MANIFESTO: Women with Disabilities, Independent Living and Human Rights

Paestum (SA) Italy  9th and 10th April, 2005

We, 128 women with disabilities coming from 16 European countries, reunited at the IV European Conference "Disabled Women and Personal Assistance: Personal Assistance as an instrument to guarantee equal opportunities and a life of quality”, in Paestum Italy, carried out on the basis of the principles of Disabled Peoples' International, demand:

• that the national and local Governments of Europe and the European Union implement this Manifesto in their own policies and actions regarding matters of disability and gender.
• conditions that guarantee a life of quality, equal opportunities, full participation in the life of the community, freedom of choice for and respect of the Human Rights of all women and girls with disabilities, even of those women who cannot represent themselves because: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”.

For all women and men with disabilities, we demand:

• Anti-discrimination laws in all European states. As equal citizens we must have the same access to the basics of life including: food, clothing, housing, health care, assistive devices, personal support services, education, employment, information, communication, transportation and access to the physical and cultural environment, the right to sexuality and the right to marry and have children.
• A law on personal Assistance in all European states that guarantees an independent and selfdetermined life to each woman and man with disabilities. Personal Assistance enables persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and other impairments to carry out activities of daily life that the user cannot do by herself/himself. Personal Assistance will enable persons with disabilities to gain more quality of life and therefore they will be able to take part in and contribute to the economic and social life of the community.
  A good example of orientation for the states for legislation is the Swedish Law on Personal Assistance. We stress that independent living support services are essential for disabled people to enjoy basic freedoms and must be funded by all Governments. For example, it is unacceptable that European citizens with disabilities are still kept in residential institutions, because of the lack of appropriate living alternatives in the community.
• Penal laws in all states punishing violence and sexual violence. Penal laws have to mention girls and women with disabilities explicitly in the text of the legislation. Perpetrators have to be punished accordingly. Programmes against violence and sexual violence have to be carried out so that women and girls with disabilities can defend themselves and are protected.
• Freedom of choice: each woman and man with disabilities has to be able to create and carry out her/his own life project. States must guarantee financial, organisational and human resources to create and implement services that cover the real needs.
• Mainstreaming: Governments have to put the experience, knowledge and needs of women with disabilities in the political, economical agenda and the social and cultural actions. This means to transform unjust and lacking political, social and administrational facilities into just and inclusive facilities that respect diversity.
• Participation: Governments have to develop an active role in all initiatives, programmes and measures connected to activities that involve and/or influence the choice and the quality of life of women and men with disabilities: “Nothing about us without us”.

We strongly call the governments to reaffirm the entire scope of Human Rights of women and girls with disabilities, including the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in order to achieve the internationally agreed development goals as well as those contained in the millennium declaration of the United Nations. We strongly recommend addressing the unique issues of disabled women and girls in the future Convention on the Rights and Dignity of People with Disabilities. Representing women with disabilities in 135 countries, Disabled Peoples" International demand that the unique concerns of women and girls with disabilities will be recognized in all relevant official documents.

2006-05-09 00:00:00

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