Human Rights and Advocacy - Essay Example

Name) (Instructor) (Institution) (Course code) (Date) Simon uses a wheelchair and cannot get into his local video store because of a step at the front door. Introduction Ideally, every one of us wants to live and stay in a noble environment where we have unlimited confidence and self-esteem to express our feelings and ideas and have equal opportunities with the rest of the members in the society. The influence of people have on the environment is a global issue given the utmost attention it deserves. On the other hand, the effect of the build environment on the population is an issue that receives low attention. For the majority of people with special needs, the buildings’ design act as a major challenge and barrier in their full inclusion and participation in the community. These barrier limit their full participation in the day-to-day function in manner the rest of the members appreciate The same problem not only affects the people in wheel chairs like Simon, it affects the Australian aged population. The aged faces the same challenges and barrier like Simon. Due to improved health and the quality of life, the percentage of the older generation keeps expanding. There is therefore need to address the problem and do an extensive advocacy and campaign to increase awareness and address the problem by designing accessible buildings and facilities that are friendly to people like Simon and the older people in the society as well. Once implemented, the people in the society will change the attitude of regarding the accessibility problem and challenge as an individual problem Key issues faced by people like Simon People like Simon who uses wheelchair cannot get into his local video store and access to various facilities like libraries, movie theatres, cafes and public buildings. These issues that limit their independence and jeopardise their quality is taken for granted People like Simon in wheel chair do not have problems only when accessing the buildings through the front door, they also face other major challenges once inside. The problems they encounter inside the buildings include lack of accessible washrooms, narrow doorways; uneven surfaces among other challenges hinder them from successfully go through the interior of many public used buildings. Apart from the above stated challenges, there are other numerous barriers to change. These barriers include lack of awareness and understanding by the members in the society about access concern and lack of comprehension of social and economic gains of putting in place universal design principles Door steps at the entrances to buildings are a source of problems access for individuals with ambulant disabilities as they cannot their feet moving along the travel path. People who use wheelchairs face the same problem too. Solution to the challenge is putting up of threshold ramps. They offer relative comfort due to the small change in the level Many reception desks and counters in many buildings are mostly too high for individuals who use wheelchairs. Most of the people who use wheelchairs find it very difficult to approach the reception counter to face the receptionist due height. The counter/ desk need to be lowered to allow communicate and do some transactions like signing of receipts and credit cards in a dignified and comfortable way (Anuhd.org, 2014) The counter should be within a height of between 83 cm and 87 cm from the floor surface to the counter top, minimum width of 80 cm, the provision of adequate knee and toe plate clearance and allowance of frontal approach design. People who use wheelchairs often find it hard to use lift call buttons due to their location, size and or absence of clear tactual information. If they are located too close a corner, it becomes very hard for people who use wheelchair to access the buttons (Anuhd.org, 2014) The solutions to this challenge is to ensure that lift call buttons are mounted within the required height with adequate amount of light Accessible water closets are normally built to meet technical standard requirements. It is not surprising to find that they do not meet the set standards. The three crucial areas need to be implemented during the design and the erection of accessible water closet amenities. These are; they should have enough internal circulation space to allow wheelchairs to manoeuvre for safe and easy use of the WC, there should be enough doorway circulation space both within and external facility free from fitting and fixtures and reach ranges to fittings and fixtures (Humanrights.gov.au, 2014) Lack of enough doorway and interior wheelchair circulation and the poor placement of components that the amenity cannot be utilized by many people in wheelchairs and other disabilities. Enough circulation space is very crucial to allow safe movement from the wheelchair to the WC pan. The safe transfer usually depend on the level of the disability and the individual preference on the way of transfer (Humanrights.gov.au, 2014) Doorway circulation space is a very critical construction concern for people who uses scooters and wheelchairs, particularly for swing doors. Somebody using wheelchair should be able to reach the handle. There should also be adequate circulation space to allow the door to swing and space for the person in wheelchair. This will allow the person in wheelchair to freely move through the doorway. For the people using the powered wheelchairs normally encounter the challenge of inadequate clearances as a result of the position of the joystick control box. This is usually the first obstacle to the swing of the door. Incorrectly fitted doors add more to the problems faced by the people using the wheelchairs (Humanrights.gov.au, 2014) The association between the circulation space, doorways, corridor widths and the positioning of doors and hardware need careful attention of the appropriate specifications. Failure to observe the required specifications, the circulation through and around the doorways can be hindered. In case the doorway circulations do not conform to the set requirements, the best alternative is answer is the fitting of automatic ones or powered doors operated by pushing of a button. There is also the need for provision of effective doorway space. The building should be designed to provide sufficient corridor width to provide a clear opening width and the door width Advocacy strategies An advocacy strategy is the amalgamation of approaches, messages and techniques by which the organiser pursues to accomplish the advocacy goals and objectives (Prakash & Gugerty, 2010). Some of the advocacy strategies we will apply include the following; Liaise with local council As an urgent measure to address Simon’s predicament, we will liaise with the local council and the owner of the premise have it made accessible to people using wheelchair and those with other disabilities. The council is liable for having funded the premise or allowed for its construction without observing the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). The council should make some changes at the front door by putting a safe ramp on the front door so that Simon can access his video shop without difficulties. Build alliances and coalitions for support We will partner and collaborate with the relevant policy makers to come up with the policies that will address the plight of people with various disabilities concerning access to buildings. All buildings especially public ones should not be discriminatory in any way to the people having various disabilities. Legislative reforms and amendments We will also petition for legislative reforms. The parliament has to come up with updated building designs that accommodate various people having disabilities. The parliament will enact and pass the Act into law. The law will require any new building to be constructed should be accessible to all people. The barriers in the existing buildings should be removed. The already established buildings should be renovated to allow for the new changes to be incorporated. The enactment should make it mandatory for all building should be accessible. This is not supposed to be a voluntary thing. All existing buildings that do not comply with the code will have to undergo renovation so as comply with the accessibility standards required and thus elimination of this kind of discrimination Public education Public education is the raising of awareness and the art of empowering individuals concerning issues being addressed (Nelson & Dorsey, 2008). We will also roll out a massive public education and campaign to champion for the rights of the disadvantaged groups in the society. The education is to enable the real estate player and premises owners to be aware of the requirements in the buildings and construction industry. They need to be aware of the requirements so as to address them while planning and putting up accessible housing standards for the disadvantaged people in the society including Simon and the elderly. We will use various media channels; social sites and the distribution of flyers in order the reach many stakeholders of the issue at hand Conclusion People with disabilities like the Simon in Wheel chair need transformation to be put in place. They need to be independent, flexible and able to carry out their activities without the aid of another person. Their contemporary human rights need to be respected and recognized by the society as whole as every member in the society enjoy. The building needs to be renovated too allow ease of access without discrimination based on his disability status. Other members of the society who have the same problem feel the need to have equal opportunities to participate meaningfully just like the rest of the society. The achievement will forever change if the rest of us in the community share their vision. We therefore need to team up in their fight for their rights as the government and other lobby groups will not succeed if they work in isolation. We therefore need to work together so as to achieve the benefits of having an all-inclusive society where rights of every member is respected especially the vulnerable ones (Nelson & Dorsey, 2008) References Anuhd.org,. (2014). Australian Standards, Guidelines & Reports | Australian Network for Universal Housing Design (ANUHD). Retrieved 28 September 2014, from http://www.anuhd.org/resources/standards-and-guidelines Humanrights.gov.au,. (2014). The good, the bad and the ugly – design and construction for access. Retrieved 28 September 2014, from https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/good-bad-and-ugly-design-and-construction-access-0#issue2 Nelson, P., & Dorsey, E. (2008). New rights advocacy (1st ed.). Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. Prakash, A., & Gugerty, M. (2010). Advocacy organizations and collective action (1st ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Read More