Social Structures
Click her for Irish Sign Language Version
Author: Léa Urzel – PhD Researcher ERC Project DANCING, ALL Institute – Department of Law, Maynooth University
Today, 23 September 2021, marks the fourth celebration of the International Day of Sign Languages. Currently, Covid-19 continues to affect the lives of people around the world. The ongoing pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges for all, including persons with disabilities. It has further exacerbated the barriers that Deaf people and other sign language users face in their daily lives and highlighted the difficulties encountered in accessing services and information, notably health services and public health information (Panko et al, 2021). At the same time, it has also enhanced the use of national sign languages in public broadcasting as numerous press conferences, public health briefings and other speeches by government officials continue to be broadcast featuring sign language interpretation.
Distinct from spoken languages, sign languages are natural and native languages of Deaf communities around the world. The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) estimates that there are 70 million Deaf people worldwide, communicating in over 200 different sign languages, which contributes to multilingualism and the diversity of languages and cultures. As such, sign languages need to be recognised, promoted, and preserved. Moreover, to ‘raise awareness of the importance of sign language in the full realization of the human rights of people who are deaf’, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/72/161 in 2017 and proclaimed 23 September as the International Day of Sign Languages. Since 2018, this day commemorates the creation of the WFD on 23 September 1951 and coincides with the celebration of the International Week of the Deaf People initiated by the WFD in 1958. As the organisation representing the global Deaf community, the WFD works for the realisation of the human rights of Deaf people and the improvement of the status of national sign languages, while promoting Deaf culture and sign languages as part of human diversity.
The human rights of Deaf people and sign language users are protected by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which recognises and promotes Deaf culture and the use of sign languages. First, Article 9(2)(e) on accessibility establishes that States parties shall ‘provide forms of live assistance and intermediaries, including (…) professional sign language interpreters to facilitate accessibility to buildings and other facilities open to the public’. The CRPD further refers to the use of sign languages in Article 21, which covers the freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information of persons with disabilities. To guarantee that sign language users can exercise their right to freedom of expression and opinion, including the freedom to access information, this provision requires States Parties to accept and facilitate the use of sign languages in official interactions (Article 21(b)), and more generally recognise and promote their use (Article 21(e)).
Therefore, the Convention stresses the importance of ensuring that sign language users are able to engage in their chosen form of communication and exercise their rights on an equal basis with others. In addressing participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure, and sport, the CRPD also obliges States Parties, through Article 30(4), to recognise and support the specific cultural and linguistic identity of persons with disabilities, clearly highlighting sign languages and Deaf culture as facets of that identity. As such, Deaf persons are the only group explicitly referred to in this article.
The realisation of the human rights of Deaf people and sign language users remains limited by the lack of legal recognition of national sign languages and/or effective implementation of the dedicated provisions (De Meulder, Murray and McKee, 2019). In August 2021, the WFD reported that 66 countries had recognised national sign languages. Their legal recognition is achieved through different means, categorised as follows: constitutional recognition, general language legislation, sign language law or act, sign language law or act including other means of communications (i.e. including forms of communication used by Deafblind persons), national language council recognition or disability legislation (De Meulder, 2015). Even when countries have recognised sign language, in practice, Deaf people often struggle to exercise their rights on an equal basis with others.
Šubic and Ferri, from the ERC-funded DANCING project, raised this point recently as they discussed the Constitutionalisation of sign language in Slovenia. They stressed how essential the adoption of further implementing measures is for the success of a constitutional recognition, and for ensuring a better protection of the rights of Deaf people. Moreover, as part of the DANCING project, we are carrying out interviews with representatives of Deaf people across 27 member States plus the UK to gauge an understanding of the barriers they face. Some very preliminary data show that Deaf persons face barriers in accessing cultural content.
Today, hence, gives us the opportunity to take stock of the developments of the past year, such as how, in times of crisis, States have developed better practices to ensure the availability and accessibility of information in sign languages. While some progress has been achieved, much remains to be done to secure the inclusion of Deaf people in society. As sign languages are an essential dimension of Deaf people’s identity, growth, and self-determination, they form the basis for thriving Deaf communities. Hence, it remains imperative and pressing for States Parties to respect their obligations and ensure that sign language users enjoy the same opportunities as hearing people in terms of access to, inter alia, education, employment, public services like health, social and government services, as well as cultural goods and services.
This blog has been written within the remit of the project ‘Protecting the Right to Culture of Persons with Disabilities and Enhancing Cultural Diversity through European Union Law: Exploring New Paths – DANCING’. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No 864182).
