MRG Publishes Report on the Situation of Black People with Disabilities in Brazil

Image: Minority Rights Group

In collaboration with the University of York and the organization “Vidas Negras com Deficiencia Importam” (VNDI), Minority Rights Group has compiled a report on the issues affecting Brazilians living with disabilities who experience intersectional discrimination because they are black, indigenous, women or LGBTQI+. They are more likely to experience vulnerability to violence, incarceration, barriers to employment, and an inability to access social services and security, among many other things.

The briefing argues that the present challenges facing Black Brazilians with disabilities are a direct result of slavery and colonialism. It also concludes that there is a general lack of available data on the victims of intersectional discrimination, which is simultaneously both a result and a cause of such discrimination. Minority Rights Group provides a series of recommendations to the Brazilian government, including the recognition of people with disabilities, the implementation of public policies to protect them, and more intensive dialogue with affected groups to collect data. The report also calls on Brazilian civil society organizations dealing with discrimination against people with disabilities and Black people to work together to solve the problem of intersectional discrimination.        

The full briefing can be found on MRG’s website.

Author: Laura Vizi