The right of people with disabilities to live independently and be included in the community

Summary:

This Issue Paper is prompted by the opportunity that the CRPD affords for promoting the right to live in the community on the one hand, and worrying trends in the implementation of this right on the other hand. Millions of people with disabilities in Council of Europe member states are denied the right to live in the community. Placement in institutions, still affecting the lives of more than a million people with disabilities across Council of Europe countries, is a pervasive violation of this right which calls for a firm commitment to deinstitutionalisation. Many more are isolated within their own communities due to inaccessibility of facilities such as schools, health care and transportation and lack of community-based support schemes.

The Issue Paper traces the right to live in the community to its origins in the most fundamental human rights standards both within the Council of Europe and United Nations systems. It draws on Article 19 of the CRPD to identify the various forms of violation and provides guidance on community-based responses governed by choice and on achieving inclusion and participation.

The paper shows the link between the right to live in the community and other rights, notably the right to equal recognition before the law (legal capacity), which is necessary to ensure an individual’s choice of where and with whom to live, as opposed to such choice being exercised by a person or entity acting as the individual’s guardian.

This Issue Paper ends with a sample of indicators and guidance questions to help assess whether a country is transitioning from violation to implementation of the right to live in the community

Council of Europe: Issue Papers: The right of people with disabilities to live independently and be included in the community [Alternative Link] https://rm.coe.int/16806da8a9

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