Definition of the target group (children with disabilities) and international human rights obligations

• Author: Hunt, Paula Frederica
• Pages: 8-11

Target Group Discussion Paper Children with disabilities

8

Definition of the target group (children with disabilities)

and international human rights obligations

2.1 Definition of Target Group – children with disabilities

It is estimated that, in the EU, 80 million citizens have a disability, making this the largest

minority group in Europe, with prevalence given to women, the older population and those

with a lower education background2. However, as detailed in a stock-taking exercise

(European Commission, 2017), specific and reliable data and evidence that can detail the

life experiences of children with disabilities ‘are difficult to collect and, when available,

often partial and fragmented’ (p.12). According to the European Disability Strategy 2010-

20203 and the CRPD (Art.1), the definition of disability is rather broad and encompasses

an open concept: ‘Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term

physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with

various barriers may hinder t heir full and effective participation in society on an

equal basis with others’.

The description of persons with disabilities proposed in the CRPD results from a

progression, over time, of the way in which disability is understood. It reflects the social

model of disability (also known as the bio-psycho-social model), in line with the human

rights-based approach or the human rights model of conceptualising disability, and is

consistent with the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Functioning,

Disability and Health4 (ICF and the ICF-Children and Youth version) that conceptualises a

person’s level of functioning as a dynamic interaction between their health conditions,

environmental factors , and p ersonal factors. It defines functioning and disability as

multidimensional concepts relating to:

• the body functions and structures of people;

• the activities people do and the life areas in which they participate; and

• the factors in people’s environment that affect their experiences.

The social model of disability acknowledges the importance of the context and environment

in enabling or disabling individuals in terms of participating effectively in society, and

provides the gold standard for a disability definition. The social model presents a new

paradigm for conceptualising disability, a departure from the more traditional ways that

relied on descriptions of diseases and illnesses (medical model), and/or portrayed persons

with disabilities as recipients of charity, rather than rights holders (charity model).

Up until 2006, each EU Member State accounted for its disabled population by counting

the number of recipients of disability allowances or benefits, a number often reached by

virtue of identification in census questions answered by heads of household. However, in

both instances, asking about disability often reflected a biased account, due to a narrow

conception of disability (disease or impairment), due to the age-limitation of the census

and household surveys (which often start only at the age of lawful employment), or with

responses coloured by stigma and fear of retaliation linked to being identified as a person

with a disability.

Therefore, after 2006, EU Member States have been encouraged to use a CRPD-compliant

definition of disability that would allow for comparable data collection across the EU.

However, as detailed below, most EU Member States continue to use a reductive definition

of disability that accounts for one or two of the three dimensions it should include: 1) the

body functions and structures of people; 2) the activities people do and the life areas in

which they participate; and 3) the factors in people’s environment that affect their

experiences. Many of the 28 Country Reports upon which this paper is based use a variety

2 Data from the European Survey on Health and Social Integration of 2012-13.

3 https://ec.europa.eu/eip/ageing/standards/general/general-documents/european-disability-strategy-2010-

2020_en

4 https://www.who.int/classifications/icf/en/