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contexts > named groups > persons > disabled persons

Preferred term

disabled persons  

Definition

  • The condition of being handicapped or disabled is addressed by the constitutions of most countries. An exception is South Africa's constitution (1997), which declares: “The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth.” The Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1975, defines a disabled person as “any person unable to ensure by himself or herself, wholly or partly, the necessities of [an able-bodied] individual and/or social life, as a result of a deficiency, either congenital or not, in his or her physical or mental capabilities.” Accommodation under the Constitution Under the law in the United States, disabled persons are those who lack the legal capacity to act on their own behalf or who are physically or mentally unable to act on their own behalf or to pursue their normal occupations. [Source: U.S. Constitution A to Z; Disabled Persons]

Broader concept

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URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/disabled_persons

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