UK Disability History Month - Volume 1 - An Overview of Disability Rights

UK Disability Rights: An Overview

Prior to 1995, there was no legal statute for the protection of people living with disabilities in the areas of education, transport, employment, public functions like voting or as a consumer.  

This changed with the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) and the rise of the ‘social model’.  The social model is a way of viewing society as being created for neurotypical people, without thought for those who may have disabilities or impairments. The idea of the social model is that the structure of society and its physical environment, has resulted in the oppression and discrimination of people living with disabilities or impairments. (i)  

In 2006 the UN adopted The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD) treaty. (ii) It was the first of its kind established on an international scale intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. The CRPD was adopted by the UK in 2009.  

The Disability Discrimination Act (1995) was replaced in England, Scotland, and Wales by the Equality Act (2010). Under the Equality Act, disability is one of nine protected characteristics. Those with disabilities must continue to be protected from direct and indirect discrimination, harassment related to disability, and victimisation. Much of the 2010 act was based around the language in the 1995 act. The main difference between the two is that the Equality Act (2010) protects disabled people against direct discrimination in areas beyond the employment field. (iii) 

The 2010 act finally made it a crime to discriminate based on someone’s disability or impairment. The shift forced people to ask the question: how should we be treating disabled people? Whilst the social model of disability has its roots in the 1960’s and 1970’s and the important work done by the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS) (iv), this question is at the heart of its growth. This question sparked a conversation that quickly became a movement, and we are seeing this movement have an effect on the media we consume today.  

Timeline of Disability Rights

References:

(i) -  https://www.scope.org.uk/about-us/social-model-of-disability/ 
(ii) - https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html 
(iii) - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance 
(iv) - Finkelstein, V. (2007). The ‘social model of disability’ and the disability movement. The Disability Studies Archive UK, 1, 15.