The rights of persons with disabilities in Kenya: research directions and policy concerns

Abstract

For centuries, persons with disabilities (PWDs) around the world were largely viewed as objects of charity requiring medical intervention (the medical/charity model). However, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was a landmark in the contemporary shift towards the conception of PWDs as bearers of rights (the social model). Article 1 of the CRPD states that ‘Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.’ The present article interrogates the research directions and policy concerns engendered by the transition from the medical model to the social model of conceptualising disability, with special reference to the Kenyan context.