Advocacy

As members of the Independent Living Movement, we believe that we are the experts of our own lives, and therefore we can independently advocate for our civil rights.

Disability is not the individual problem of a single person but must be perceived in a larger social and political context as a problem of unbalanced power. Persons with disabilities are a marginalised group and are discriminated in many aspects of daily life, such as education, labour, housing, social and political participation. We fight against discrimination and advocate self-determination, accessibility, and equal rights in every aspect of life.

We demand the rapid implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which was ratified by Austria in 2008. The purpose of the CRPD is “to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity” (CRPD, Article 1 – Purpose).

It is our goal to achieve equal rights for all persons with disabilities and therefore, demand to be actively included in any kind of law that affects us.