Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities issues concluding observations on the Italian initial report to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Laws that allow substitute decision-making through appointed legal guardians, lack of state consultations with organizations representing people with disabilities, and a lack of a permanent independent consultative body are only some of the findings of the UN Committee that demonstrate Italy's inadequate approach do people with disabilities.

Indeed, the disabled are treated as people who can’t take care of themselves and who can’t decide what is best for them.

A life free from discrimination

Moreover, the lack of a unique definition of disability makes it difficult to define and claim one’s rights. Article 1 of the CRPD clarifies that it’s not a physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment that makes a person disabled, but rather the interactions with physical and social barriers.

In its recommendations, the Committee urges the Italian government to increase its efforts to empower people with disabilities so that they can live a fully independent life without being discriminated against, just as any other person.