A Qualitative Look at Serious Legal Problems for People with Disabilities in Central Canada
Executive Summary
The research
The Disabled Women’s Network (DAWN) was contracted to carry out qualitative research examining the experiences of people with physical and mental disabilities with respect to their legal problems and experiences with the justice process. Participants from Ontario and Quebec shared their experiences through interviews, an online focus group and an online qualitative survey. The results of this research help contextualize the unique experiences of people with disabilities with respect to legal problems and the justice process.
The research explored three key stages within this process, including the legal problems participants encountered, how participants navigated the justice process, and finally the impacts of the legal process on people with disabilities.
The kinds of problems encountered
While participants noted that they had encountered a number of legal problems, the problems below were the most frequently cited:
- Employment issues;
- Education barriers;
- Housing issues; and
- Inaccessible services.
People with disabilities noted how normal and expected these legal problems were for them. Indeed, more than one participant shared that these serious legal problems were in fact common barriers for people with disabilities.
How participants navigated the legal process
The research highlighted the myriad ways people with disabilities navigated the resolution process, including both informal and formal actions. Many participants noted that they initially sought an informal resolution but that they quickly turned toward formal processes as they sought a resolution.
Participants noted a number of supports they accessed to resolve their legal issues. Frequently cited supports include:
- Community groups and community advocates;
- Allied and sympathetic professionals (doctors, care workers and so on);
- Law enforcement, legal aid clinics, lawyers, paralegals and human rights tribunals; and
- Family, friends and personal support networks.
Often, no single clear or linear path was available to reach resolution, so participants often noted they were left to navigate an unclear, inaccessible and confusing process.
Participants also noted a number of barriers to the legal process specific to people with disabilities. Key and frequently cited barriers here include:
- Persistent and systemic ableism that carries over into the resolution process;
- Funding cuts and policy changes that make navigating the system and accessing supports difficult (this included confusion among case workers and community supports);
- The cost and duration of the legal process, which pressure people to give up on finding a resolution;
- A lack of accessible legal resources, meaning barriers within the legal process itself (inaccessible language etc.);
- A lack of intersectional supports; and
- Limited scope of resolutions (a focus on monetary settlements instead of systemic change and barrier removal).
Impacts of the legal process
The barriers and processes outlined above had a clear impact on participants. Some key impacts here include:
- Emotional impacts, such as trauma, anger, frustration, and reduced self-confidence;
- Financial impacts, such as debt, depleted savings, loss of income, loss of housing and more;
- Social impacts, such as loss of relationships, stress that affects personal relationships; and loss of access to community supports.
Overall, participants said that the legal process remains costly, confusing, inaccessible, traumatic and slow, and that it rarely addresses systemic barriers.
Conclusion
For many participants, the legal process remains inaccessible due to the unique circumstances and systemic barriers many people with disabilities continue to face. Participants provided some key recommendations, outlined below.
- Conceptualize “justice” in transformative ways that address the needs of all marginalized groups, and seek resolutions that better reflect community needs, including the removal of systemic barriers.
- Build a justice process that is not centred on individual complaints so that people with disabilities are not re-traumatized or forced to always have to fight for their rights one person at a time. This includes creating an accessible process and providing plain-language resources.
- Invest in community organizations and supports that can address the intersectional needs of people with disabilities.
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