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Disabled enduring 'shockingly high' level of discrimination






Posted by Editor on 15th April 2010 at 12:24 AM
Disabled enduring 'shockingly high' level of discrimination
Almost a quarter of disabled people are still regularly suffering from discrimination, a charity said today.

Leonard Cheshire Disability said there were "shockingly high" levels of discrimination despite the presence of the Disability Discrimination Act.

The charity said common complaints included difficulty in using public transport, a lack of user-friendly facilities and not enough information being made available for disabled people.

A spokesman from the charity told the BBC: "We found a remarkable level of discrimination and inaccessibility in shops and services, particularly given the Disability and Discrimination Act first came into force 15 years ago.

"We actually found that 40% of disabled people in Britain were able to identify difficulties or problems they have experienced accessing goods and services in the last 12 months.

"And significantly 23%, nearly a quarter of disabled people said they had been discriminated against while trying to access goods and services in the past year, so really shockingly high levels of discrimination and inaccessibility given how long we have had anti-discrimination legislation."

The spokesman said the Equality Act which will be introduced later this year should help to make a "significant difference" to how disabled people are treated.

He said: "It might make it a little bit easier for disabled people to challenge discrimination when they face it."


Source: 24dash.com

Report as offensive or innapropriate Comment by Richard Carvath ( member )  15th April 2010
I sincerely hope we don't go any further down the road of legislating for assisted suicide/euthanasia as disabled people will be even more discriminated against then. The fact that a person can be aborted at any stage of pregnancy right up to birth specifically on grounds of 'disability' says it all about the contempt and wrongful discrimination which our legislators have enshrined in law against disabled people.

Report as offensive or innapropriate Comment by Guest  15th April 2010
For years the elderly and disabled people of Salford have been ignored, despite the number of complaints made on their behalf, this council has chosen to disregard them as unimportant, more pressing matters, like finding buyers for large areas of the city, cutting back on social services etc etc,they have never had a voice in the council, that is why I decided to stand for council myself, I am both disabled and a pensioner and have decided to take the fight inside the town hall where, if elected, my voice WILL be heard and through this, the voices of the rest of the pensioners and disabled will be heard. Reg Howard, independent candidate for Pendlebury

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