Disability discrimination links

These are links on disability discrimination law in the UK and internationally, with particular reference to stammering. Further links on particular areas are on the relevant pages on this site, for example those on Employment, Human Rights Act, Social Security, International instruments, Sources of Help and Advice, and generally pages in the Education section. I am not responsible for the content of external internet sites - and see generally disclaimer.

UK official bodies
Other UK
Europe
General international
North America
South America
Australasia
Asia
Africa

UK official bodies

Equality and Human Rights Commission, which took over from the Disability Rights Commission in October 2007. (The old DRC website as at September 2007 is still archived.)
www.direct.gov.uk/disability - Government disability website
Office for Disability Issues
Equality Commission for Northern Ireland - dealing with discrimination in Northern Ireland.
Employment Appeal Tribunal - website includes full text judgments.
Scottish Parliament Equal Opportunities Committee - including the November 2006 report of its disability inquiry to which the British Stammering Association Scotland contributed.
Disability Employment Advisory Committee (DEAC) - advises the Department for Work and Pensions and includes an invitation to send in your views.

Other UK

British Stammering Association - Employment page, including its booklets for people who stammer and employers, articles by people who stammer doing various jobs, invitation to send in examples of good practice or discrimination, visit to the Scottish Parliament to give evidence to Equal Opportunities Inquiry (2005), and other employment-related materials on the site. Also on the BSA website: How to succeed at university if you stammer.
Disability Conciliation Service - funded by the Disability Rights Commission, provides conciliation in Part 3 (goods and services) and Part 4 (education) disputes.
The two ticks scheme - employers who use the disability symbol make various commitments as regards disabled people.
Employers Forum on Disability
Draft Charter for Communication - the Communications Forum has been consulting on a draft Bill of Rights for People with Communication Disabilities. It asked for views before the end of October 2007. My impression is it needs to be made more relevant to stammering. (There is an existing international Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for People who Stutter).
On the issue of stammering being seen as a disability, and the social model:
- Stuttering as a disability - the controversy, by Mark Irwin - the International Stuttering Association debated the issue and confirmed that it recognises stuttering as a disability
- A social model of stammering - from the website of the Special Interest Group (SIG) on Disorders of Fluency
- Self advocacy for people who stammer and On being your own person, both on the BSA website about a course at the City Lit in London.
- Public authorities to have greater duties in future includes a review of advantages and disadvantages of stammering being seen as a disability.
The Disability Archive UK - valuable archive of articles hosted by the Centre for Disability Studies, University of Leeds.
British Council of Disabled People - umbrella organisation, particularly promoting the social model of disability.
Discrimination Law Association - for practitioners and others
Group for Solicitors with Disabilities - a Law Society Group
Careers advice and guidance for people with disabilities - support4learning website

Europe

European Disability Forum - exists to represent disabled people in dialogue with the European Union and other European authorities. (3rd December each year is the European Day of Disabled People.)
- At www.1million4disability.eu you can sign the European Disability Forum's petition to introduce EU-wide disability legislation. The petition already has over one million signatures. For background see my EU page: New disability specific directive?.
European League of Stuttering Associations (ELSA) - Information on Discrimination. Their site also includes:
- Disability links,
- 'Written Statement' signed by group of MEPs on 'Stuttering and the International Stuttering Awareness Day' (October 2005)
- Address to 6th World Congress of Preople who Stutter 2001 by Stefan Trömel, Director of the European Disability Forum (August 2001),
- Building a blueprint for equal treatment for people who stutter - report of an ISA/ELSA workshop on discrimination and stuttering, at the 2001 World Congress,
- 2001 survey of Stuttering, Disability and Discrimination in various European countries.
equality2007.europa.eu: 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for All
Disability Intergroup of the European Parliament
Definitions of Disability in Europe: A comparative analysis, a 2002 report by Brunel University funded by the EU, can be downloaded from europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/index/7002_en.html.
Anti-discrimination and relations with civil society - on the European Union web site, including Non-discrimination and equal opportunities for all - A framework strategy dated June 2005, which follows on from the Green Paper.
Equality of Opportunity for People with Disabilities - also on the EU web site, bringing together various EU policies that impact on disabled people and other information about the Commission´s Disability Strategy.
For Diversity. Against Discrimination - EU campaign, covering all the discrimination grounds.
Austria
- www.help.gv.at, and the BMSG - Behinderung Federal Ministry website.
Belgium
- Centre pour l'égalité des chances et la lutte contre le racisme, including section on Handicap.
Denmark
- Det Centrale Handicapråd - Danish Disability Council.
- Under its auspices is the Center for Ligebehandling af Handicappede - Equal Opportunities Centre for Disabled Persons, where English information includes Danish disability policy
France
- Personnes handicapées - Government website
Germany:
- Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz (Wikipedia) - equality law, including disability, which came into effect in August 2006.
- Amongst other things, the AGG establishes an Antidiskriminierungsstelle des Bundes (Federal Anti-Discrimination Centre)
- Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für die Belange behinderter Menschen - disability ombudsperson
- Bundesvereinigung Stotterer-Selbsthilfe - Informationen für Arbeitgeber - information for employers, from the German stuttering association
Hungary
- National Federation of Disabled Persons' Associations. There are some English pages, including information on Equal Opportunities Act.
Ireland, Republic of
- Equality Authority - dealing with disability (and other) discrimination in the Irish Republic
- Equality Tribunal - includes legislation and case law
Lithuania
- Stuttering discrimination - web page from the Lithuania's Stuttering Problem Club
Malta
- National Commission Persons with Disability
Netherlands
- Commissie Gelijke Behandeling - Dutch Equal Treatment Commission, including Oordeel vragen: Handicap / Chronische Ziekte, and 2003 disability equality law in Dutch or English translation.
Spain
- Legal information page of the Fundación Española de la Tartamudez - in Spanish
- Spain scraps 'stutter laws' - 'Breaking News' article from October 2005 on abolition of laws that denied people who stutter the right to work as police officers, firefighters and civil servants
Sweden
- Handikappombudsmannen - Disability Ombudsman, including link to informative English version of the site
Switzerland
- Eidg. Büro für die Gleichstellung der Menschen mit Behinderungen - Federal Agency for the Equality of People with Disabilities, in German, French and Italian