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Disability in France
Approximately 12 million French citizens are affected by disability. The history of disability activism in France dates back to the French Revolution when the national obligation to help disabled citizens was recognized, but it was "unclear whether or not such assistance should be public or private." Disabled civilians began to form the first associations to demand equal rights and integration in the workforce after the First World War. Between 1940 and 1945, 45,000 people with intellectual disabilities died from neglect in French psychiatric asylums. After the Second World War, parents of disabled children and charities created specialized institutions for disabled children for whom school was not accessible. In 2018, the French Government began to roll out a disability policy which aimed to increase the allowance for disabled adults to €900 per month, improve the digital accessibility of public services, and develop easy-to-read and understand language among other goals.
According to the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies), in 2007 there were 9.6 million disabled people living in France. In 2023, 140,000 people with disabilities aged 16 and older are living in specialized institutions.
Disability is defined in article 114 of the Disability Law 2005 as "any limitations in participating in society because of a substantial, permanent condition affecting a person's physical, sensory or mental functioning, which includes cognitive and psychiatric disorders and disabling chronic illnesses". The United Nations (UN) has requested that France updates its legal definition of disability as it does not take into account society's limitations through the human rights-based approach to disability.
France ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2010.
When he was elected in May 2017, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, declared that disability would be a priority of his five-year term of office.
France has been the subject of much criticism for its use of the medical approach to disability rather than the human rights-based approach as set out in the CRPD., and the persistent use of psychoanalysis in the treatment of autism.
The United Nations (UN) condemned France in 2015 for placing a 16-year-old autistic boy in a psychiatric hospital without his or his mother's consent. This type of institutionalization, which took place a few days after the teenager was sent to an institut médicoéducatif (IME), is considered a deprivation of freedom and a violation of his security under international law. On 4 February 2016, the UN further expressed its concern regarding cases of ill-treatment of children with disabilities in institutions and the lack of independent monitoring of such institutions. It was also concerned that the "packing" technique (wrapping a child in cold, wet sheets), which amounts to ill‑treatment, has not been legally prohibited in France, even though it was banned by the health authorities, and was reportedly still being practiced on some children with autistic spectrum disorders.
In 2017, the UN special rapporteur, Catalina Devandas Aguilar, visited France from 3 to 17 October. She observed that France's legislation, particularly the 2005 disability law as well as the law on mental health, were not in alignment with the CRPD, notably Article 12 (legal capacity). She called for legislative authorities to undertake a comprehensive review of the entire legal framework in order to complete the process of legal harmonization, in accordance with Article 4 (general obligations) of the convention. Ms. Devandas noted that France had failed to implement and take into account the change of paradigm required by the convention, and the majority of officials she had met with during her trip to France had not been aware of the changes brought about by the CRPD, solely referring to the local 2005 law. She was also concerned with France's approach to institutionalization which runs contrary to the CRPD and the goal of social inclusion. The Committee noted in their report that children with disabilities enrolled in mainstream schools "face multiple barriers to access education on an equal basis with others. This is not only due to the lack of accessible infrastructure, but also because there is no specialized training for regular teachers and school assistants, and no curricular adaptations and accommodation in the classrooms, which affects the quality of education." She expressed "grave concern" about the situation of around 81,000 children placed in segregated medico-educative institutions, recommending that France shut them down and transform them into non-residential resource centers. "Even more worrisome, according to unofficial estimates, there are reportedly some 12,000 so-called 'children without a solution' in France, and up to 40,000 autistic students, who receive no education at all."
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Disability in France
Approximately 12 million French citizens are affected by disability. The history of disability activism in France dates back to the French Revolution when the national obligation to help disabled citizens was recognized, but it was "unclear whether or not such assistance should be public or private." Disabled civilians began to form the first associations to demand equal rights and integration in the workforce after the First World War. Between 1940 and 1945, 45,000 people with intellectual disabilities died from neglect in French psychiatric asylums. After the Second World War, parents of disabled children and charities created specialized institutions for disabled children for whom school was not accessible. In 2018, the French Government began to roll out a disability policy which aimed to increase the allowance for disabled adults to €900 per month, improve the digital accessibility of public services, and develop easy-to-read and understand language among other goals.
According to the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies), in 2007 there were 9.6 million disabled people living in France. In 2023, 140,000 people with disabilities aged 16 and older are living in specialized institutions.
Disability is defined in article 114 of the Disability Law 2005 as "any limitations in participating in society because of a substantial, permanent condition affecting a person's physical, sensory or mental functioning, which includes cognitive and psychiatric disorders and disabling chronic illnesses". The United Nations (UN) has requested that France updates its legal definition of disability as it does not take into account society's limitations through the human rights-based approach to disability.
France ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2010.
When he was elected in May 2017, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, declared that disability would be a priority of his five-year term of office.
France has been the subject of much criticism for its use of the medical approach to disability rather than the human rights-based approach as set out in the CRPD., and the persistent use of psychoanalysis in the treatment of autism.
The United Nations (UN) condemned France in 2015 for placing a 16-year-old autistic boy in a psychiatric hospital without his or his mother's consent. This type of institutionalization, which took place a few days after the teenager was sent to an institut médicoéducatif (IME), is considered a deprivation of freedom and a violation of his security under international law. On 4 February 2016, the UN further expressed its concern regarding cases of ill-treatment of children with disabilities in institutions and the lack of independent monitoring of such institutions. It was also concerned that the "packing" technique (wrapping a child in cold, wet sheets), which amounts to ill‑treatment, has not been legally prohibited in France, even though it was banned by the health authorities, and was reportedly still being practiced on some children with autistic spectrum disorders.
In 2017, the UN special rapporteur, Catalina Devandas Aguilar, visited France from 3 to 17 October. She observed that France's legislation, particularly the 2005 disability law as well as the law on mental health, were not in alignment with the CRPD, notably Article 12 (legal capacity). She called for legislative authorities to undertake a comprehensive review of the entire legal framework in order to complete the process of legal harmonization, in accordance with Article 4 (general obligations) of the convention. Ms. Devandas noted that France had failed to implement and take into account the change of paradigm required by the convention, and the majority of officials she had met with during her trip to France had not been aware of the changes brought about by the CRPD, solely referring to the local 2005 law. She was also concerned with France's approach to institutionalization which runs contrary to the CRPD and the goal of social inclusion. The Committee noted in their report that children with disabilities enrolled in mainstream schools "face multiple barriers to access education on an equal basis with others. This is not only due to the lack of accessible infrastructure, but also because there is no specialized training for regular teachers and school assistants, and no curricular adaptations and accommodation in the classrooms, which affects the quality of education." She expressed "grave concern" about the situation of around 81,000 children placed in segregated medico-educative institutions, recommending that France shut them down and transform them into non-residential resource centers. "Even more worrisome, according to unofficial estimates, there are reportedly some 12,000 so-called 'children without a solution' in France, and up to 40,000 autistic students, who receive no education at all."