Inclusion Europe aisbl.
Inclusion Europe
Inclusion Europe represents 20 million people with intellectual disabilities and their families in 39 countries.
Lobbying Activity
Inclusion Europe urges EU strategy to address disability poverty
24 Oct 2025
Message — The organization calls for reforms to tackle unemployment and the benefit trap. They advocate for community-based support and better financial assistance for family carers.12
Why — Enhanced support and reformed benefits would increase financial autonomy and community participation.3
Impact — National governments would need to increase social spending to fund these initiatives.4
Meeting with Ana Carla Pereira (Director Justice and Consumers)
30 Sept 2025 · Discussion on the second phase of the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Response to The new Action Plan on the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights
10 Sept 2025
The EU Pillar of Social Rights, and especially its principle 17 on the inclusion of people with disabilities, is a key instrument that supports the inclusion of the 20 million of people with intellectual disabilities and their families in Europe. As part of the European Pillar of Social Rights, the EU Disability Strategy guides Member States in using EU funds for independent living, support employment, and facilitate EU travels through the EU Disability Card. But much more needs to be done to end social exclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in Europe. Data from the Inclusion Indicators report shows: 800,000+ people with intellectual disabilities are segregated in institutions. In 29 countries few or no people with intellectual disabilities are employed on the open labour market. In 18 countries people with intellectual disabilities risk losing their disability benefits when they earn their own salary. In 13 countries adults with intellectual disabilities working in protected employment get paid less than minimum wage. People with intellectual disabilities and their families are more likely to experience unemployment or in-work poverty, poverty and housing exclusion. To address this situation we think the new EU Action Plan should include: An updated EU Disability Strategy 2021-2030 with new actions An EU action plan on deinstitutionalisation aiming to gather data on the number of persons with disabilities living in institutions, number of institutions, and progress made by member states. This strategy would also seek to support systemic reforms of member states, including by using EU Funds and tracking EU Funds to optimise their impact for inclusion. Calls for specific actions and funding to support Member States efforts to transition from substitute to supported decision making for the exercise of legal capacity. (In many countries, the lack of support in exercising legal capacity is a barrier to live independently, have access to housing or healthcare). Adopt a dedicated EU plan for employment and skills: This plan should aim to support member states reforms towards full employment, ensuring good working conditions, and inclusion. Specific actions in the next EU-Anti Poverty Strategy to combat poverty and in-work poverty of people with intellectual disabilities For this purpose, the strategy should: Recognise unemployment, in-work poverty, and barriers to learning new skills, as a major factor of poverty and social exclusion. Support member states to ensure decent level of incomes from work and social protection, access to services, and housing. The EU should support preventing cuts in disability benefits, personal budgets. Invite and support member states to cumulate salary and social benefits. Specific actions in the next Affordable housing plan for people with intellectual disabilities The lack of access to housing for people with intellectual disabilities results from multiple interconnected causes: lack of affordable housing, institutionalisation, deprivation of legal capacity, exclusion from housing policies, financial barriers, inaccessible urban planning. To address those issues, the upcoming EU Affordable Housing Plan should include actions to: Build affordable housing for people with intellectual disabilities, using all relevant EU financial instruments EU funds, State aid, public procurement, incentives for private investment, and more. Link housing policy with national deinstitutionalisation strategies. The housing plan must contribute to ending institutional care by enabling people with intellectual disabilities to live in houses, in the community, with adequate support. Improve data collection on the housing needs of people with disabilities especially those currently living in institutions. Existing Eurostat on housing needs excludes people in institutions
Read full responseResponse to EU Civil Society Strategy
4 Sept 2025
It is important that people with intellectual disabilities are represented and visible: In all aspects of society. So that they can advocate for their rights, views and expectations. Ensuring representation of 20 million people with intellectual disabilities and their families is a key mission of Inclusion Europe and its 71 national members. The movement has developed a solid network of self-advocacy organisations, which join forces in the European Platform of Self-advocates. However, the movement face multiple challenges which hinder representation of people with intellectual disabilities. According to the Inclusion indicators 2024 (report covering 31 European countries, including 24 EU countries). - In 20 countries there is no person with an intellectual disability part of the council of the national organisation. - In 13 countries our member organisations do not receive government funding for their advocacy work. On top of these challenges, the rise of anti-democratic forces and foreign influence threaten the independence, participation, and survival of organisations representing people with intellectual disabilities. The EU Civil Society Strategy is the opportunity to better support and protect representation of people with intellectual disabilities both at national and European level by: 1. Ensuring representation of people with intellectual disabilities in the civil dialogue. - Create tools and recommendations for member states to develop civil society engagement frameworks, where people with intellectual disabilities are represented and supported. Tools can be guidelines on accessible and inclusive civil dialogue to support participation of self-advocates. - Adopt an EU inter-institutional policy on Civil Dialogue. This would aim to: establish binding and regular participation of civil society in the policy cycle. Rules and tools to support participation in the civil dialogue, in particular on accessibility, co-created with civil society organisations. - mechanisms to ensure representativeness in the civil dialogue. Such mechanisms should give appropriate recognition to representative organisations, those with structured membership across countries and direct accountability, including on accessibility and participation of people with intellectual disabilities - Re-design EU consultation procedures, especially Have your say portal, which are often inaccessible. Easy-to-read questionnaires should be available, at least for issues related to society issues. 2. Ensure long-term funding for organisations representing people with intellectual disabilities, in particular self-advocates organisations: - Invite member states to strongly protect civil society organisations and stop financial cuts, especially for their advocacy work. - Adopt guidance and tools for member states on structural funding of civil-society organisations, to ensure their long-term existence and overcome unfair competition and economic crisis, especially for small, sustainable grassroots organisations with strong ties to the local community. One of the tools can be on supporting self-advocacy organisations which struggle to form and maintain themselves due to legal capacity, lack of representation and inclusive civil dialogue. - Maintain advocacy as a legitimate activity. Simplify rules and reporting to focus on the implement of activities. 3. Protect organisations of people with intellectual against threats to representation - Develop an EU protection system for Civil Society Organisations This system should aim to prevent, support and react in situations of democratic threats (pressure to stop advocacy work, disinformation, foreign interferences). This system should make specific support and funding available for organisations being the most at risk (For example: organisations in countries concerned by procedure under the art. 7 TEU, and cuts in EU Funds) For more: freddy@inclusion.eu
Read full responseMeeting with Chiara Gemma (Member of the European Parliament)
2 Sept 2025 · Deinstitutionalisation
Response to Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030
11 Aug 2025
Women with intellectual disabilities face multiple and intersectional discrimination in all areas of life. This includes: The right to a life free of violence The right to decide and vote The right to live independently Housing and support Education Employment Healthcare Representation On top of that, women and girls with intellectual disabilities are often left out of both gender equality and disability rights work. This must change! The EUs new Gender Equality Strategy (2026-2030) must take the voices and needs of women and girls with intellectual disabilities into account and tackle the multiple and intersectional challenges they face. Only then will actions be directed at them, and only then can a Union of Equality be achieved.
Read full responseResponse to Review of the State aid rules on the Services of General Economic Interest (“SGEI”)
30 Jul 2025
State Aid is a key tool for public authorities to support housing for 20 million people with intellectual disabilities and their families in Europe. The lack of housing for people with intellectual disabilities is one if the major barriers that stand in the way of their inclusion and independent living. In Europe, data from Inclusion Indicators report shows: In 9 countries most adults with intellectual disabilities live with their parents. In 27 countries few or no adults with intellectual disabilities live in their own place. In 27 countries people with intellectual disabilities are likely to move into an institution after their parents can no longer look after them. 800,000+ people with intellectual disabilities are segregated in institutions. Barriers in accessing housing include: segregation in institutions, deprivation of legal capacity, financial challenges, housing exclusion, inadequate urban planning, administrative burden (more in the report in attachment). State aid can play a decisive role in building, renovating and accessing housing for people with intellectual disabilities in a way that is inclusive and accessible. This is how we think state aid rules can be improved: 1. The accessibility requirements, and inclusion needs should be covered by the definition of affordable housing in state aid rules Proposed definition: Housing for households, who are not able, due to market outcomes and notably market failures, to access housing that meets minimum energy performance levels, accessibility requirements, and inclusion needs, at affordable conditions. 2. Accessibility requirements and inclusion needs should be among the costs supported by state aid Accessibility costs should cover physical accessibility but also the needs of people with intellectual disabilities, including accessibility of information on accessing housing. (e.g. Home and Supports Hub by the Irish Housing Agency) Covering costs linked to inclusion needs should aim to enable people to live independently and be included. These are some costs to be supported by state aid: - The construction and renovation of housing, in the community, especially for people in institutions. - Financial support to own or rent a house, especially for people with disabilities. - Supported housing services like the provision of personal assistance, home care, assistive technologies etc. - Access to community-based services like day care services, schools, and other social and public services (e.g. transport and support from home to community-based services). - Access to work, public transport and other important infrastructures and services in our life. 3. General conditions for inclusion when designing state aid schemes for affordable housing Public authorities should be guided to use state aid as a tool for inclusion. The following general conditions need to be considered: - Housing must not worsen segregation. It should be designed in a way that it is inclusive and respects rights guaranteed by the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. - People with disabilities should be a specific eligible group to benefit from affordable and social housing - Quality of housing should include aspects of accessibility and quality of life. 4. Using state aid for housing as part of deinstitutionalisation strategies Housing is a way for people to move out of institutions and be included in the society. Member states should be encouraged to use State aid for housing as part of a deinstitutionalisation strategy. People in institutions should be among the people in need of housing, unlike in the current Eurostat Disability database.
Read full responseResponse to European Affordable Housing Plan
4 Jun 2025
Housing needs of people with intellectual disabilities Across Europe, very few adults with intellectual disabilities live in their own home. In 27 countries, few or no adults with intellectual disabilities live on their own. At least 852,000 people with intellectual disabilities are still housed in segregated care institutions. In 19 countries, most adults with intellectual disabilities continue to live with their parents. This situation results from multiple interconnected causes: lack of affordable housing, institutionalisation, deprivation of legal capacity, exclusion from housing policies, financial barriers, inaccessible urban planning (See attached report for full analysis ) The upcoming EU Affordable Housing Plan is a good opportunity address these issues and respond to the housing needs of people with intellectual disabilities. The plan should include dedicated actions for people with disabilitiesincluding those with intellectual disabilities, who face additional barriers in access to housing. To ensure the plan truly supports people with intellectual disabilities, it should: Recognise housing as essential to the right to live independently and be included in the community and right to adequate standard of living (Article 19 and 27 UN CRPD,). Aim to build affordable housing for people with intellectual disabilities, using all relevant EU financial instrumentsEU funds, State aid, public procurement, incentives for private investment, and more. These tools should include specific, measurable objectives for supporting people with intellectual disabilities. Link housing policy with national deinstitutionalisation strategies. The housing plan must contribute to ending institutional care by enabling people with intellectual disabilities to live in the community, with appropriate supports. Ensure access to social and supported housing, which must be person-centred and community-based, not tied to institutions or segregated settings. Improve data collection on the housing needs of people with disabilitiesespecially those currently living in institutions. Existing Eurostat and national datasets should be expanded to include people in institutional care. Promote accessible information on housing options. Access to housing begins with access to information. Member States should be encouraged to make housing-related information available in easy-to-read formats and to support the replication of such initiatives. Support accessible housing and inclusive neighbourhoods. Housing plans must ensure that urban planning facilitates access not only to homes, but also to public services, schools, support networks, employment, and community life. People with intellectual disabilities have the right to live independently and be included in the community. Housing is not only a physical spaceit is a gateway to dignity, autonomy, participation, and equality. The EU must seize this opportunity to ensure its Affordable Housing Plan reflects and fulfils that right for all. For more information about this position paper or deinstitutionalisation, please do not hesitate to contact Freddy Jussien (Advocacy Lead) at freddy@inclusion.eu. Inclusion Europe represents 20 million people with intellectual disabilities in Europe. www.inclusion.eu
Read full responseInclusion Europe demands procurement rules end disability segregation
7 Mar 2025
Topic — The European Commission is evaluating directives governing public procurement and concessions.
Message — The organization requests that public procurement be conditioned on respecting the UN Convention on the rights of people with disabilities. They argue that public money should never fund segregating practices or institutions. They also seek specific requirements for easy-to-read language in public tenders.123
Why — This would shift funding towards community-based services and inclusive employment programs.4
Impact — Institutional care providers would lose access to public funds for segregating practices.5
Meeting with Younous Omarjee (Member of the European Parliament)
4 Dec 2024 · Inclusion of persons with intellectual disabilities in Europe
Response to Interim Evaluation of Digital Europe
20 Sept 2024
Inclusion Europe, the movement representing 20 million people with intellectual disabilities and their families, supports the aim of the Digital Europe Program initiative, to bring technology to businesses and public administrations. This initiative must aim to tackle digital inequality, and the digital divide faced by so many people with intellectual disabilities. This requires ensuring a just digital transition, which is a key objective of the Europes Digital Decade, in line with the signed European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles. We believe that technology is a tool to encourage independence and inclusion and can impact the quality of the livelihoods of people with intellectual disabilities, their support networks and families. This feedback provided by Inclusion Europe will outline recommendations to improve the Digital Europe Program and the inclusivity and accessibility of this initiative, focusing on how this initiative can directly impact people with intellectual disabilities. The recommendations are as follows: - Mainstreaming the 'Design for all' approach and funding accessible technologies - Improving advanced digital skills of people with intellectual disabilities - Support the deployment of technologies in the industry, SMEs and public administration by promoting assistive technologies and reasonable accommodations - Avoiding the risk of Artificial Intelligences that infringe disability rights Inclusion Europe overall supports the Digital Europe programme and the focus on the capacity areas of High- performance computing, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and trust, Advanced digital skills, adoption and best use of key digital technologies and semi- conductors. However, it is important that the digitalisation of our economy and society permits the full inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in the digital era. The EU should work together with disability organisations and self- advocates to create projects focusing on accessible technologies and ways of ensuring people with intellectual disabilities are taught digital skills. The initiative must focus and recognise the need to bridge the digital inequality gap for people with intellectual disabilities and prioritise an even distribution of resources across all European countries.
Read full responseResponse to Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on a Quality Framework for Traineeships
19 Jun 2024
Inclusion Europe, the movement representing 20 million people with intellectual disabilities and their families, supports the aim of this directive, to address issues of equality and inclusiveness, such as fair pay and access to social protection. This proposed directive aims to help Member States improve and enforce working conditions for trainees. If enforced correctly and well-structured, traineeships could lead to higher numbers of full-time employment for young people with intellectual disabilities. This feedback provided by Inclusion Europe will outline recommendations to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of this directive, focusing on how this directive will impact people with intellectual disabilities. Article 9 offers an opportunity for employers to attract, train and retain staff through protecting trainees. If effective, this directive could encourage long-term employment for adults with intellectual disabilities in a supportive work environment, Employers are likely to create stronger relationships with employees when they are protected and provided with the correct support. Inclusion Europe recommends that this directive needs to detail specific guidelines of how young people with intellectual disabilities will be adequately supported. People with intellectual disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations in the workplace, some of these may include: easy-to-read resources, accessible online applications, assistive technology, personal assistance and the possibility for hybrid and remote working. The directive should guarantee young people with intellectual disabilities are equal employment working conditions Young people with intellectual disabilities must be protected against economic exploitation The EU should work together with disability organisations and self-advocates to make traineeships more accessible and equal The directive must clearly state how employers will be educated on making traineeships accessible, what training and awareness courses will be in place European Commissions Reasonable accommodation- at work guidelines and good practices should be referred to, to strengthen the accessibility of this directive Employers in the EU need to undergo regular external evaluations and assessments to ensure traineeships continue to be accessible and structured in practice, adhering to the guidelines of the directive proposal. The directive must also focus on how marginalised groups of people in society will receive social protection when undergoing traineeships.
Read full responseMeeting with Helena Dalli (Commissioner) and
19 Jun 2024 · Meeting to discuss report on Rights of people with intellectual disabilities in Europe.
Meeting with Katrin Langensiepen (Member of the European Parliament)
29 Jan 2024 · Austausch zu Diversität
Meeting with Tilly Metz (Member of the European Parliament) and EUROPEAN TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION and
16 Feb 2023 · Stakeholder Exchange on COVID
Inclusion Europe urges mental health support for disabled people
15 Feb 2023
Topic — The European Commission is developing a comprehensive strategy to address mental health challenges.
Message — The group requests targeted mental health campaigns and easy-to-read information for people with disabilities. They also want EU funding to prioritize ending institutionalization and restoring legal capacity.12
Why — These measures would improve access to care and restore basic legal rights for disabled people.34
Impact — Psychiatric hospitals would lose the ability to act as long-term residential institutions for disabled citizens.5
Response to Proposal for Regulation to parliament and Council establishing interim instrument for MFA + to Ukraine
11 Jan 2023
Inclusion Europe is the European movement of people with intellectual disabilities and their families. There are over 2.7 million people with disabilities in Ukraine, of which 260,000 are people with intellectual disabilities. The support package can improve the lives of people with intellectual disabilities in Ukraine. By making sure the package benefits the most excluded, the micro financial assistance could benefit the whole population and help the country to rebuild. Therefore, Inclusion Europe suggests considering: 1. Relief for people in need The support package should provide immediate funding for: -Accessible humanitarian services; -Accessible information about services available, including in easy-to-read; -Data on situation of people with disabilities and their families. This should be done and organised in consultation with disabled peoples organisations and representative organisations, including family based organisations for people with intellectual disabilities. 2.Funding for community-based services "Do not use the recovery money for institutions, but for support to independent living. Raisa Kravchenko, she represents the VGO Coalition, our member in Ukraine. The support given to rehabilitation of social infrastructure including housing should: -not go towards reinvestment in institutions -fund adequate social housing -invest in community-based services that are inclusive These investments will go a long way towards bringing Ukraine into alignment with the right to live independently and to be included in the community. Funding should fit the criteria of the checklist developed by the European Expert Group on the transition from institutional to community based care. 3.Inclusive institutional reforms The instrument will support reforms aimed at enhancing the rule of law and good governance. It also envisages the modernisation of local and national institutions. The support package should enable the: Reform the system of guardianship to implement supported decision-making legislation; Enable the training and awareness raising of first responders and judicial staff on disability inclusion.
Read full responseResponse to European Disability Card
9 Jan 2023
The EU Disability card can be applied to improve the life quality of people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Inclusion Europe joins the European Disability Forums (EDF) call for an EU Disability Card that allows for mutual recognition of disability status across EU countries and is accepted by all services offering preferential conditions or adaptations to persons with disabilities, whether provided by public or private entities. The EU disability card is important part of the support structures for people with intellectual disabilities, but certain aspects need to be extended such as: 1. Extension to public sector when moving to another Member State and when accessing medical services 2. No merging of the EU disability Card and the Parking Card 3. Technicalities to set out the EU Disability Card to ensure its accessibility to people with intellectual disabilities, including by providing easy to read information Inclusion Europe explains its reasoning on these three points in the attached file.
Read full responseResponse to Interim evaluation of EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027
21 Oct 2022
Inclusion Europe is the European movement of people with intellectual disabilities and their families fighting for the equal rights and full inclusion in all aspects of life of people with intellectual disabilities, representing 20 million people in Europe.
The framework for social economy can be applied to improve the life quality of people with intellectual disabilities and their families.
The Youth Strategy is an important tool for young people with intellectual disabilities.
The benefits of the youth strategy must also benefit people with intellectual disabilities.
1.Impossibility to participate in democratic life
The youth strategy is a key tool to allow young people with intellectual disabilities the possibility to participate in democratic life.
In many countries, legal capacity and thus the right to vote is still limited for many young people with intellectual disabilities.
The recognition of citizenship is closely linked to the recognition of legal capacity. In both cases, an individual is recognised as a holder of rights and duties. This recognition is essential as it allows someone to legitimately take an active part in shaping the community through discussions, protests, elections; in other words, the very heart of democracy.
Denying legal capacity to people with intellectual disabilities has negative consequences on citizenship :
-Vote
-Stand for an election
-Civic duties, (eg polling stations staff, juror)
-Participation: joining political parties, trade unions
-Collective participation: right to assembly, participate and get support for self-advocacy organisations
It also has consequences on the right to make decisions: have a bank account, chose who to marry, have a family, control money and property, make a medical choice.
Therefore :
-The European Parliament’s proposal for a new electoral law including people from the age of 16 and regardless of their legal capacity should be supported.
-It should be extended to the possibility of being elected.
2.Segregation and consequences on civic and social engagement
Most people with intellectual disabilities are:
-In “special” segregated schools
-Unable to be allowed in higher education
-Working in segregated “sheltered” workshops
-Living in institutions
This makes it very difficult, if not impossible for them to engage in the society and as citizens.
Because they are not taught about this, there are not seen as agent of change in the community but rather object of care and charity.
Yet the youth strategy is a great tool to enable young people with intellectual disabilities to be actors.
As mentioned in the strategy, “socioeconomic exclusion and democratic exclusion go hand in hand”.The “special attention mentioned in the strategy to youth risking marginalisation based on potential source of discrimination”should be improved.
To do so:
-Empowerment of people with intellectual disabilities should be facilitated.
-Participating in civic activities like a civic service, being a volunteer, as actor and not only by being on the receiving end
-Support and training to actors organising civic and social engagement on needs, communication and methodologies to include people with intellectual disabilities
3.Impossibility to be active in society
People with intellectual disabilities are more at risk of poverty and social exclusion:
-Family poverty because parents took role of carer
-Not the same employment opportunities
-Extra cost of disability and services
Support to participate is not always available
And, as mentioned, denial of legal capacity can make it difficult for self-advocates to make their voice heard
So special efforts to reach out to people with intellectual disabilities should be made:
-Efforts in communication and language to make it accessible to people with intellectual disabilities - Easy-to-read
-Tools and practices to achieve participation should be promoted.
-Enabling self-advocacy organisation to develop,eg making European funds accessible
Read full responseResponse to Developing social economy framework conditions
30 Sept 2022
The framework for social economy can be applied to improve the life quality of people with intellectual disabilities and their families.
Social economy is important part of the support structures for people with intellectual disabilities:
1. In many countries, social economy organisations provide support services.
2. A lot of employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities are based in social economy.
3. People who are denied legal capacity cannot fully participate and benefit from social economy.
1. Support to social economy benefiting people with intellectual disabilities
Developing framework conditions for social economy should include organisations and structures that provide support to people with intellectual disabilities and their families.
• Ensure relevant tools (including funding) are available and accessible to them.
• Improve working conditions (including pay) of staff providing support to people with intellectual disabilities and their families.
At the same time, conditions for social economy must adhere to disability rights requirements:
• Ensure people with disabilities are making decisions about the type of services and support being provided, including funding.
• Avoid funding and development of segregated residential “care” institutions.
2. Employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities in social economy
Social enterprises are a real opportunity for people with intellectual disabilities. It often means new structures with a social vision. Creating and designing a position for a person with an intellectual disability from the starting point of the social enterprise is an asset.
As victims of discrimination, and aware of the need to change the world for the better, people with intellectual disabilities are also very aware and inclined to participate in the social economy.
Developing framework conditions for social economy should promote employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities. This includes:
• Ensuring people with disabilities employed in social economy are under labour rights protection equal to open labour market.
• This includes ensuring people with disabilities can enjoy the right of free movement, to be able to travel and work freely within the EU. Mutual recognition of the disability status and its application in employment is essential.
• Guidance for employers on reasonable accommodation for people with intellectual disabilities.
3. Social economy that benefits everyone
Developing framework conditions for social economy should include tools to overcome discrimination of people who are denied legal capacity. People who are denied legal capacity (which is violation of their rights in itself ) cannot establish or join societies, organisations, associations. This prevents them from participating in social economy, and benefiting from it.7
The framework conditions should provide and promote tools for social economy to overcome this barrier and source of social exclusion
• Support and funds provided to social economy should incentivise the development of programs and activities that directly and actively include people with intellectual disabilities in their
Read full responseResponse to EU strategic Framework for Global Health
16 Sept 2022
Discrimination is widespread when it comes to accessing quality health care for people with intellectual disabilities, and their family members providing support to them.
There is no systemic evidence and research of this in the EU, but there are multiple evidences and examples that illustrate the situation:
• Lack of health care result in preventable and premature deaths among people with intellectual disabilities. (The difference of life expectancy for those with and without intellectual disability is 18 years for women, and 14 years for men ; “34% of deaths amongst children and young people with learning disabilities [in Scotland] were avoidable.” )
• It also results in poorer quality of life for many people with intellectual disabilities .
There needs to be:
1. targeted effort to improve access to health care for people with intellectual disabilities across all EU countries (including by providing accessible information ); based on
2. systematic research and monitoring of access to health care, and health/life quality among people with intellectual disabilities.
Covid-19 exacerbated the neglect and discrimination in access to health care for people with intellectual disabilities.
• In some EU countries, the government or hospitals put triage protocols discriminating against people with disabilities.
• People with intellectual disabilities, esp. those in segregated “care” institutions, were refused health care.
• Accessible information (such as easy–to–read) was not provided on the measures taken in most countries. This was very problematic for people with intellectual disabilities because some cannot access the internet without support to find the information, some have difficulties reading, and some need support to understand the guidelines.
To improve access to health care for people with intellectual disabilities,
there needs to be:
1. Accessible information about available health care. This includes easy-to-read information about health, as well as trained doctors and nurses who understand how to explain diagnoses and medical procedures in an easy-to-understand way .
2. Targeted efforts and campaigns to include people with intellectual disabilities in health care (including preventative health care, vaccination etc.).
3. Training for medical staff on communication with patients with intellectual disabilities, including how to respect their wishes and preferences in health care.
4. Full legal capacity : lack of legal capacity and the possibility to make choices about own’s life. Lack of legal capacity leads to forced institutionalisation, coercion, forced treatment or violence.
People with intellectual disabilities often rely on informal care provided by family members, friends or by persons with no official care status. Children with disabilities are more likely to live in a single parent household than other children, of which more often the mother remains parenting and raising them, due to a higher separation rate among parents of a child with a disability . 62% of people that provided informal long-term care to older people or people with disabilities in the EU were women .
This impacts the family carers’ ability to receive and benefit from health care:
• Lack of support services means family carers don’t have time to attend health care for their own benefit.
• Physical aspects of care for adults with intellectual disabilities without adequate support services and equipment have strong impact on the family carers’ health.
• Mental health of both carers and people with intellectual disabilities is often neglected.
Read full responseResponse to Prevention of harmful practices against women and girls
31 May 2022
Inclusion Europe is the European movement of people with intellectual disabilities and their families fighting for the equal rights and full inclusion in all aspects of life of people with intellectual disabilities, representing 20 million people in Europe.
Inclusion Europe welcomes the Commissions intention to prevent harmful practices against women and girls.
According to the European Commission “Harmful practices, often referred to as harmful cultural or harmful traditional practices , are discriminatory practices committed regularly over long periods of time, so that communities and societies begin to consider them acceptable”.
In its General Comment No.3, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities emphasises the effect of societal structures, power imbalances, cultural attitudes, and family structures on the enjoyment of human rights, especially the right to be free from violence : “Women with disabilities are at a heightened risk of violence, exploitation and abuse compared to other women. Violence may be interpersonal or institutional and/or structural. Institutional and/or structural violence is any form of structural inequality or institutional discrimination that keeps a woman in a subordinate position, whether physically or ideologically, compared with other people in her family, household, or community” .
Indeed, there are several societal factors that contribute to putting women with intellectual disabilities in a vulnerable situation, especially when they are living in institutions. For example, these women may be directly dependent on possible perpetrators - legally, financially, or emotionally. They are often isolated, often with little or no outside social interaction, and fear that reporting abuses may result in institutionalisation, retaliation, further violence (including verbal abuse and intimidation) and a loss of support and aids .
Women in institutions are systematically deprived of their right to found a family, by being exposed to involuntary contraception and sterilisation .
In the report on survivors of violence in institutions, victims gave testimonies of several forms of violence, such as direct physical and sexual violence committed by staff or by other clients in institutions. The violence people experienced in institutional settings was exacerbated with power imbalance:
• others making decisions regarding someone’s life, without the person affected having a say.
• rules and regulations made by others without the input of the person
concerned.
• being treated as part of a system rather than being an individual.
• people not getting the care they need or not having people in their lives who
care about them.
Recommendations:
The culture and structure of an institution leave individuals vulnerable to structural violence, without people in their life who are able to give them genuine care. It is important to educate women and girls about knowing their own boundaries. Women et girls with intellectual disabilities are often not prepared for certain situation. They have been kept out of mainstream education, which has given them a disadvantage in comparison to others when it comes to their level of education and their experiences in building up a social network. Sexual education should not be taboo topic and should be taught to people with intellectual disabilities as well.
It is important to make the situation of women and girls with intellectual disabilities more visible. Women in institutions should be included in European policy studies on social research. Social policies at European level should include measure to ensure that remaining institutions have strategies to combat all ty pe of violence.
The European Commission should take an intersectional perspective in the recommendation, considering the experiences of women and girls in their diversity.
Read full responseMeeting with Helena Dalli (Commissioner) and Amnesty International Limited and
6 Apr 2022 · Cabinet Dalli invited Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to discuss concerns equality and non-discrimination CSOs are raising regarding the situation of people fleeing from the Ukraine
Response to Civil aspects of the cross-border protection of vulnerable adults
29 Mar 2022
As mentioned on several occasions, and lately in the European Disability Forum’s alternative report of the EU review by the CRPD Committee, “the disability movement is concerned that the implementation of this Convention could promote measures of substituted decision making, if it is not adequately implemented in line with the CRPD.”
Inclusion Europe believes the cross-border protection of vulnerable adults’ strategy should take into account the situation of people with intellectual disabilities, often perceived as especially vulnerable to abuse, manipulation and the possibility of taking decisions against their own best interests. Several societal factors contribute to putting people with intellectual disabilities in a vulnerable situation.
Indeed, while access to justice is essential for the enjoyment and fulfilment of a wide range of rights many obstacles prevent persons with intellectual disabilities, from accessing justice on an equal basis with others.
Such obstacles include the following:
-restrictions on the exercise of legal capacity;
-lack of physical access to justice facilities, such as courts and police stations;
-lack of accessible transportation to and from these facilities;
-obstacles in accessing legal assistance and representation;
-lack of accessible information;
-paternalistic or negative approaches questioning the abilities of persons with disabilities to participate during all stages of the administration of justice;
-lack of training for professionals operating in the field of justice.
More in the attached document
Read full responseResponse to Proposal for a Council Recommendation on long-term care
29 Mar 2022
Quality, accessibility, and affordability are three driving factors of the care strategy. Often, the needs of people with disabilities, especially those with complex support needs, are not met in terms of affordability, accessibility and quality by national long-term care systems, especially in rural areas where available nursing and social care resources are more limited.
With this consultation, Inclusion Europe aims to provide an overview of how these factors can be applied to help improving the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and their families, parents, often mothers, with the care responsibilities and services.
Inclusion of informal carers in the strategy is a key aspect for families of people with intellectual disabilities. Their isolation is very problematic and causes a lot of suffering. The situation was already bad before the pandemic, and the crisis exacerbated all the difficulties informal carers encounter, it increased their responsibilities, and it made access to care more difficult, even nearly impossible, for people with intellectual disabilities. Therefore, a brief presentation of their situation is important.
See more in attached file.
Read full responseResponse to Proposal for a Council Recommendation on long-term care
29 Mar 2022
People with disabilities must often rely on informal care provided by family members, friends or by persons with no official care status who does not receive an official salary.
Children with disabilities are more likely to live in a single parent household than other children, of which more often the mother remains parenting and raising them, due to a higher separation rate among parents of a child with a disability.
Single parents need support and care services for their children, to be able to work and sustain the family. Yet, if those services are not available in the community, they often need to stay home to take over the care of their child, which impacts their financial situation and fuels institutionalisation of children.
According to the gender equality and long-term care study by EIGE, women are more affected by taking over the care role than men. In 2019, 62% of people that provided informal long-term care to older people or people with disabilities in the EU were women.
Consequently, the main type of care for children with disabilities is carried out through informal care by parents. Yet, many parents, especially single parents, face a higher risk of poverty and of having financial difficulties to afford care services.
This often either leaves parents with no other choice than stop working, at least full-time to carry their care duties or put their child into residential care.
So as to increase women’s participation in the labour market, caring solutions and support must be found for children and young adults with disabilities to enable mothers to work.
More in the attached file.
Read full responseResponse to Proposal for a Council Recommendation on long-term care
29 Mar 2022
Quality, accessibility, and affordability are three driving factors of the care strategy. Often, the needs of people with disabilities, especially those with complex support needs, are not met in terms of affordability, accessibility and quality by national long-term care systems, especially in rural areas where available nursing and social care resources are more limited.
With this consultation, Inclusion Europe aims to provide an overview of how these factors can be applied to help improving the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and their families, parents, often mothers, with the care responsibilities and services.
Inclusion of informal carers in the strategy is a key aspect for families of people with intellectual disabilities. Their isolation is very problematic and causes a lot of suffering. The situation was already bad before the pandemic, and the crisis exacerbated all the difficulties informal carers encounter, it increased their responsibilities, and it made access to care more difficult, even nearly impossible, for people with intellectual disabilities. Therefore, a brief presentation of their situation is important.
See more in attached folder.
Read full responseResponse to Extension of the list of EU crimes to hate speech and hate crime
20 Apr 2021
Inclusion Europe is the European movement of people with intellectual disabilities and their families fighting for the equal rights and full inclusion in all aspects of life of people with intellectual disabilities, with 79 members organisations in 39 European countries.
Inclusion Europe is a member of the European Disability Forum and fully supports the statement of the Forum, attached tl the consultation.
https://www.edf-feph.org/publications/edf-position-and-recommendation-on-hate-speech-and-hate-crime/
Read full responseResponse to Communication on the Global Approach to Research, Innovation, Education and Youth
9 Apr 2021
Research, Innovation, Education and Youth
Presentation of Inclusion Europe
Inclusion Europe is the European movement of people with intellectual disabilities and their families fighting for the equal rights and full inclusion in all aspects of life of people with intellectual disabilities, with 79 member organisations in 39 European countries.
The European Union (EU) and its Member States, by ratification of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and with the European Disability Strategy 2021-2030 must ensure equal opportunities of research, innovation and education to people with intellectual disabilities.
On all the subject covered by this consultation, data should be collected and disaggregated by type of disability to reflect to what extent people with intellectual disabilities and complex support needs are included.
Research
People with intellectual disabilities should also be part of those active and instrumental in shaping and delivering education, such as teachers, parents, or administrations.
Inclusive education is not only about learning, but also about people with intellectual disabilities teaching and doing some academic research.
Education
Inclusive educational systems constitute the fundamental bridge for an inclusive and just society where people with disabilities can equally access to the labour market.
This may not be possible with certifications from segregated education systems, as they do not always correspond to those from mainstream schools, making it difficult for student with disabilities to pursue their academic path or to find a job.
Furthermore, segregated education does not provide pupils with digital learning, deepening the gap with mainstream schools.
EU funds should be used to provide an inclusive education system, including digital learning.
Also, within inclusive systems, teachers often complain not to know enough on how to support pupils with disabilities. This makes it difficult for students with intellectual disabilities to pursue their career in university. Teachers should be provided with specific training to support and include pupils with intellectual disabilities.
Finally, the lack of access to inclusive education has been exacerbated and put to light during the Covid-19 crisis, as many pupils with disabilities were left home with no support and no proper solution to follow online education (http://www.inclusion-europe.eu/briefing-on-education-coronavirus/).
Youth
For people with intellectual disabilities, the transition between one level of education to another is often difficult.
As they become older, their place in the “mainstream” education system is questioned, and if they had a chance to be part of it, they may be referred to segregated education when they become older and teenagers.
Their participation to leisure and sports activities is also limited.
This should not be the case.
Read full responseResponse to 2021 EU Justice Scoreboard
8 Apr 2021
The EU Justice Scoreboard is a valuable tool that assists the European Union (EU) and Member States in evaluating national justice systems through the disclosure of objective data on indicators of efficiency, quality, and independence.
The past editions of the EU Justice Scoreboard did not specifically consider arrangements in Member States promoting accessibility of justice for people with intellectual disabilities as indicators of quality.
In the 2020 EU Justice Scoreboard, children represented the only vulnerable group individually considered under the evaluation of accessibility of Member States’ justice systems. However, children should not be the only group deserving attention in light of their specific needs.
With approximately 87 million persons having some form of disability in the EU , Inclusion Europe believes that it is crucial to specifically refer to the right to equal access to justice for persons with disabilities, focusing on each type of disability, including people with intellectual disabilities.
These issues should not continue being overlooked if the EU Justice Scoreboard is to foster reforms in national justice systems required to render justice more effective for all citizens.
Indeed, while access to justice is essential for the enjoyment and fulfilment of a wide range of rights, first and foremost basic human rights, many obstacles prevent persons with intellectual disabilities, from accessing justice on an equal basis with others.
Such obstacles include the following:
- restrictions on the exercise of legal capacity;
- lack of physical access to justice facilities, such as courts and police stations;
- lack of accessible transportation to and from these facilities;
- obstacles in accessing legal assistance and representation;
- lack of accessible information;
- paternalistic or negative approaches questioning the abilities of persons with disabilities to participate during all stages of the administration of justice;
- lack of training for professionals operating in the field of justice.
By ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the EU and its Member States must promote the implementation of disability rights to the highest extent possible.
More specifically, the CPRD enshrines an explicit right to equal access to justice for all persons with disabilities and, to this end, calls for the elimination of the obstacles and barriers people with disabilities traditionally faced.
Read full responseResponse to Evaluation of the Victims’ Rights Directive
22 Dec 2020
Roadmap – Evaluation of Directive 2012/29/EU
Inclusion Europe is the European movement of people with intellectual disabilities and their families fighting for the equal rights and full inclusion in all aspects of life of people with intellectual disabilities, with 79 member organisations in 39 European countries.
People with intellectual disabilities, especially women and children, face higher rates and multiple forms of violence, in particular in residential care institutions , and are disproportionately exposed to hate crimes. However, people with intellectual disabilities also face substantial obstacles to access justice and to exercise their rights as victims. While Directive 2012/29/EU has been key in recognising the accessibility of information for victims with intellectual disabilities, many still do not receive enough support to exercise their right of access to justice. Therefore, the European Commission should especially assess and evaluate how victims with intellectual disabilities are targeted and included under the Victims’ Rights Directive and identify possible gaps faced by persons with disabilities.
Our recommendations for evaluating Directive 2012/29/EU:
• Alignment with the CRPD: examine whether the Directive and its implementation on European and national level is inclusive of persons with disabilities and is guided by the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
• Accessibility and support: analyse if Member States have implemented accessible communication mechanisms, such as in easy-to-read, accessible reporting mechanisms, victim support mechanisms, and reasonable accommodation for persons with intellectual disabilities. It should also be examined if victims have access to support in cross-border cases.
• Institutional violence: observe whether institutional violence is recognised and addressed under the Directive and if support and policies reach children and adults living in residential care institutions. It should be analysed if the needs of the victims of institutional violence, particularly those of women and children, have been addressed properly.
• Forced sterilisations and coercive treatment: examine if forced sterilisations and coercive treatment of persons with disabilities is recognized as violence.
• Rights during judicial procedures: it is crucial to know whether persons with intellectual disabilities receive protection measures during criminal investigations and court proceedings; can testify in a trial without being dismissed on the basis on their disability; can avoid contact with their offender; can access compensation in a reasonable timeframe.
• Access to justice: it must be examined whether those placed under guardianship can exercise their right to access to justice, and if they are protected from abuse by their legal guardian.
• Training of professionals: further evaluations should take into account whether professionals, including police officers and victim support services, receive training on hate crimes against persons with intellectual disabilities, accessible communication, and the various forms of abuse and violence experienced by victims with disabilities, such as withholding medication (Art. 25).
• Awareness raising: analyse if awareness raising targeted to victims with intellectual disabilities is accessible and realised through cooperation with people with intellectual disabilities and their organisations.
Read full responseResponse to Union of Equality: European Disability Rights Strategy
12 Nov 2020
Inclusion Europe recognises the progress achieved in the EU for people with disabilities.
We believe the next EU disability strategy should foster change and have a concrete impact on the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities and families.
Introductory remarks
Inclusion Europe believes the next strategy should:
1. Address the importance of the right to make decisions;
2. Establish clear targets to end segregation;
3. Address violence against women with intellectual disabilities;
4. Recognise the role of families in fulfilling rights and providing support to their relatives with disabilities;
5. Connect to peoples‘ experiences and be easier to understand.
Throughout the strategy, particular attention needs to be paid to:
• Children with intellectual disabilities and their families;
• Women with intellectual disabilities;
• People with complex support needs and their families.
The European Union should seize the opportunity the strategy presents to set a clear path to progress, to focus on areas where real improvement can be achieved and to lead by example.
There are many areas where the EU can and should implement direct and profound change, for example:
• Employment of people with disabilities in EU services and agencies;
• Education (Erasmus programmes, European schools);
• Accessibility of information and procedures.
The EU should position itself as a global leader in inclusive, accessible practice.
Contributions to the specific topics of the consultation available in the attached document.
Read full responseResponse to European Child Guarantee
7 Oct 2020
The guarantee needs to ensure:
-Harmonisation of definitions and correct indicators based on robust and disaggregated data need to be established to construct and evaluate polices of the Child Guarantee, to monitor, notice and avoid differences among states that hinder children’s access to quality services or even exclude them from entitlements. Intersectional policies and indicators should be incorporated, to establish real rights and real access to services for all children with disabilities and their families.Consultation and participation of children with intellectual disabilities and their families regarding polices affecting them is a necessity.
-ECEC for children with intellectual disabilities and complex support needs is vital to have access to mainstream education, employment, better health, welfare and support for parents and less institutionalisation. However, not every Member State ensures quality family-based early intervention services through health insurance coverage, which increases the finical burden on families and impedes them to afford therapy. In some countries early childhood education and care is only available in rehabilitation centres and institutions, leading to institutionalisation and segregation.It must ensure available and accessible early intervention for all children and it must be affordable for their families.
-Children with intellectual disabilities are often in poorer health than other children their age due to barriers in accessing quality healthcare as well as specialised care.This is largely due to the extra costs deriving from: medical care; staff having little understanding about intellectual disabilities and thus often failing to diagnose and recognising that a person with intellectual disabilities is unwell; inadequate aftercare or follow-up care; and the lack of accessible services.The Guarantee must ensure that healthcare coverage includes early childhood education and care, extra expenses of medical care and health checks to prevent and detect malnutrition.
-Every child has the right to quality education and inclusion at school.Yet across Europe, countless children with intellectual disabilities still do not have access to education in inclusive environments, are put aside in segregated educational settings and some do not have access to education at all. This right to quality education for all needs to be recognised under the child guarantee, considering principles of the CRPD and SDG 4
-Children with disabilities worldwide are 17 times more likely to be placed in institutional care than their peers. In the EU, efforts to facilitate the transition to family-based care often do not reach children with disabilities. In fact, legislative frameworks and funds of several Member States continue to favour institutions. Yet, institutionalisation tremendously damages children’s health and development.To end the segregation and institutionalisation of children with intellectual disabilities and complex support needs, inclusive and affordable childcare is the right and only way forward, and it is essential that these efforts include children with disabilities.The Guarantee must end institutionalisation of children with intellectual disabilities through targeted EU policies and traceable funding.
-Families with a child with disabilities tend to be disproportionally affected by poverty and unequal distribution of resources, which can impact their access to adequate nutrition. This is particularly worrying concerning children with disabilities that have dietary needs.Thus, only through specific targets, can malnutrition among children with disabilities be reduced
- Children with intellectual disabilities and complex support needs often face barriers and exclusion in accessing culture and leisure activities on an equal ground with others and cannot enjoy the same activities alongside peers. Frequently, the only accessible activities take place in segregated settings.
Read full responseResponse to Digitalisation of justice in the European Union
22 Sept 2020
By ratifying the CRPD, the EU and its member states must ensure equal access to justice and the accessibility of services, information and communication technologies for people with disabilities.The EU has taken a step in that direction with its Web Accessibility Directive, however, inaccessibility of digital technologies and justice remain a major obstacle for people with intellectual disabilities.
Hundreds of thousands of people with intellectual disabilities are still being denied legal capacity, in contradiction to the principles set forth in the CRPD.This creates practical barriers in accessing justice, including online (submitting for an online ID application, etc.)
Having accessible and easy to understand information on the justice system and procedures is a prerequisite to ensure people with disabilities have the necessary knowledge to exercise their rights.
Yet, not every person with intellectual disabilities has the means or skills to use new technologies because they are more affected by the digital gap. Their higher exposure to poverty makes it difficult to afford digital devices or Internet connection. As people with intellectual disabilities often receive segregated education and digital training is generally not accessible, their lack of training in digital skills is intensified , especially for those with complex support needs.
The implementation of digital justice raises additional problems in terms of accessibility. Using websites that are difficult to navigate nor do not comply with easy-to-read standards can be exhausting for people with intellectual disabilities. Furthermore, the lack of e-readers, absence of pictures, or, on the contrary, pictures that contain information that cannot be processed by e-readers, reduce the accessibility of the website for people with intellectual disabilities. When official procedures are carried out online, an excessive number of steps reduces their accessibility. Also, online hearings imply several obstacles for people with intellectual disabilities, such as difficulties to understand the process or to express verbally, especially without support.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, people with disabilities have been affected by the closing of the justice system, as relevant cases were left pending. Some people with intellectual disabilities were even disproportionately fined during the confinement because they had difficulties understanding the lockdown measures.
The sanitary crisis showed the urgency to transit to digitalised justice, with potential improvement to the access to justice for people with intellectual disabilities. However, if their support needs are disregarded, these opportunities may instead become threats.
Recommendations for actions at the EU level
•Promote the development away from legal incapacitation towards supported decision-making at the national level
•Incorporate supported decision-making into the digital justice (eg. ensuring the support-persons have necessary access to the information system)
•EU funds should specifically be targeted to reduce the digital gap and increase accessible digital training
•Accessibility and universal conception are guiding principles of any action taken, consultation of people with intellectual disabilities and support needs have to be taken into account
•The websites should comply with easy-to-read standards, be easy to navigate, contain easy to read and understand information, e-readers, provide an e-mail and telephone contact for support, and include explanatory videos on how to use the website
•For online hearings, personal assistance and support should be made available, with exemptions when necessary for people with disabilities and complex support needs. Information on the hearing should be sent in advance. Legal professionals should use clear language and tone.
Read full responseMeeting with Nora Bednarski (Cabinet of Commissioner Helena Dalli)
18 Aug 2020 · Exchange of views on disability-related issues including deinstitutionalisation
Response to Fitness check of the EU legislation on violence against women and domestic violence
13 Aug 2020
Presentation of Inclusion Europe
Inclusion Europe is the European movement of people with intellectual disabilities and their families fighting for the equal rights and full inclusion in all aspects of life of people with intellectual disabilities, with 79 member organisations in 39 European countries.
Violence against women with intellectual disabilities
Violence can be manifested in different forms. It can be physical, psychological, sexual, financial, emotional, structural among others. Some are easily identified. Others, such as structural violence, are more difficult to be pointed out. Women with disabilities in general, and more specifically women with intellectual disabilities, may experience violence in different ways in comparison to women without disability.
The way violence is perpetrated is also contextual. Women with intellectual disabilities in institutions may be directly dependent on possible perpetrators-legally, financially or emotionally. They are often isolated, with little or no outside social interaction and fear that reporting abuses may result in institutionalisation, retaliation, further violence (i.e. verbal abuse and intimidation) and a loss of support and aids.
In 2018, Inclusion Europe published a study on how women with intellectual disabilities cope with violence in institutions. The study is available at: https://www.inclusion-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/LAV-Publication_web.pdf
The study found that violence against these women can be systematised into 3 broader areas:
• Direct violence
• Structural violence
• Careless attitudes
Direct violence is when someone intentionally hurt someone, person to person. The perpetrators can be family, friends, friends of friends or complete strangers. In institutions, it can be fellow clients, visiting friends of clients or staff members.
Structural violence is when someone is hurt through societal structures, systems of power and control, or rules and regulations. Institutions alienate people from society, opening the way for more prejudice. People’s dependency on care allows institutions to be as forceful in their regulations as they want, or feel the need to be.
Women with intellectual disabilities in institutions often feel disempowered and not under the control of their own lives. This type of violence is harder to be identified, and often there is no direct perpetrator. Inside institutions, women lack effective access to justice, reporting, and prevention mechanisms, which makes it very difficult for them to fight against violence. The scenario worsens when they are deprived of legal capacity. Even when they report abuse, victims often are not perceived as credible.
Careless attitude happens when a person, for instance, gets hurt because someone they depend upon does not care about them.
Actions at EU level
It is important to make the forms of violence against women with intellectual disabilities more visible. This can be done, i.e. by commissioning projects and studies on the topic.
Policy makers at EU level must also consider the specificities of which women with intellectual disabilities experience violence. As showed, violence in institutions is perpetrated in ways that may be difficult to identify at first glance.
Any residential setting where people are placed without being offered real options to choose other support and living arrangements is not compatible with reducing structural violence. At EU level, goals could be set to work actively towards deinstitutionalisation. The EU and national policies could do more than allow people with intellectual disabilities to leave institutional settings; it could ensure that person-centred support is available, assisting people to build constructive lives in society.
Meanwhile deinstitutionalisation is not yet fully achieved, social policies at EU level should include measures to ensure that remaining institutions have strategies to combat all types of violence.
Read full responseResponse to Delivering for children: an EU strategy on the rights of the child
1 Aug 2020
Data collection
Collect data on children with disabilities disaggregated by age, type of disability and gender at least to see, inter alia, how many children are living in institutions, how many children are not included in mainstream school settings.
Inclusive education
Guarantee access to mainstream education and prohibit segregated education (i.e education in different settings, in mainstream school but different classroom, in same classroom but no support provided) by providing the necessary means to children (adequate support) and training of teachers;
Equip children with the necessary skills such as decision-making, self-determination and knowledge of rights so that, with the proper support, they can participate fully in all aspects of their lives;
Ensure children with intellectual disabilities have the support to actively participate in cultural life, as well as in sports, leisure and in public life as a whole
Participation
Encourage the participation of all children with intellectual disabilities from all environments (including institutions) by providing support and financial assistance to projects that aim to meaningfully consult children with disabilities, including those with intellectual disabilities, in matters of importance, using accessible, non-threatening and appropriate communication;
Provide evidence and indicators for sufficient participation of all children (see recommendations)
Emphasise the participation of children with disabilities in the relevant research project ;
Protect children with disabilities from harassment and bullying
Inclusion in the society
Follow the recommendation to member states on deinstitutionalisation and community living of children with disabilities
Identify the extent of the institutionalisation emergency through collection of data on children with disabilities in institutional care, including the reasons for institutionalisation
Support the development of national plans for transition from institutional to community-based living that should include a moratorium on new admissions and individual care plans for every child concerned;
Provide a policy framework and financial support for the development of multidisciplinary teams of professionals (foster carers, social workers, educators, healthcare professionals) able to support care-leavers with disabilities, including those with intellectual disabilities; as well as training for medical professionals involved in ante-natal and maternity services to prevent ‘abandonment’ or placement in institutions of infants found to have a disability
Ensure that EU funds are no-longer used to maintain, renovate or support existing institutional models of care
Make sure that the Common European Guidelines on the Transition from Institutional to Community-based Care are consistently used to monitor the use of the EU funds to promote family-like alternative care and community-based services for children with disabilities and their families
Recognise the role of families
A dedicated section on families and their role in supporting the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities
Measures supporting families for their active role in fulfilling the rights of persons with disabilities, and in receiving support necessary to do so.A specific target should appear in the strategy on how this goal will be achieved
Households with children where at least one person is with disability are more at risk of poverty. Protect family settings and children at risk of poverty in those families by compensating for the extra costs of disability
Health and access to healthcare
Early diagnosis solutions: affordable, accessible, available
Equal access to healthcare
Avoid separation of a child from its family for health purposes would constitute a discrimination
Prohibit unnecessary medical interventions and medical interventions affecting the child’s dignity and integrity
Ensure children with have access to habilitation and rehabilitation services
Read full responseResponse to New Strategy for the Implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights
16 Apr 2020
Roadmap : New Strategy for the implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights
Inclusion Europe
Since 1988, Inclusion Europe represents people with intellectual disabilities and their families in Europe and fights for their equal rights and full inclusion in all aspects of life.
Inclusion Europe currently represents 79 member organizations in 39 European countries.
The Charter
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Charter) entered into force on the 1st of December 2009 as a legal act. The application of the Charter is mandatory.
Why should we give our feedback?
As an NGO representing people with intellectual disabilities and their families, we are a Civil Society Organisation (CSO).
The Strategy plans on supporting actors like CSOs in the Charter’s enforcement.
As persons with disabilities are clearly mentioned in Article 26 of the Charter, disability is a cross-cutting matter and is intended to be dealt with under each of the articles of the Charter.
We are also closely following the implementation by the European Union (EU) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The Convention was ratified by all the EU Members States in 2018 and we believe that many of the rights enshrined in this Convention are echoed in the Charter.
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee) examined the European Union in 2015. If certain non-conformities with the Convention were observed in several Member States, the Committee made some recommendations to the EU on how to remedy them.
Our table enclosed below shoes how general provisions of the Charter are being echoed in the CRPD, and the CRPD Committee’s recommendation in those matters.
Thus, the Charter could also serve as a real tool to fully implement these recommendations. The drafting of the New Strategy should take into account the aims to be achieved as clear targets and objectives, for which the Charter could serve as a tool.
Purpose of the Feedback
The purpose of our feedback is to inform the European Commission of the importance to provide training and guidance to CSOs to use this Charter as a proper tool to achieve concrete objectives, such as equal rights for people with intellectual disabilities and their families and their full inclusion in all aspects of life.
Training and guidance should be supplemented with adequate funding in order to enable CSOs to train their members and the people themselves to the rights set forth in the Charter (empowerment).
European citizens should be able to bring violations of this Charter before the European courts.
This should be done bearing in mind that awareness-raising around on the topic of the Charter should be done in an accessible way, such as using Easy-to-understand material and documents.
Read full responseResponse to Gender equality in the EU
13 Feb 2020
Inclusion Europe’s recommendations on the EU Gender Equality Strategy post-2019
Since 1988, Inclusion Europe has been speaking up for people with intellectual disabilities and their families in Europe. We fight for their equal rights and full inclusion in all aspects of life.
Inclusion Europe currently represents 79 members in 39 European countries.
Inclusion Europe is committed to the women’s movement and takes part of the work in the European Women’s Lobby, alongside with other European organizations.
We are also members of the European Disability Forum (EDF) and we support their feedback on the post 2019 EU Gender Equality Strategy.
Inclusion Europe also did a study on how women with intellectual disabilities cope with violence they experienced in institutions, after they have left them. (see attached file below)
The purpose of our feedback is to inform the European Commission in its preparation of the next Gender Equality Strategy that it should include the main priorities of women and girls with disabilities in Europe, taking women with intellectual disabilities into account.
We would like to draw the Commission’s attention on the increased vulnerability of women with intellectual disability.
Women with disabilities experience violence at significantly higher rates than women without disabilities, more frequently, for longer, in more ways, and by more perpetrators; they have considerably fewer pathways to safety, and are less likely to report experiences of violence. (Human Rights Council, Report of the Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, Thematic study on the issue of violence against women and girls and disability, 30 March 2012).
This is especially true for women with intellectual disabilities, above all if they live in long-stay residential institutions.
Yet programs and services for women with intellectual disabilities either do not exist or are extremely limited (Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA), Submission to the UN Analytical Study on Violence against Women and Girls with Disabilities, December 2011).
Read full responseMeeting with Baudouin Baudru (Cabinet of Commissioner Marianne Thyssen) and European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities and
24 Apr 2018 · MFF