Disability Justice
Project Launch
Welcome!
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Housekeeping
• Phones
• Toilets
• In case of emergency
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Why Disability Justice Project
• Rights mean nothing if you cannot enforce them. Too
often providers of goods and services and public bodies
get away with breaching our rights.
• We are often left to enforce our rights on our own, which
means there are very few cases brought.
• Changes to Legal Aid and cuts to the advice sector made it
much harder to get legal advice and start a legal challenge
• Moreover, In the last few years because of largely
unchallenged historic discrimination combined with
austerity we saw a significant retrogression in our rights.
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Disability Justice Project will:
• Enable DDPOs In London to use the law to promote
our right to independent living and access to goods
and services
• DDPOs are organisations run and controlled by Deaf
and Disabled people
• The project will focus on the Care Act 2014, The
Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998
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Our approach
• Build the capacity of DDPOs to use the law to promote
and protect the rights of Deaf and Disabled people
• Ensure the challenges are initiated by Deaf and
Disabled people and DDPOs and are tackling the most
pressing issues
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Our approach …continued
• Build strong partnerships with lawyers and
provide an opportunity through our DDPO
Legal Network for lawyers and Disabled
people to work collaboratively as equal
partners
• Encourage lawyers to look at the issues from a
Disability rights perspective
• Take a strategic approach and combine
litigation with campaigning
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Why DDPOs should get involved
• The project will provide bespoke training and
resources specifically developed for DDPOs as
well as access to best lawyers
Benefits
– Increase the effectiveness of information,
advice and advocacy service
– Improve campaigning and influencing work
– Be better placed to empower Deaf and
Disabled people to stand up for our rights
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For lawyers
The project will provide the opportunity to
• Learn about the realities of our lives and help us
fight for a positive change
• Be involved in test cases, which will influence
the implementation of the law
• Increase the number of Disabled clients
• Learn about the Social Model of Disability and
the Independent Living movement
Barristers can join our Bank of Barristers by committing
to supporting the project with one pro bono advice per
year.
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Our Fight for Equality and Inclusion
• We are disabled by the
barriers that exist in society,
not by our impairments.
• Removing barriers will
require resources, changing
well established norms,
social institutions and
attitudes. Only this will
make us equal and enable
us to be included.
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Thank you
More information about the project at
www.inclusionlondon.org.uk
Get in touch:
[email protected]
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