A Study Of Soft And Hard Laws In Disability Rights In Europe And Asia-Pacific

Asst. Prof. Kirti Bikram & Ashwini Kulkarni, Symbiosis Law School, Pune

INTRODUCTION

Pharmakos in ancient religious Greek culture was the practise of human sacrifice in which the victims were usually slaves, criminals or cripples. While the question of whether the victims were actually executed or not is unanswered, it cannot be ignored that they were treated unfavourably and faced great injustice. In the 1300s, the King of England passed a law which allowed him to acquire the lands of idiots and lunatics without their consent. In 1700s England, it was suggested that people born disabled or people who acquired disabilities later in life be punished.1 Looking back on these injustices, it is easy to see the progress made within the scope of rights for the disabled community, but the struggle is far from over. Even as statues prohibiting overt discrimination are passed, disabled people are still unseen in the public eye be it because of social stigma that pervades the concept of disability or because of more tangible reasons such as lack of infrastructure preventing them from accessing structures the able- bodied take for granted.

Rights and Freedom are interdependent. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights entitles everyone certain freedoms and rights which are often indivisible and rely heavily on one another. Article 25 of the Declaration gives people right to standard of living for adequate health and well-being, regardless of the presence or absence of disability. The absence of rights of Disabled people directly affects their freedom, or lack thereof and contributes to the lack of upliftment and empowerment of the community.