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One-fifth of disabled Britons have their rights violated: Report

Disabled performers from a dance group rehearse their new show in north London on April 13, 2018. (AFP photo)

One in five people in Britain are suffering from a violation of their rights because they are disabled, according to a government-backed report.

The results of the report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), published on Sunday, showed that around 14 million Britons with disabilities, roughly a fifth of the UK population, have suffered from erosion of their rights.

The study, which reported its findings to the United Nations committee on disability rights, said that there was “deeply concerning” evidence showing that the situation of the disabled people across the UK is getting worse despite government pledges to improve their conditions.

“More and more disabled people are finding it difficult to live independently and be included, and participate, in their communities on an equal basis,” said the report.

Britain had become a country where more disabled people live in poverty than non-disabled people, the report said.

A research by Scope, a national disability charity, said around 40 percent of the disabled people in the UK do not feel valued by society.

Britain has seen many of its social care standards degrade over the past years, mainly due to government’s cuts on spending in the field which has come as part of wider austerity measures to cope with recession and economic stagnation.

One in five working-age adults in the country are disabled as are almost half of all people of pensionable age.

The EHRC said the UK government’s welfare reforms have hit the disabled harder and people with disability still find it increasingly difficult to find work, and when they do, they are paid less.

The group said Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, which is expected to take place in March, would further deteriorate the situation of the disabled in the country.  


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