Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of the study is to examine if the existing legislative framework in Trinidad and Tobago supports equal opportunities and the achievement of fundamental human rights for persons with disabilities seeking to access education, employment, accommodations and goods and services.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 105 complaints filed with Trinidad and Tobago's Equal Opportunity Commission from 2010 to 2021 regarding disability discrimination. The steps of constant comparison were used to analyse characteristics of each case, complainants' desired outcomes and the actual outcomes of the cases (i.e. withdrawn, closed, forwarded to conciliation or the Equal Opportunity Tribunal).FindingsAcross all cases, persons with disabilities desired access to unavailable services, opportunities for employment or an apology for emotional distress. Cases that were withdrawn reflected missed opportunities to address systemic issues, closed cases reflected a bounded process for redress, and cases advancing to conciliation or the Tribunal required documentation or support.Originality/valueThis study provides insights into how the current policy and its implementation miss opportunities to address discrimination at organisational and systemic levels. Specifically, cases revealed dominant/subordinate dynamics in society and a lack of transparency throughout the system. Authors provide recommendations for policy and systemic change, including addressing gaps in national legislation and adopting strong equality of opportunity and equality of well-being approaches.
Subject
Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management,Cultural Studies,Gender Studies
Reference48 articles.
1. Inclusive education in Latin America and the Caribbean: exploratory analysis of the national reports presented at the 2008 international conference on education;Prospects,2009
2. Annamma, S.A., Connor, D.J. and Ferri, B.A. (2013), “Dis/ability critical race studies (DisCrit): theorising at the intersections of race and disability”, in Connor, D.J., Ferri, B.A. and Annamma, S.A. (Eds), DisCrit: Disability Studies and Critical Race Theory in Education, Teacher College Press, New York, pp. 9-32.
3. Targeting disability discrimination: findings and reflections from the national study on housing discrimination against people who are deaf and people who use wheelchairs;Cityscape,2015
4. Disability discrimination in healthcare services and employment;Nursing Standard,2015
5. ‘If the phone were broken, I'd be screwed’: media use of people with disabilities in the digital era;Disability and Society,2021
Cited by
2 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献，注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献，订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献