3C. National/Provincial Standards

Table of Contents

  1. Americas
  2. Europe
  3. Asia

Americas

US: Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)

The ADA puts anti-discrimination protections in place for disability status.

The preamble to the ADA, which the Body of Knowledge quotes at length, notes that Disabled people have traditionally had no redress against discrimination that has been exercised against them, resulting in many Disabled people being segregated and exposed to constant exclusion from public spaces and opportunities.

It ends by noting that the dependency and non-productivity of Disabled people costs the United States 'billions of dollars in unnecessary expenses.' The argument here is not just moral or on the basis of human rights; it is an economic argument.

According to the ADA National Network (linked to from the Body of Knowledge), the ADA is organized into five sections, or 'Titles'.

The ADA was amended in 2008 following a bunch of lawsuits that kept on restricting the definition of what it meant to be disabled. The power of the ADA had been drastically weakened. The ADAAA (the ADA Amendments Act) made the definition more flexible again.

Canada: Ontarians with Disabilities Act (2001)

Don't mistake this with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). The Ontarians with Disabilities Act or the ODA was released in 2001 and affirms the right of Disabled people in the province of Ontario to equal opportunity and to be free from discrimination.

The Body of Knowledge links directly to the full text of the ODA.

It prescribes that educational institutions and hospitals, public transportation, organizations, and government buildings be accessible.

Wikipedia's article on the AODA mentions that this was quite a weak piece of legislation as it had literally no enforcement, penalties or deadlines. Though they also mention that the ODA mandated that all provincial websites be made accessible by 2002, which is a little 'before-its-time.' This act certainly paved a way for its successor, the AODA, which was much more comprehensive (though we've yet to see how successful it truly will be. See "Ontario was supposed to be accessible by 2025" by CBC News).

Europe

Countries in the EU: Harmonized Standards?

In terms of employing an approach for 'reasonable accommodation,' all EU member states employ laws based on the Employment Equality Directive, passed in 2000, that requires reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities in the realm of employment.

However, the Anti-Discrimination Directive proposed in 2008, that would have expanded reasonable accommodation into all domains, has not been adopted. Country to country, different countries have different policies that apply to different domains of life. Some prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability, some require reasonable accommodation, some do both, and some accomplish neither.

UK: The Equality Act (2010)

2010 is rather recent. The Equality Act supersedes what was a bunch of disparate anti-discrimination legislation and provides a uniform complaint mechanism for all of them. All organizations are subject to the Equality Act if they are 'carrying out a public function.'

Characteristics protected by the Equality Act look a little bit different than some of the other anti-discrimination laws that we've seen, likely due to its time period. Marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maturity, and gender reassignment are characteristics listed alongside more traditional ones like age, race, religion, sexual orientation, and of course, disability.

The Body of Knowledge links to the UK's primer document on the Equality Act.

Specific provisions are made in respect to disability including ensuring accessibility in public transport and education, and anti-discrimination in the workplace. Hiring people can no longer ask questions about disability and health in most cases.

Denmark: The Bare Minimum?

Denmark is featured in the BoK's extended readings in an article comparing the evolution of its legislation with the development of anti-discrimination legislation in Cyprus. The article is called The Diffusion of Disability Rights in Europe by Lisa Vanhala.

Denmark's laws essentially stem from the EU's mandated implementation of the Employment Equality Framework directive. Denmark's version of the law was implemented (past the deadline) in 2004 and did not go beyond the absolute minimum of the directive. As you may recall, the Employment Equality Framework is restricted to the realm of employment. This left Disabled people in Denmark relatively unprotected legislatively-speaking.

And this is very unexpected, given that Denmark's neighbours and that region in Europe is known for being quite progressive when it comes to implementing robust social welfare programs. Why would it lag on anti-discrimination provisions?

Vanhala argues that Denmark's Disabled community was engaging in a different kind of activism. From the period of 1965 to 1972, the Danish Disability Council intervened on a policy-by-policy basis to increase the disability benefit, essentially forming a kind of disability 'lobby.' Vanhala calls this a 'corporatist' approach, which differed widely from the 'rights-model' that underpinned efforts like the ADA and UNCRPD.

The Danish Disability Council would argue against the rights-based model. They saw the fact that people only got what they deserved when they fought for it in court, and the DDC viewed this as an approach reflective of 'extreme American individualism,' unsuited to European societies. When the EU went forward with the Employment Equality Framework Directive, advocates of the Danish Disability movement were split on the anti-discrimination approach and the traditional Danish approach.

Movements for a more robust anti-discrimination policy in Denmark were seen again in 2006, moving into the 2010s. The most contemporary information can be found on Disability IN's Denmark page.

Cyprus: Cypriot Persons with Disabilities Act (2000)

Cyprus is also featured in The Diffusion of Disability Rights in Europe by Lisa Vanhala. Cyprus and Denmark are identified as contrasting cases. Denmark, with a reputation for progressive legislation, is a 'legislation laggard' when it comes to anti-discrimination provisions for Disabled people. Cyprus, with a tenuous political climate and reputation for being otherwise 'backwards,' was before its time in introducing this kind of legislation.

The Cypriot Persons with Disabilities Act was passed in 2000 and is an "explicitly rights-based" piece of legislation that "clearly predated and went far beyond the scope of standards set" by the same EU directive that gave Denmark its absolute minimum standards.

Vanhala notes that two Cypriot umbrella organizations representing a coalition of self-advocate organizations and a coalition of traditional disability advocacy organizations competed with each other through the 1980s and 1990s because they believed that there can only be one voice advocating for the rights of Disabled people in Cypress. But the merging of the two organizations in 1999 formed a relatively powerful body that was able to secure legislation that was quite ahead of its time.

Vanhala notes that the presence of progressive legislation doesn't guarantee good outcomes for Disabled people in Cyprus, and the promises of anti-discrimination have not been delivered due to "low levels of awareness of human rights understandings of disability and associated concepts."

France: Loi pour l'égalité des droits et des chances, la participation et la citoyenneté des personnes handicapées (2005)

The French translates to the 'law of equality of rights and of opportunities, participation and citizenship of Disabled individuals.' According to Cleiss, it does what it says on the tin. Public facilities must be accessible. Though the law was passed in 2005, in 2015 it became a criminal offense to not be accessible. You can file criminal complaints with the police commissariat, whereby a prosecutor will be assigned to your case.

The French don't fuck around.

Sweden

The BoK directs us to read the article, Disability policies in Japan and Sweden: A comparative perspective to get a feel for the situation in Sweden.

In terms of anti-discrimination law, Sweden's first anti-discrimination law in the realm of employment was created after an action plan was developed in 2000. The name of the action plan deeply reflects the shift from a medical to social model: From Patient to Citizen. Although initially constrained in scope to the realm of employment in workplaces with more than ten employees, following the spirit of From Patient to Citizen, accessibility of public spaces was included in a 2015 amendment.

The Disability Reform of 1994 was not an anti-discrimination measure. Instead, it emphasized personal assistance and homecare, access to assistive devices, and rehabilitation programs as a human right.

The article notes that despite the reputation of Nordic countries to have robust social programs, the safety net provided to Disabled Swedes has been undergoing a conservatising process, whereby the eligibility requirements for Disability-specific welfare policies are being interpreted far more strictly than they were before. The article calls these programs, 'formerly generous.'

Asia

Korea: Act On The Prohibition Of Discrimination Against Persons With Disabilities And Remedy Against Infringement Of Their Rights (2017)

This is an anti-discrimination law for disability in all aspects of life. A translated version of the full Korean text is linked to in the BoK.

Passed in 2017, it covers a very wide range of domains.

It includes special provisions for Disabled women and children and those with cognitive disorders.

Japan: Laws

The BoK directs us to read the article, Disability policies in Japan and Sweden: A comparative perspective to get a feel for the situation in Japan. Disability in Japan is seen as a family problem. Disability benefits are paid not to the individual, but to the family.

In Japan, the medical model reigns supreme in the assignment of disability status. You must be determined to be disabled by a medical professional. You get a card and you can use that card to access limited benefits. Owing to the rigidity of these parameters for classification, scholars note that the Disabled population reported in Japan is surprisingly low.

There are a few important laws that support Disabled people in Japan.

India: Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (2016)

Passed in 2016 to fulfill UNCRPD obligations, India's Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act is an anti-discrimination legislation that set up new special courts to deal with violations, makes humiliation of Disabled people literally a jailable offense, expands the range of listed disabilities, as well as addressing the accessibility of public buildings.

In India, you are only qualified as Disabled if you have one of 21 listed conditions. Before the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, there were only 9 listed types of disabilities. The author of the article expresses that 21 is still not enough to provide comprehensive coverage.