of as goodwill or sensitivity can be classified as a clear act of ableism. ” Ableism is a somewhat complicated topic to fully grasp, as minor acts might, in reality, be discriminatory towards the population of those with disabilities in our society.
Due to factors such as mutation, population ageing and an increase in chronic health diseases, the number of physically and mentally disabled individuals is increasing. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately 15% of the population, or 1 billion individuals, have significant difficulties in functioning. This means that around 1 in 7 individuals encounter issues related to ableism on a regular basis.
Around 26% of the population of the United States of America (USA), or, 61 million adults in the USA have some kind of disability, with the South having the highest number of cases. Despite their substantial population, the U.S government is often criticized for the approaches it has taken to tackle the prevailing issue of ableism. Even though action has been taken in the form of the “Americans with Disabilities Act,” and the signing of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), not much has changed. Although the U.S. signed the CRPD in 2009, the act has still not been ratified by the U.S. Government.
1 in 3 disabled adults (ages 18 to 44 years) of the U.S population do not have a usual health care provider and have been unable to meet their health care needs due to financial restraints. This includes 10.8% of the disabled population with cognitive disability. A cognitive disability includes a variety of symptoms such as difficulty concentrating and remembering or making decisions. 6.8% of the population have an independent living disability and face difficulty doing day-to-day tasks by themselves. In article 28, the CRPD specifically clarifies that “people with disabilities” have a “right to an adequate standard of living and social protection.” However, the U.S. Government has not hesitated to continue allowing the Social Security Administration to keep people who are experiencing forms of disability on incomes at the “poverty level.” Approximately over 75% of disabled adults are without employment.
Approximately 6.5 million children or 13% of school-going individuals in the United States live with physical and mental disabilities and need to attend schools with specific accommodations. Due to the IDEA Act of 2004, federal law allows disabled students to have access to free, public education. However, many of these public schools are not accommodating of disabled children and are not prepared to deal with all the requirements of a disabled individual. Despite there being 30,861 private schools, many of which use research-based techniques to make a comforting environment for their “special” students, many parents cannot afford to send their children to these institutes due to the high tuition rates.
These issues are deep-rooted not-only within our society, but also our government and industries, and it is of ample importance that we tackle them as efficiently and swiftly as possible to ensure equal protection under the law for all.
The German Perspective
In Germany, companies with more than 20 employees must have measures to accommodate every individual with a disability. To provide employment for disabled people and encourage diversity in the workplace, those with a physical and/or mental disability are required to make up at least 5% of hired employees. Though, despite these measures, it is hard to forget about the 300,000 disabled people who were euthanized by the Nazis. According to the Center for Talent Innovation, “a cultural tendency toward keeping such information private, perhaps rooted in Nazi policies that targeted people with disabilities in the run-up to World War II, make meeting the government quota quite difficult.” This tendency is not only to blame on the country’s traditions themselves, but also the rise of far-right and fascist movements.
Since the end of the war, there has been a lack of infrastructure, political preparation and social assistance for people with disabilities. Disabled persons either live in institutions or with their families. They have little to no access to public services like public buildings and transportation and no accessible housing or assistance services. In 1990, to have their needs recognized by the “Initiative for the Legal Equalization of Disabled People,” there were nearly 30 of protests and demonstrations by people with disabilities. In 1996, the Bundesnetzwerk von Frauen Lesben und Mädchen mit Beeinträchtigungen (Federal network of Women, Lesbians and Girls with Impairments) finally brought up the matters involving the sexual abuse and rape of disabled girls and women, also discussing the questions around selective abortion. Since then, disabled people have gained a voice in the media, but the fight for the rights of people with disabilities is far from over.
For example, refugees with disabilities have to wait for months for wheelchairs and general and specialized healthcare. Even though the number of disabled people seeking asylum is high, an example being Nujeen Mustafa, who traveled from Syria to Germany in her wheelchair, it is the country’s responsibility to offer refugees the same treatment and support offered to German citizens.
Internationally, while the 28 member states of the European Union have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which guarantees children with disabilities the right to inclusive education, the Human Rights Watch and the European Disability Forum do not consider institutions like the European Schools appropriate for children with disabilities. 4% of its students are in need of special educational accommodations, yet the school made none of the necessary arrangements to aid in the education of these students. German children are often harmed by such situations, emphasizing the urgency for change.
While the disabled community faces diverse challenges, some of them seem to be harder to overcome. Even though the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights recognized issues towards eugenics through the words of UN Special Rapporteur Catalina Devandason the rights of persons with disabilities, current nationalist and Nazi-aligned movements make clearer and stronger the ableist ideals in the country. “People with disabilities are genuinely concerned that these developments could result in new eugenic practices and further undermine social acceptance and solidarity towards disability - and more broadly, towards human diversity. If assisted dying is made available for persons with health conditions or impairments, but who are not terminally ill, a social assumption could be made that it is better to be dead than to live with a disability”, said the Rapporteur.
It is essential to recognize the roots of ableism in Germany and listen to disabled voices in resolving such situations. While currently unable to adapt to the needs of people with disabilities, Germany continues to be a safe place for ableist thoughts to surge. Yet, through cooperation with other countries in Europe, Germany can start taking its strides towards improving the lives of disabled individuals and stifling ableist undercurrents.
magazine 2021
4.
Ableism around the World
Ableism around the World
By Ainsley Gill, Raiaab Ajmal, Penelope Xenou, and Oliver Polachini
Understanding Ableism in Developing Nations
Sexism, racism, nationalism, classism, homosexism are words in the endless -ism list of common terms describing the hatred against those who are “different.” However, despite the millions of people affected by a disability, ableism has not received proportional awareness. While developed countries have noted significant progress over the years in an effort to battle the discriminatory phenomenon, the developing ones are, unfortunately, falling behind. Ghana, a country of 25 million in the sub-region of West Africa, remains a nation widely criticized as ableist. Is such a characterization warranted?
One cannot accurately answer the question, unless the term is fully explained. “Ableism” is the “social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior.” For ableists, individuals with physical, intellectual or psychiatric disabilities require “fixing” setting them up as targets of discrimination. This set of beliefs perfectly exemplifies the eugenics movement of the early 1900s or the mass murder of disabled people in Nazi Germany. However, one does not have to think of such extreme manifestations of the ableist behavior to comprehend its acceptance; mocking disabled people, segregating students with disabilities into separate schools or not equipping buildings with braille on signs and elevator buttons constitute practices of “ableism.”
The characterization of Ghanaian society as “ableist” depends on mainly two factors: the degree to which disabled persons’ legal rights are secure and the type of social response they receive. As far as the former is concerned, it is of crucial legal importance that Ghana signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Finally ratifying the document in 2012, the African country was the 119th in the world to do so. Additionally, the Persons with Disability Act (Act 715), passed by Ghana’s parliament in 2006, provides rights such as free health care, unrestricted access to public spaces and education. Among several sections of other legislation, the basic rights of disabled people are also detailed in Ghana’s constitution. However, it is, unfortunately, one thing to have one’s rights legally guaranteed, and another to practically enable the rights’ enjoyment. The promise of setting up institutions and structures, vital for the implementation of the act’s provisions, remains unfulfilled. The employment opportunities supposed to be provided by the state are yet to be actualized.
Meanwhile, the allocation of a scant percentage of Ghana’s revenue for persons with disabilities and the limited action on the part of the supposed national vanguards of citizens’ rights (such as the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice) have, in reality, led to a standardization of discrimination. Furthermore, it would be a mere falsehood to allege that disabled Ghanaians stand as equal citizens under the law, when their rights remain not fully recognized nor actively safeguarded.
However, the level of legal protection their rights enjoy merely reflects Ghanaian society’s standpoint on disability in general. Disabled people experience social stigma and exclusion. They are marginalized due to the misrepresentation of disability in the Ghanaian tradition: disabilities are attributed to witchcraft, juju and supernatural forces, a misbelief which resulted in the common Ghanaian assumption that those born disabled are possessed by evil spirits. If a child with physical deformities escapes infanticide, it is very likely that he or she will be abandoned at an orphanage or face a life of homelessness. If the child happens to have a mental illness, then the patient, instead of receiving conventional hospital care, will encounter institutionalization at a prayer camp. “Prayer Camps” are religious institutes, in which people with any mental illness are involuntarily kept; as part of their treatment there, they are starved, chained and suffer beatings.
Individuals with disabilities in Ghana make up an estimated 3% of the population of 25 million, rendering them one of the largest oppressed groups in the country. Apart from being deprived of the most fundamental human rights due to lack of political will to actively render them equal citizens, they have to wake up every day to a reality of hostility and suspicion. Internalizing the predominant traditional misconceptions surrounding disabilities, they end up feeling trapped in the idea of their inferiority and problematic nature; thus, they hardly ever develop to their full potential. Until the day that all of their rights are legally recognized and freely exercised, being disabled in Ghana will still, by definition, be disabling.
In the United States: Mutation, Growth, and Awareness
As the use of the word “ableism” gains popularity on various social media platforms, many individuals have started to bring to light issues which were previously disregarded as problems. What could have been thought of as goodwill or sensitivity can be classified as a clear act of ableism. ” Ableism is a somewhat complicated topic to fully grasp, as minor acts might, in reality, be discriminatory towards the population of those with disabilities in our society.
Due to factors such as mutation, population ageing and an increase in chronic health diseases, the number of physically and mentally disabled individuals is increasing. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately 15% of the population, or 1 billion individuals, have significant difficulties in functioning. This means that around 1 in 7 individuals encounter issues related to ableism on a regular basis.
Around 26% of the population of the United States of America (USA), or, 61 million adults in the USA have some kind of disability, with the South having the highest number of cases. Despite their substantial population, the U.S government is often criticized for the approaches it has taken to tackle the prevailing issue of ableism. Even though action has been taken in the form of the “Americans with Disabilities Act,” and the signing of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), not much has changed. Although the U.S. signed the CRPD in 2009, the act has still not been ratified by the U.S. Government.
1 in 3 disabled adults (ages 18 to 44 years) of the U.S population do not have a usual health care provider and have been unable to meet their health care needs due to financial restraints. This includes 10.8% of the disabled population with cognitive disability. A cognitive disability includes a variety of symptoms such as difficulty concentrating and remembering or making decisions. 6.8% of the population have an independent living disability and face difficulty doing day-to-day tasks by themselves. In article 28, the CRPD specifically clarifies that “people with disabilities” have a “right to an adequate standard of living and social protection.” However, the U.S. Government has not hesitated to continue allowing the Social Security Administration to keep people who are experiencing forms of disability on incomes at the “poverty level.” Approximately over 75% of disabled adults are without employment.
Approximately 6.5 million children or 13% of school-going individuals in the United States live with physical and mental disabilities and need to attend schools with specific accommodations. Due to the IDEA Act of 2004, federal law allows disabled students to have access to free, public education. However, many of these public schools are not accommodating of disabled children and are not prepared to deal with all the requirements of a disabled individual. Despite there being 30,861 private schools, many of which use research-based techniques to make a comforting environment for their “special” students, many parents cannot afford to send their children to these institutes due to the high tuition rates.
These issues are deep-rooted not-only within our society, but also our government and industries, and it is of ample importance that we tackle them as efficiently and swiftly as possible to ensure equal protection under the law for all.
The German Perspective
In Germany, companies with more than 20 employees must have measures to accommodate every individual with a disability. To provide employment for disabled people and encourage diversity in the workplace, those with a physical and/or mental disability are required to make up at least 5% of hired employees. Though, despite these measures, it is hard to forget about the 300,000 disabled people who were euthanized by the Nazis. According to the Center for Talent Innovation, “a cultural tendency toward keeping such information private, perhaps rooted in Nazi policies that targeted people with disabilities in the run-up to World War II, make meeting the government quota quite difficult.” This tendency is not only to blame on the country’s traditions themselves, but also the rise of far-right and fascist movements.
Since the end of the war, there has been a lack of infrastructure, political preparation and social assistance for people with disabilities. Disabled persons either live in institutions or with their families. They have little to no access to public services like public buildings and transportation and no accessible housing or assistance services. In 1990, to have their needs recognized by the “Initiative for the Legal Equalization of Disabled People,” there were nearly 30 of protests and demonstrations by people with disabilities. In 1996, the Bundesnetzwerk von Frauen Lesben und Mädchen mit Beeinträchtigungen (Federal network of Women, Lesbians and Girls with Impairments) finally brought up the matters involving the sexual abuse and rape of disabled girls and women, also discussing the questions around selective abortion. Since then, disabled people have gained a voice in the media, but the fight for the rights of people with disabilities is far from over.
For example, refugees with disabilities have to wait for months for wheelchairs and general and specialized healthcare. Even though the number of disabled people seeking asylum is high, an example being Nujeen Mustafa, who traveled from Syria to Germany in her wheelchair, it is the country’s responsibility to offer refugees the same treatment and support offered to German citizens.
Internationally, while the 28 member states of the European Union have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which guarantees children with disabilities the right to inclusive education, the Human Rights Watch and the European Disability Forum do not consider institutions like the European Schools appropriate for children with disabilities. 4% of its students are in need of special educational accommodations, yet the school made none of the necessary arrangements to aid in the education of these students. German children are often harmed by such situations, emphasizing the urgency for change.
While the disabled community faces diverse challenges, some of them seem to be harder to overcome. Even though the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights recognized issues towards eugenics through the words of UN Special Rapporteur Catalina Devandason the rights of persons with disabilities, current nationalist and Nazi-aligned movements make clearer and stronger the ableist ideals in the country. “People with disabilities are genuinely concerned that these developments could result in new eugenic practices and further undermine social acceptance and solidarity towards disability - and more broadly, towards human diversity. If assisted dying is made available for persons with health conditions or impairments, but who are not terminally ill, a social assumption could be made that it is better to be dead than to live with a disability”, said the Rapporteur.
It is essential to recognize the roots of ableism in Germany and listen to disabled voices in resolving such situations. While currently unable to adapt to the needs of people with disabilities, Germany continues to be a safe place for ableist thoughts to surge. Yet, through cooperation with other countries in Europe, Germany can start taking its strides towards improving the lives of disabled individuals and stifling ableist undercurrents.
Sexism, racism, nationalism, classism, homosexism are words in the endless -ism list of common terms describing the hatred against those who are “different.” However, despite the millions of people affected by a disability, ableism has not received proportional awareness. While developed countries have noted significant progress over the years in an effort to battle the discriminatory phenomenon, the developing ones are, unfortunately, falling behind. Ghana, a country of 25 million in the sub-region of West Africa, remains a nation widely criticized as ableist. Is such a characterization warranted?
One cannot accurately answer the question, unless the term is fully explained. “Ableism” is the “social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior.” For ableists, individuals with physical, intellectual or psychiatric disabilities require “fixing” setting them up as targets of discrimination. This set of beliefs perfectly exemplifies the eugenics movement of the early 1900s or the mass murder of disabled people in Nazi Germany. However, one does not have to think of such extreme manifestations of the ableist behavior to comprehend its acceptance; mocking disabled people, segregating students with disabilities into separate schools or not equipping buildings with braille on signs and elevator buttons constitute practices of “ableism.”
The characterization of Ghanaian society as “ableist” depends on mainly two factors: the degree to which disabled persons’ legal rights are secure and the type of social response they receive. As far as the former is concerned, it is of crucial legal importance that Ghana signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Finally ratifying the document in 2012, the African country was the 119th in the world to do so. Additionally, the Persons with Disability Act (Act 715), passed by Ghana’s parliament in 2006, provides rights such as free health care, unrestricted access to public spaces and education. Among several sections of other legislation, the basic rights of disabled people are also detailed in Ghana’s constitution. However, it is, unfortunately, one thing to have one’s rights legally guaranteed, and another to practically enable the rights’ enjoyment. The promise of setting up institutions and structures, vital for the implementation of the act’s provisions, remains unfulfilled. The employment opportunities supposed to be provided by the state are yet to be actualized.
Meanwhile, the allocation of a scant percentage of Ghana’s revenue for persons with disabilities and the limited action on the part of the supposed national vanguards of citizens’ rights (such as the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice) have, in reality, led to a standardization of discrimination. Furthermore, it would be a mere falsehood to allege that disabled Ghanaians stand as equal citizens under the law, when their rights remain not fully recognized nor actively safeguarded.
However, the level of legal protection their rights enjoy merely reflects Ghanaian society’s standpoint on disability in general. Disabled people experience social stigma and exclusion. They are marginalized due to the misrepresentation of disability in the Ghanaian tradition: disabilities are attributed to witchcraft, juju and supernatural forces, a misbelief which resulted in the common Ghanaian assumption that those born disabled are possessed by evil spirits. If a child with physical deformities escapes infanticide, it is very likely that he or she will be abandoned at an orphanage or face a life of homelessness. If the child happens to have a mental illness, then the patient, instead of receiving conventional hospital care, will encounter institutionalization at a prayer camp. “Prayer Camps” are religious institutes, in which people with any mental illness are involuntarily kept; as part of their treatment there, they are starved, chained and suffer beatings.
Individuals with disabilities in Ghana make up an estimated 3% of the population of 25 million, rendering them one of the largest oppressed groups in the country. Apart from being deprived of the most fundamental human rights due to lack of political will to actively render them equal citizens, they have to wake up every day to a reality of hostility and suspicion. Internalizing the predominant traditional misconceptions surrounding disabilities, they end up feeling trapped in the idea of their inferiority and problematic nature; thus, they hardly ever develop to their full potential. Until the day that all of their rights are legally recognized and freely exercised, being disabled in Ghana will still, by definition, be disabling.
In the United States: Mutation, Growth, and Awareness
As the use of the word “ableism” gains popularity on various social media platforms, many individuals have started to bring to light issues which were previously disregarded as problems. What could have been thought of as goodwill or sensitivity can be classified as a clear act of ableism. ” Ableism is a somewhat complicated topic to fully grasp, as minor acts might, in reality, be discriminatory towards the population of those with disabilities in our society.
Due to factors such as mutation, population ageing and an increase in chronic health diseases, the number of physically and mentally disabled individuals is increasing. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately 15% of the population, or 1 billion individuals, have significant difficulties in functioning. This means that around 1 in 7 individuals encounter issues related to ableism on a regular basis.
Around 26% of the population of the United States of America (USA), or, 61 million adults in the USA have some kind of disability, with the South having the highest number of cases. Despite their substantial population, the U.S government is often criticized for the approaches it has taken to tackle the prevailing issue of ableism. Even though action has been taken in the form of the “Americans with Disabilities Act,” and the signing of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), not much has changed. Although the U.S. signed the CRPD in 2009, the act has still not been ratified by the U.S. Government.
1 in 3 disabled adults (ages 18 to 44 years) of the U.S population do not have a usual health care provider and have been unable to meet their health care needs due to financial restraints. This includes 10.8% of the disabled population with cognitive disability. A cognitive disability includes a variety of symptoms such as difficulty concentrating and remembering or making decisions. 6.8% of the population have an independent living disability and face difficulty doing day-to-day tasks by themselves. In article 28, the CRPD specifically clarifies that “people with disabilities” have a “right to an adequate standard of living and social protection.” However, the U.S. Government has not hesitated to continue allowing the Social Security Administration to keep people who are experiencing forms of disability on incomes at the “poverty level.” Approximately over 75% of disabled adults are without employment.
Approximately 6.5 million children or 13% of school-going individuals in the United States live with physical and mental disabilities and need to attend schools with specific accommodations. Due to the IDEA Act of 2004, federal law allows disabled students to have access to free, public education. However, many of these public schools are not accommodating of disabled children and are not prepared to deal with all the requirements of a disabled individual. Despite there being 30,861 private schools, many of which use research-based techniques to make a comforting environment for their “special” students, many parents cannot afford to send their children to these institutes due to the high tuition rates.
These issues are deep-rooted not-only within our society, but also our government and industries, and it is of ample importance that we tackle them as efficiently and swiftly as possible to ensure equal protection under the law for all.
The German Perspective
In Germany, companies with more than 20 employees must have measures to accommodate every individual with a disability. To provide employment for disabled people and encourage diversity in the workplace, those with a physical and/or mental disability are required to make up at least 5% of hired employees. Though, despite these measures, it is hard to forget about the 300,000 disabled people who were euthanized by the Nazis. According to the Center for Talent Innovation, “a cultural tendency toward keeping such information private, perhaps rooted in Nazi policies that targeted people with disabilities in the run-up to World War II, make meeting the government quota quite difficult.” This tendency is not only to blame on the country’s traditions themselves, but also the rise of far-right and fascist movements.
Since the end of the war, there has been a lack of infrastructure, political preparation and social assistance for people with disabilities. Disabled persons either live in institutions or with their families. They have little to no access to public services like public buildings and transportation and no accessible housing or assistance services. In 1990, to have their needs recognized by the “Initiative for the Legal Equalization of Disabled People,” there were nearly 30 of protests and demonstrations by people with disabilities. In 1996, the Bundesnetzwerk von Frauen Lesben und Mädchen mit Beeinträchtigungen (Federal network of Women, Lesbians and Girls with Impairments) finally brought up the matters involving the sexual abuse and rape of disabled girls and women, also discussing the questions around selective abortion. Since then, disabled people have gained a voice in the media, but the fight for the rights of people with disabilities is far from over.
For example, refugees with disabilities have to wait for months for wheelchairs and general and specialized healthcare. Even though the number of disabled people seeking asylum is high, an example being Nujeen Mustafa, who traveled from Syria to Germany in her wheelchair, it is the country’s responsibility to offer refugees the same treatment and support offered to German citizens.
Internationally, while the 28 member states of the European Union have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which guarantees children with disabilities the right to inclusive education, the Human Rights Watch and the European Disability Forum do not consider institutions like the European Schools appropriate for children with disabilities. 4% of its students are in need of special educational accommodations, yet the school made none of the necessary arrangements to aid in the education of these students. German children are often harmed by such situations, emphasizing the urgency for change.
While the disabled community faces diverse challenges, some of them seem to be harder to overcome. Even though the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights recognized issues towards eugenics through the words of UN Special Rapporteur Catalina Devandason the rights of persons with disabilities, current nationalist and Nazi-aligned movements make clearer and stronger the ableist ideals in the country. “People with disabilities are genuinely concerned that these developments could result in new eugenic practices and further undermine social acceptance and solidarity towards disability - and more broadly, towards human diversity. If assisted dying is made available for persons with health conditions or impairments, but who are not terminally ill, a social assumption could be made that it is better to be dead than to live with a disability”, said the Rapporteur.
It is essential to recognize the roots of ableism in Germany and listen to disabled voices in resolving such situations. While currently unable to adapt to the needs of people with disabilities, Germany continues to be a safe place for ableist thoughts to surge. Yet, through cooperation with other countries in Europe, Germany can start taking its strides towards improving the lives of disabled individuals and stifling ableist undercurrents.
