THE CHALLENGES AND BARRIERS FACING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN THE COMMONWEALTH
PARLIAMENTS MUST PRIORITISE ACCESSIBILITY FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES The last decade has seen diversity and inclusion climb to the top of most boardroom and organisations’ agendas. However, despite rising awareness of the benefits that diverse workforces bring, many political institutions around the world are still falling short when it comes to disability. As it currently stands, there are only five serving Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom with a declared disability and seven equivalent Members of Congress in the United States. Furthermore, recent research indicates only 1% of Parliamentarians across the European Union (Mitz and Schippers, 2021) have any declared impairment. These figures are particularly concerning when the United Nations estimates there are at least 1 billion disabled people worldwide, compromising our largest minority group (UN Fact Sheet). This representation gap alone is stark, and without disability inclusion in politics, we will be unable to successfully legislate and advance disability rights for the future and for a fairer world. Parliaments around the world need to be accessible for all. We need more people with disabilities in politics. The representation gap for disabled people internationally is stark, making them one of the most under-represented minority groups, despite current momentum for increased diversity and inclusion. Using the United Kingdom as an example, there are currently 14.1 million disabled people in the country, which is 21% of the population, with 8% of children being disabled, 19% of working-age adults, and 44% of pension age (aged over 65) adults. If these numbers were proportional to the number of disabled MPs, we should expect to have approximately 136 disabled MPs in the UK Parliament. However, we currently fall far short. We need more people with disabilities entering politics to ensure Parliament is reflective of the society that it represents, and also to ensure people with disabilities and disability rights are fully advocated for within our democracies. The link between descriptive representation (reflection of various characteristics of the represented among representatives, e.g. gender, race, disabilities) and substantive representation (when representatives ‘[act] in the interests of the represented in
a manner responsive to them’) has been a long-standing issue of academic debate. Recent research indicates “having more disabled representatives in parliament benefits in raising the interests of disabled voters” (Reher, 2021). Despite being part of an incredibly diverse minority group, people with disabilities collectively and routinely experience access issues from inaccessible spaces to inaccessible transport systems, inaccessible information, alongside prejudice and stigmatisation (Reher, 2021). This lived experience must be utilised to represent and address the needs of disabled people. In order to increase the number of people with disabilities in politics, Parliaments around the world must work collectively. Accessibility should be at the core of all environmental restoration, planning and activities, and institutions could institute disability advisors with lived experience to ensure accessibility checks are effective. The pandemic has also proven historical institutions like Parliament’s are able to support remote and online working. Efforts should be made to extend hybrid proceedings for people with disabilities to ensure they can fully participate when clinically vulnerable or when practically required. As Chair of the UK Parliament’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for Disability, we have been working globally to establish an International Disability Network. This Network will enable nations to put forward their examples of best practices and allow us to learn from each other to ensure we best prioritise disability accessibility and inclusion worldwide. The Commonwealth will play a key role in ensuring this initiative is a success and lay the groundwork for a diverse and inclusive future. Initiatives running in the UK Parliament have included the expansion of the Disability Confident Scheme across constituency offices and the House of Commons Parliamentary Internship Scheme for people with disabilities. The former encourages Members of Parliament to offer frontline opportunities to disabled people in local politics across the UK, and the latter provides an introduction to careers in politics in the UK House of Commons itself. We also need to change the narrative around disability within society, as inclusion in education, work, and the overall public sphere
Hon. Dr Lisa Cameron, MP was elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in
May 2015 to represent the constituency of East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow in Scotland. She is the Chair of the UK Parliament’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Disability. Before entering politics, she worked as a clinical psychologist.
The Parliamentarian | 2021: Issue Four | 100 years of publishing | 363
