Advocating for Laws that Reflect CRPD Principles

A group of women and men in front of a banner. Several of the people use wheelchairs.
  • The Accomplishment

  • What Worked

  • About the Author

In November of 2012, The Great Commission of the Thirteenth Legislature of the State of Quintana Roo proposed a reform of the Law on Protection and Integral Development of Persons with Disabilities of Quintana Roo. The law classified autism under the medical assistance model—as a disease to be cured—and singled out people with autism for special attention apart from people with other disabilities.

The reform was drafted and approved by the Commission without consultation with people with disabilities in our state. This was in direct violation of articles 1 and 8 of the Constitution of Mexico, which guarantee the right of petition and protection of constitutional freedoms. The proposed legal reform also did not align with the rights-based United Nation Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and a number of federal regulations.

In response to the proposed discriminatory legal reform, civil society organizations and social groups of and for people with disabilities in the State of Quintano Roo started a movement called, “Nada de Nosotros Sin Nosotros,” (“Nothing About Us Without Us”). The movement was able to block the proposed reform from taking effect and work with the Legislature on a new modification in line with the social model of disability and the principles of the CRPD.

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