For World Autism Awareness Day - Wednesday 2 April 2015
Discrimination against autistic persons, the rule rather
than the exception – UN rights experts
GENEVA (30 March 2015) – Two United Nations human rights
experts today called for an end to
discrimination against autistic persons and a celebration of diversity.
Speaking ahead of World Autism Awareness Day, the Special Rapporteurs on the
rights of persons with disabilities, Catalina Devandas Aguilar, and on the
right to health, Dainius Pūras, noted that about one per cent of the world’s
population -some 70 million people- is estimated to be on the autism spectrum
worldwide.
“As part of human diversity, autistic persons should be
embraced, celebrated and respected. However, discrimination against autistic
children and adults is more the rule rather than the exception.
In many countries, autistic persons lack access to services
which would support, on an equal basis with others, their right to health,
education, employment, and living in the community. When available, services
are too often far from human rights friendly or evidence-based.
Autistic persons are particularly exposed to professional
approaches and medical practices which are unacceptable from a human rights
point of view. Such practices – justified many times as treatment or protection
measures – violate their basic rights, undermine their dignity, and go against
scientific evidence.
Autistic children and adults face the proliferation of
medicalized approaches relying on the over-prescription of psychotropic
medications, their placement in psychiatric hospitals and long-term care
institutions, the use of physical or chemical restraint, electro-impulsive
therapy, etc. This may be particularly harmful and lead to the deterioration of
their condition. All too often, such practices amount to ill-treatment or
torture.
The autism spectrum should be understood from a broader
perspective, including in research. We call for caution about enthusiastic
attempts to find the causes of autism and ways to ‘cure’ autism through
sophisticated but not necessarily ethical research. Autism as a condition is a
critical challenge for modern health systems, in which we need to ensure that
the practice and science of medicine is never again used to cause the suffering
of people.
More investment is needed in services and research into
removing societal barriers and misconceptions about autism. Autistics persons
should be recognized as the main experts on autism and on their own needs, and
funding should be allocated to peer-support projects run by and for autistic
persons.
It is about providing individuals and families with the
necessary skills and support to have choice and control over their lives. It is
also about equal opportunities, access to inclusive education and mainstream
employment to achieve equality and rights enjoyment by autistic persons. It is
about promoting their independence and respecting their dignity.
Autistic persons should be respected, accepted and valued in
our societies, and this can only be achieved by respecting, protecting and
fulfilling their basic rights and freedoms.”
ENDS
Ms. Catalina Devandas Aguilar (Costa Rica) was designated as
the first Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities in
December 2014 by the UN Human Rights Council. Ms. Devandas Aguilar has worked
extensively on disability issues at the national, regional and international
level with the Strategic Partnerships with the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund,
the UN unit responsible for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities and the World Bank. Her work has focused on the rights of women
with disabilities and the rights of indigenous peoples with disabilities. Learn
more, log on to:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Disability/SRDisabilities/Pages/SRDisabilitiesIndex.aspx
Mr. Dainius Pūras (Lithuania) was appointed as the Special
Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable
standard of physical and mental health by the UN Human Rights Council in June
2014. Mr Pûras is a Professor and the Head of the Centre for Child psychiatry
social pediatrics at Vilnius University. He is also a human rights advocate who
has been actively involved during the last 30 years in the process of
transforming public health policies and services, with special focus on the
rights of children, persons with mental disabilities, and other vulnerable
groups. Learn more, visit:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Health/Pages/SRRightHealthIndex.aspx
The UN Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the
‘Special Procedures’ of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the
largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the
general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring
mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues
in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary
basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They
are independent from any government or organization and serve in their
individual capacity.
For more information and media requests, please contact
Krista Orama (+41 22 928 9286 / korama@ohchr.org) or Dolores Infante-Cañibano
(+ 41 22 917 9768 / dinfante@ohchr.org)
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