Natasha Hirst: UK Government criticised by UN for sliding backwards on Deaf and Disabled people’s human rights (BSL)

On the 18^th March, the UK Government appeared before the UN Committee for the Rights of Disabled People to defend their poor track record of upholding disabled people’s human rights.

The Deaf and Disabled People’s Monitoring Coalition was also in attendance to witness the Government being held to account by the Committee. Four deaf people were on the delegation with disability activists and trade union representatives. Deaf-led organisations were also involved in submitting evidence and testimonies last year about the reality of life for Deaf people in the UK. 

Alexandra Gowlland, Deputy Director of the UK Government Disability Unit, told the committee that “the UK is fully committed to implementing the UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities.”  She led with the ‘landmark’ British Sign Language Act 2022 as an example of this commitment.

Lee Starr-Elliott, who represented the Communication Workers’ Union on the Deaf and Disabled People’s Coalition, said the Government ‘patting itself on the back for implementing the BSL Act was frankly insulting as the Act itself has no powers or any form of real legal strength. In short, it’s a token Act to look good and the government use it for positive PR.” He argued that the BSL Act has not yet created change or had a positive impact on deaf people’s lives, saying that “our government continues to ignore deaf people by not even making their communications fully accessible like other countries manage.”

So why does the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People (UNCRDP). matter to Deaf people? Paul Ntulila, who represented Deaf DPAC on the coalition, explains that the Convention is important because “it sets out our human rights to be treated equally, to have an education, the right to access employment, to have accessible information. It applies to our everyday life. If we are discriminated against, the Convention empowers us. It sets out our rights to achieve and have control over our lives.”

The UNCRDP is an international human rights treaty that the UK agreed to follow in 2009. It contains 28 articles that outline a range of our rights. In this evidence session, the Committee investigated the progress on three of these articles, where they found the UK to be in “grave violation” of the convention in 2016. These are article 19 (the right to live independently and being included in the community), 27 (the right to good work) and 28 (the right to adequate standard of living and social protection). 

The UK Rapporteurs who sit on the Committee asked very detailed questions challenging the Government’s lack of progress. They highlighted a reform agenda “that demonises disabled people” and “an onerous and complex social benefit system that is the basis for trauma and preventable mental distress.”

They also pointed out the lack of proper consultation in putting together the National Disability Strategy and told the Government, “we find a pervasive framework and rhetoric that devalues disabled people and undermines their human dignity. Reforms within social welfare benefits are premised on a notion that disabled people are undeserving and skiving off and defrauding the system. This has resulted in hate speech and hostility towards disabled people.” 

When asked how they would address these problems, the Government spokesperson largely repeated points already made in their evidence and failed to answer the questions put. 

Lee Starr-Elliott viewed the Government’s evidence as “non-existent half-truths with very little respect to the UN and the UKs disability delegation and those who have suffered on the whole. The government didn’t answer one question with a plan or even apologise for the abuses and neglect they have allowed.”

Paul Ntulila also felt that the Deaf and Disabled People’s coalition and the UN had challenged the UK Government on their failures, and it is important for the government to realise that they must create change and make improvements. He said that “the Government’s evidence wasn’t direct, it was a lot of empty talk saying they are the best at achieving access and equality for disabled people. Remember, the cap on Access to Work? Austerity and cuts have had a terrible impact on disabled people and the government is responsible. Deaf people deserve the same rights and access as hearing people, we need to keep challenging for a better future.”

There is some hope for us though. The concerns and poor treatment of Deaf and Disabled people has been recognised at an international level and a growing movement of activists has been empowered to keep challenging the Government to do better. This year’s general election provides an opportunity to put disability rights onto political party manifestos.

Disability activists are also calling on the UK Government to build the UN Convention into UK laws. This would ensure that our human rights as Deaf and Disabled people are considered in all areas of policy-making. Although we have the Equality Act 2010, it is a limited anti-discrimination law, not a proactive human rights-based law. We now await a final report from the Committee with their concluding observations and recommendations to the UK Government on actions to take to improve. Watch this space.

All photographs by Natasha Hirst.