RIGHTS-BRAZIL: Disabled Citizens Defend Their Rights with Hammers

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, Sep 25 1999 (IPS) - A group of physically disabled people in Campinas, Brazil, began destroying the sidewalks of the city’s main intersections, defending their rights with each strike of their hammers.

“We will no longer tolerate waiting for the city government’s promises,” stated city council member Marcelo Sanches, whose legs are paralysed. He decided to lead the movement after he ruined his wheelchair trying to get onto a sidewalk that did not have a ramp.

The group threatened to break up one sidewalk every day in Campinas, a city of one million located 100 km from Sao Paulo. The group’s members hope to push the city into constructing the ramped sidewalks paraplegics need for mobility around the city.

This direct action reflects the group’s indignation with urban construction – because it often excludes many people with disabilities – and impatience with the city’s delay in making the corrections. The action is also a step forward in the struggles of people with disabilities in Brazil.

Brazil’s disabled are growing increasingly aware of their rights, and there is now sufficient legislation to defend them, as well as an official policy for integration.

The National Association for the Integration of People with Disabilities (CORDI), created in 1987 and made part of the Human Rights Ministry five years ago, is currently drafting inter- ministry action plans.

There has been great progress in all areas of Brazil over the last 10 years agree Tania de Almeida, head of CORDI, and Geraldo Nogueira, director of the Centre for Independent Living (CVI) in Rio de Janeiro, a non-governmental organisation with centres around the world – including 500 in the United States.

The disabilities movement combines government and civil society forces. Government activity is directed by a council which is made up of equal numbers of people with disabilities and government representatives, said Almeida.

But everything must be carried out at the local level, and the primary obstacle is the practical application of laws and policies in the cities, Almeida explained, which is why CORDI and the CVI try to work with the municipal governments, offering incentives, specialised programmes and training courses.

It is essential “to prepare society for the inclusion of disabled people, to accept differences,” and for the disabled to reaffirm themselves as people and as full citizens, stated attorney Nogueira, paraplegic since an automobile accident eight years ago.

Improving the lives of the disabled requires widespread participation, involving different public organisations and sectors of society, added Ricardo Tadeu Marques da Fonseca, who is blind and is the Campinas public attorney for labour.

Action in just one dimension does not solve anything, Da Fonseca explained. There are many businesses willing to hire people with disabilities, but often such job offers are useless because potential beneficiaries do not have a way to get from their homes to the workplace.

It is fundamental to listen to people with disabilities in planning public works and other common-use items. They must also be included in any initiative designed to help them specifically or the general population, added the attorney.

A radical change in the issue’s focus is needed, said Da Fonseca. We must move from assistance to defending the rights of the disabled in all areas – in the streets, schools, public transportation, medical services and social security.

Such change requires hard work in a country that still does not have statistics available on people with disabilities, observed Patricia Audi, co-ordinator of the National Human Rights Programme, which is run by the human rights ministry.

According to the United Nations, 10 percent of the population in developing countries suffers some type of disability, whether mental, physical, visual, or hearing-related. This percentage corresponds to 16 million people in Brazil.

The official census next year will mean more accurate numbers because for the first time it will include a disabled person category – the result of pressure by CORDI and the ministry of education, which is concerned about meeting the needs of students with disabilities.

The CVI of Rio de Janeiro, one of 20 centres in Brazil, directly serves some 250 people with all types of disabilities, as well as providing “multiplier activities,” such as training, discussions and consulting for the government, said director Noguiera.

Almeida recognises the importance of taking action to improve access for people with disabilities to all public spaces. She is spreading the idea of “universal design” throughout Brazil, to make public space accessible to all people, regardless of their differences and limitations.