PART 4:
LEARNING ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 3:
Learning Exercises for Part 2
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
EXERCISES FOR CHAPTER 17:
THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF OTHER POPULATIONS
OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
EXERCISE 17.1:
What Does it Mean to Experience Multiple forms of Discrimination?
Objective: To understand the effects of multiple forms of discrimination
Time: 60 minutes
Materials: Slips of paper and pencils
1. Brainstorm:
Ask the group to list types of disabilities with which they are familiar (for example, persons with physical, sensory, learning, intellectual, and psychosocial disabilities). Have the groups list them and write them on separate slips of paper. Collect these slips in a container.
Next, ask the participants to name the groups in their community who experience discrimination (for example, religious and racial minorities, indigenous peoples, immigrants and migrants, people of colour, sexual minorities, poor people, people with HIV/AIDS). Have the groups list them and write them on separate slips of paper. Collect these slips in another container.
2. Imagine/Discuss:
Divide participants into small groups. Explain that each group will imagine a person with certain characteristics that they will choose at random, starting with that person’s disability. Ask each group to draw a slip from the container containing types of disabilities and discuss what kinds of discrimination based on that disability their imagined person might face.
Note to facilitator: Adapt Steps 2, 3, and 4 to accommodate participants whose disability does not permit them to read.
3. Imagine/Discuss:
After about five minutes, announce that in addition to having a disability, this person also has another characteristic that results in discrimination. Have each group draw a slip from the container with names of groups. Ask them to imagine and discuss what additional discrimination this person might now face.
4. Imagine/Discuss:
After another five minutes, announce that this person has another characteristic that causes discrimination and have each group draw a second slip from the container of group characteristics. Ask them to imagine and discuss what additional discrimination this person might now face.
5. Discuss:
Bring participants back together and ask a spokesperson from each group to “introduce” the person they have imagined and describe the multiple layers of discrimination that person might face.
6. Discuss /Strategize:
Discuss what steps might be taken to end the kinds of discrimination these imaginary persons face by asking questions like these:
· Are some kinds of discrimination harder to address than others? Which ones? Why?
· Are some kinds of discrimination more harmful or painful than others?
· Do some kinds of discrimination have more far-reaching effects than others?
· What can be done to address multiple forms of discrimination experienced by persons with disabilities?
EXERCISE 17.2:
What Rights of Persons with Disabilities Who Experience Multiple Discrimination Does the CRPD Affirm?
Objective: To review and understand the rights of persons with disabilities who experience multiple discrimination
Time: 45 minutes
Materials: Chart paper and markers or blackboard and chalk; copies of CRPD Preamble
1. Review:
Divide the participants into small groups. Ask each group to work together to paraphrase the paragraphs in the CRPD Preamble in common language and give some examples of how those provisions can help disadvantaged groups of persons with disabilities enjoy their human rights.
Alternative: Divide the sections of the Preamble among several groups.
2. Paraphrase:
Read the CRPD Preamble above aloud and pause at each comma or natural section to ask different groups for their paraphrase. Discuss the meaning of each section until everyone can agree on a paraphrase. Write the final paraphrase on chart paper.
3. Give examples:
Ask for examples of how these provisions in the CRPD could be enjoyed and make a difference for different groups of persons with disabilities who may experience multiple forms of discrimination.
4. Discuss:
How can these articles of the CRPD be used to set national disability rights agendas and formulate platforms of action for submission to political parties or government decision makers?
EXERCISE 17.3:
Speaking Out for Participation and Inclusion in Development Decision Making
Objective: To examine the right of persons with disabilities to participate in development decision making
Time: 60+ minutes
Materials: Chart paper and markers or blackboard and chalk
1. Brainstorm:
Ask participants to list areas where they experience barriers in participating in development decision making in their community (for example, with international development organizations, with local governments, with community leaders, with religious leaders).
Divide participants into small groups and ask each group to choose an area of exclusion from development decision making on which they wish to concentrate (for example, planning of a development project, purchase of inaccessible buses, or policies on health, social welfare, or education).
2. Plan:
Ask each group to prepare a five-minute presentation to a “panel of community development leaders” on their problem. Each presentation should:
· Describe the exclusion of persons with disabilities in a specific development decision-making process and identify the group of persons with disabilities that it impacts and if possible the cause(s) of the problem;
· Relate the problem to the human rights of persons with disabilities;
· Clarify how the problem affects the lives of persons with disabilities (and their families where relevant);
· Show how addressing the problem can improve their lives;
· Propose specific actions that should be taken to address the problem; and
· Show how members of the community can get involved in addressing the problem.
Ask each group to choose a spokesperson to make the presentation and one or two to serve as the “panel of community development leaders.” While the groups plan their presentations, the panel of leaders meets to decide on their roles, representing probable attitudes within the community leadership.
3. Role-Play:
The spokesperson from each group makes a presentation and members of the panel listen and respond, asking questions and offering comments, objections, or suggestions in keeping with their chosen roles.
4. Discuss:
After the presentations and role-play, discuss:
· How did the spokespersons feel when presenting the problem?
· How did the “community leaders” respond to the presentation? What attitudes in the community were they representing?
· How did the audience, composed of the rest of the group, respond to the presentations?
· Did any spokesperson discuss the problem as a human rights violation? Did putting the problem in this context strengthen the argument?
· Are any of the ideas put forward feasible in your community? Why or why not?
5. Conclude:
Challenge the participants to evaluate their knowledge of the problem and inclusiveness of perspective:
· How did you obtain your information on the barriers to participation and their impact? Was it accurate and complete? If not, what additional information do you need and how can you obtain it?
· Did you consult the persons with disabilities involved about the problem and how it affects them? About the actions that could improve the problem?
· Why is it important in real-life human rights advocacy to include the active participation of those directly involved and affected?
· How can you apply the example of this exercise to planning and implementing advocacy for persons with disabilities in your community?
