as we were talking about the laws which do not gets implemented, here is one more hot example. though many of us thinks that things are pathetic only in india, but this article may clear even some of your doubts.
--- Blind people discriminated throughout the globe even more in Britain British Democracy Forum - http://www.democracyforum.co.uk Debbie Andalo Wednesday April 23, 2008 SocietyGuardian.co.uk Public perception, poor access to information and lack of mobility are the three main barriers preventing equality for blind and partially sighted people. Statistics gathered by charities and organisations striving to help people overcome these obstacles illustrate just how much more still needs to be done, despite 13 years of disability discrimination legislation. Some 66% of blind or partially sighted people of working age are unemployed, and nearly the same number again (67%) have no formal qualifications, according to latest figures. Isolation is another issue: 48% of visually impaired people admit they have difficulty going out alone because of potential hazards on the streets, as well as lack of access to public transport. Fazilet Hadi, director of policy and advocacy at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), who trained as a lawyer, says: "This isn't just about changing the law. I think that the UK has probably got some of the best (anti-disability discrimination) law, but I think we should use the law and challenge it more. We also need to change the way that people think." Sue Sharpe, head of public policy and campaigns at the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, agrees: "The discrimination law in the UK is probably up there with the leaders globally. But it's one thing having the legislation, and another thing delivering it." Hadi was born with a genetic condition that meant she started losing her sight when she was nine: she became partially sighted, then blind. She believes public attitude towards blind and partially sighted people has changed a little in the past couple of decades, but ignorance and fear still influences public and professional behaviour. She says: "I trained as a solicitor and I remember one day in court the usher almost dragged me to sit down, that would be more unlikely to happen now. I think today somebody would be more likely to offer some help and give an arm to support you." Hadi says it would take about 30 minutes to educate employers, professionals working in the public services and the general public about the etiquette around guiding blind and partially sighted people. She says: "It's so that people understand not to grab people or shove them and not to make assumptions about what being blind or partially sighted means." Teaching school children about appropriate behaviour around people who are visually impaired could be included as part of their personal, social, health education (PHSE) lessons, while a behaviour code could also be written into staff training for those working in the NHS and social care sectors, she suggests. Lack of access to information, which covers daily newspapers, books for learning and pleasure, and information on internet sites, as well as instructions about how to use your washing machine, is a major problem for the visually impaired, which stands in the way of equality to education and performing the daily tasks that people with sight take for granted. RNIB is campaigning for bigger size print to be used in all printed materials and on websites, as well as a move towards what it calls "inclusive design", so that machines such as dishwashers and washing machines and equipment such as computers, mobile phones and televisions, are all manufactured with adaptations that make them automatically accessible to blind and partially sighted people. Hadi says: "Just think of all those channels available on television now. Why can't a set come with inbuilt technology so the programme times can be spoken, rather than read?" Televisions and all white goods are excluded from existing disability discrimination law, she points out. The current law also lets down blind and partially sighted people over equal access to transport, which governs their mobility. By 2009, all buses in London will be equipped with audiovisual announcements, where recorded information about destinations and stops is relayed to passengers. Nationally, all new trains built after 1998 are meant by law to have audiovisual information in their carriages. But while the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 states that all trains have to have these systems in place no later than 2020, the order needed to bring that provision into force has not yet appeared. There is also no statutory enforcement system in place if the audiovisual systems on public transport have not been turned on or are broken, says Sharpe. She says: "This is all about giving people equality of opportunity. If you can't rely on a service, then it undermines confidence, and lack of confidence becomes as much a barrier to mobility as a physical barrier." Another barrier regularly faced by guide dog owners is persuading taxis to accept their custom even though they are legally entitled to travel with their dogs under the Private Hire Vehicle Bill 2000. Urban planners' current fashion to create "naked streets" - where kerbs are taken away and the distinction between street and road disappears - is possibly the most serious threat to the mobility of blind and partially sighted people, according to Sharpe. "Kerbs are the single navigational tool for blind and partially sighted people." Access to transport is one of the biggest barriers preventing people who are blind or partially sighted getting into employment. Sharpe says: "It's fundamental otherwise they don't have access to pathways to employment and lifestyle choices." Last year, the charity Action for Blind People supported more than 1,000 blind or partially sighted people on the road to employment, 230 of whom found fulltime work. Another 36 people were helped to start up their own businesses. Employers' ignorance about the government- funded Access to Work initiative, where money is available to pay for extra help, adaptations or computer software to support a blind or partially sighted person in the workplace, is a major stumbling block in getting people back into work, according to Stephen Remington the charity's chief executive. Employers, like the general public, also make false assumptions about what people are capable of if they are partially sighted or blind, he says. "A lot of employers take the stereotypical view that, if you have a visual impairment, you can only be a telephonist or work in a factory. But I think they need to turn that opinion on its head and the question they should be asking themselves is 'Think of a job which a visually impaired person cannot do.'" --- regards, prateek agarwal. cell: 09928341197 e-mails: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- you can visit my website for lots stuff related to visually impaired and others. please go on to www.prateekagarwal.webs.com Join Access India convention: For updates on it visit: http://accessindia.org.in/harish/convention.htm Registration is now open! To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
