Welfare Reform on the Web (February 2010): Services for the disabled - overseas

Disabled people and dirty work

M. Holmqvist

Disability and Society, vol. 24, 2009, p. 869-882

This article argues, on the basis of a case study of a large programme providing sheltered employment for disabled people in Sweden, that people who have once entered a sheltered work environment are stigmatised and can never escape into normal employment. Employment in a sheltered workshop is seen as second class, and people who work there may come to be regarded or even officially labelled as disabled irrespective of their mental or physical condition.

'We've moved away from disability as a health issue, it's a human rights issue': reflecting on 10 years of the right to equality in South Africa

M. Heap, T. Lorenzo and J. Thomas

Disability and Society, vol. 24, 2009, p. 857-868

The South African Constitution of 1996 enshrines the right of disabled people to equality. This paper uses secondary sources and draws on the work and research experience of the authors to explore what this constitutional right has meant for disabled people in practice. It demonstrates that legislative and administrative measures have been put in place to protect the rights of disabled people, but these have yet to be experienced in everyday life.