Dsa 2012-14 Victim of Disability

 
Confrontation
In the case of the child, the nature of abuse faced by him was of both Neglect and 
Abandonment. The mother of the child, his primary care-giver, failed to fulfil her care giving 
responsibilities, such as giving him daily meals; a protective and nurturing environment; and 
his medicines for the convulsion disorder which has severely affected his physical health and 
well- being. The child although not deserted, faced abandonment as his family members were 
unable to fulfil their obligations as care- givers. His rights as a child and as a person with 
disability were violated at the same time. The UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with 
Disabilities talk
s about ‘Discrimination on the basis of disability’ meaning any ‘distinction, 
exclusion or restriction on the basis of disability which has the purpose or effect of impairing 
or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal basis with others, of all 
human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or 
any other field. It includes all forms of discrimination, including denial of reasonable 
accommodation.’ The child’s movement was restricted due to his disability (he was kept 
tied), he was treated differently from his non-disabled elder sister; and he was denied 
reasonable accommodation by his family who kept him tied outside the house in an 
undignified and inhumane manner.
Article 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child states that all children have 
the rights mentioned in the Convention no matter who they are, where they live, what their 
parents do, what language they speak, what their religion is, whether they are a boy or girl, 
what their culture is, whether they have a disability, whether they are rich or poor. These 
rights are universal and applicable to every child in the world. Article 19 states that a child 
has the right to protection from being hurt or mistreated, in ‘body or mind’; Article 23 states 
that if a child has a disability he/she is entitled to special education as well as the other rights 
mentioned in the Convention so that they can 
‘live a full life; Article 24 states that a child has 
the right to best health care, nutritious food, a clean and safe environment; Article 24 states 

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that a child is entitled to help from the government if he/she is in need or poor. Article 39 
states the right to help in case of hurt, neglect or maltreatment.
All the above mentioned provisions and rights were violated and denied in the case of the 
child, which reflects that although the legal provisions are there, there is somewhere a gap 
and the implementation of the same is not taking place. Due to the cultural perception of 
disability and the societal attitudes, persons with disability continue to face victimization 
despite there being sufficient legal provisions and 
various NGO’s- national and international- 
working for the cause; there has been a little change in the picture. The child in this case due 
to his disability- a condition beyond his control- became a victim of ignorance; lack of 
awareness; attitudinal barriers; stigmatization; lack of social support and exclusion. A victim 
maybe defined as a person who suffers direct or threatened physical, emotional or financial 
harm as a result of an act by someone else. According to studies children with disabilities 
may face three kinds of victimization a) Peer Assault and Bullying; b) Sexual Victimization 
and c) Maltreatment. Studies have shown that children with disabilities are at an increased 
risk of victimization; maltreatment and neglect. This elevated risk is often attributed to care-
giving burden creating stress for the parents (Sullivan, 2009; cited by Turner et al 2011). This 
in the context of this case study was one of the contributing factors for the neglect of the 
child, since his mother in addition to looking after him had to earn, run the house and look 
after other household chores too. Some of the reasons for maltreatment as per studies could 
be aversion to certain traits/behaviours that the child may manifest as a part of /her disability, 
which make socialization and caregiving more troublesome (Turner et al 2011).