Report of the CIB Expert Seminar on Building Non-Handicapping
Environments, Budapest 1991
Contents
Creating a political alliance for anti-discrimination legislation in Germany
Ottmar Miles-Paul & Uwe Frehse, Interesseverein für selbstbestimmt
Leben, ISL, Germany
Ottmar Miles-Paul
The main reason I became active in the German disability movement 6 years
ago was to work on getting rid of discriminatory barriers which I, as a
person with a visual impairment, am constantly confronted with. After spending
one and a half years working with the Independent Living Movement in the
USA, I began working with the German umbrella organization on Independent
Living, the Interessenvertretung selbstbestimmt Leben in Deutschland (ISL).
As a social worker I am also working at the Center for Independent Living
in Kassel, the Verein zur Autonomie Behinderter (fab e. V.).
The reason I chose to talk about creating a political alliance for anti-discrimination
legislation in Germany is that in order to overcome the many discriminatory
barriers disabling us, we must create strong political alliances. This process
is a crucial first step.
To provide you with an overview of our latest activities and strategies
in Germany, we have divided this presentation into three parts. In the first
part I will describe the problems and difficulties in German disability
politics which we, with our alliance, are trying to overcome. Secondly,
I will describe how we established our political alliance and what sort
of work we do in it. In the third and last section of our talk, my colleague
Uwe Frehse, who is the German representative of the European Network on
Independent Living (ENIL), will describe a concrete beginning toward creating
a broad and powerful alliance for anti-discrimination legislation in Europe.
To begin, let me describe some problems with disability politics as it has
been and, for the most part, still is in Germany. In Germany we have many
disability organizations. The majority of these organizations are strongly
dominated by parents of disabled people and other non-disabled people and
by their norms of how disabled people should live and behave. These traditional
organizations, which are usually led by non-disabled people, generally work
for the "good" of people whom they do not even consult. Additionally,
these groups are usually strictly divided according to the disabilities
they represent, and sometimes even compete with each other.
In the mid-1970's disabled people began to criticize the way traditional
organizations work and started to set up their own organizations, in which
disabled people reserve leadership for themselves. Civil disobedience and
demonstrations are important tools which these groups use to influence disability
politics. The umbrella organization on Independent Living which I represent
and mentioned earlier, ISL, grew out of this movement and combines the strategies
of each group: we use both civil disobedience and political lobbying. These
kinds of disability organizations in Germany have hardly cooperated with
each other at all and sometimes even fought against each other.
In the mid-1980's, news of a strong, successful Independent Living Movement
in the USA and a coinciding, effective anti-discrimination legislation spread
throughout Germany. Several disabled people travelled there and have brought
back confirmation of the philosophy of empowering disabled people and of
the cross-disability, political approach. The creation of a network of Centers
for Independent Living was one major result of this new political wave in
disability.
Another major result was that a few progressive people within traditional
organizations realized how important it is that disabled people determine
their own politics themselves and that a strong coalition is necessary to
pass strong anti-discrimination laws. The "Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990" gave the German disability movement a big push. One traditional
organization for mobility-impaired people, for example, organized a seminar
in 1990 on anti-discrimination legislation. It was out of this seminar that
the German Coalition for anti-discrimination legislation was born in November
of last year.
The 8 members of this coalition represent a wide range of disability organizations
in Germany and have been working well together despite different approaches
to disability politics. Our common desire to have strong anti-discrimination
legislation passed in Germany and the fact that we all realized that without
a broad coalition of disability organizations we would not achieve this
goal, made cooperation with each other easier. No single organization, however
powerful, would be able to get strong anti-discrimination legislation passed
on its own.
Since the word discrimination itself is a fairly new term in German disability
politics - most disabled people do not think of themselves as being discriminated
against - spreading the word is essential at this stage of the Coalition's
work.
One major tool which we use to promote our ideas is a quarterly newsletter
called "Disabled in Action" which I edit and distribute through
the Kassel CIL on behalf of the Coalition. "Disabled in Action"
is designed to be small enough to be inserted into disability journals but
substantial enough to be distributed in its own right.
The newsletter, which is already a supplement to six periodicals, reports
on upcoming events, provides tips on resources for further information about
anti-discrimination legislation and reports on discriminatory practices
and on protests. It also serves as a networking tool by listing organizations
which support the demand for anti-discrimination legislation. Since its
first appearance in April of this year, more than 40 organizations - some
of them umbrella organizations with thousands of members - wrote us that
they support our campaign.
Another activity which served to spread the word about discrimination against
disabled people and remedies for it was a conference on anti-discrimination
legislation organized by the German Independent Living umbrella organization
ISL, which my colleague and I attended in Bremen, just before we rushed
to this meeting here in Budapest.
Other effective publicity strategies which we use include public lectures
and exhibitions. We have invited Ms. Marilyn Golden and other prominent
disability activists to speak in various German cities. At a major international
rehabilitation exhibition this fall the topic of the opening session, to
be televised in the form of a talk show, will be anti-discrimination legislation.
The talk show will, among other things, serve to publicize a petition which
describes our demands and requests support for them and we hope that both
many signatures and legislative action will follow.
Soon negotiations will begin with various government officials, including
people in the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Social Affairs. And
finally in order to bring this idea onto the very streets, to produce the
broadest publicity possible, a Europe-wide protest day has been organized
for next year which my colleague Uwe Frehse will discuss and in which you
all will hopefully participate.
Mr. Uwe Frehse
The European Network on Independent Living, which true to its name has already
developed a good and effective network of people and organizations dedicated
to the self-determination of disabled people, has decided to hold a Europe-wide
Protest Day for Equal Rights and against Discrimination of Disabled People
on the 5th of May 1992, on Europe Day 1992. This Protest Day will consist
of a great variety of activities, including information booths, lectures
and visits to political representatives as well as demonstrations and blockades.
One major purpose of the Protest Day is to strengthen the European disability
movement by developing a European coalition for anti-discrimination legislation.
The Protest Day will make discriminatory practices a public matter by mobilizing
the press and bringing our demands into every living room.
The Protest Day will have one organization per country coordinating the
activities and public relations in that country, and the overall, European
coordination will take place in Kassel, Germany. Anyone interested in participating
should contact Ottmar or me and we can give you more specific information.
We also can provide you with more background information about the new American
legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA, in the U.S.
The creation of an accessible Europe, of a Europe without architectural
or any kind of barrier for people of any disability, requires a strong coalition
among all disability activists and independent living and other groups on
disability. Cooperation is a must for success. Together we can achieve a
Europe with equal rights for us all. Together we are strong and can do it.
Budapest
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