Much remains to be done before people with disabilities can participate on an equal footing

The long road to participation – the fact that the ECJ judges discrimination is a good signal

The world is unfair. Per se. However, it is particularly unfair for people who do not fit into the "normal" pattern.

People who love "wrong" for example. Who don't fit into the binary system of gender. Who have the "wrong" religion. The "wrong" skin color. who have a mental or physical disability.

Discrimination and unequal treatment will still be a problem in 2022.

That sucks.

That is why it is important that people with disabilities are legally protected against discrimination. Also against discrimination in the workplace. And it is important that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) also judges such cases.

This Thursday, a decision will be made there on a ban on discrimination based on disability.

It's about this case: In 2016, the Belgian public limited company HR Rail hired a skilled worker to maintain its railways. During the probationary period, the employee was diagnosed with a heart problem that required the use of a pacemaker. As a result of this intervention, the man can no longer go near electromagnetic fields because the device is sensitive to them. So he can no longer do his job.

The Belgian Service public fédéral Sécurité sociale (Federal Public Service for Social Security) recognized him as disabled. The company first transferred the man to another post and then fired him.

The worker applied to the Belgian Council of State for an annulment of this decision. And so the case finally ended up at the ECJ.

In his final motion, Advocate General Athanasios Rantos advocates that the employer be obliged, even during the probationary period, to assign the employee who is unable to perform his or her previous task due to a disability to another position. "Provided that he has the necessary competence, ability and availability and this measure does not impose a disproportionate burden on the employer," the application reads.

If the ECJ shares the opinion of the lawyer, people with disabilities in the European Union could be better protected against discrimination in the future, even during the probationary period.

A guarantee for everyone. At national and European level.

In Germany, the Federal Participation Act has been in place since 2017 – i.e. just five years ago: It is intended to help implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Germany.

So far so good.

In 2020, the law was modernized again. According to this law, disability should not be understood as an individual characteristic, but as an obstacle in the environment.

Glad that's recorded.

After all, it's not the people that are the problem, but the environment that makes life difficult for them. Participation should therefore be the term written in capital letters in this law.

Naming problems doesn't solve them. But it can spark a debate. It can help that as a society we ask ourselves more often how we want to live.

But now this noble intention must also be implemented in everyday life.

Participation means individual support. Being free to decide to go to the pool in the evening. Pursue a profession that corresponds to your own qualifications and inclinations. Participation means involving people – in discussions and decisions. Participation means respect and acceptance.

Just the opposite of exclusion - in all areas.

In everyday life, participation and inclusion still work more poorly than well. Public buildings are not always barrier-free. Public transport sometimes just as little. In many inclusion classes at schools, there are too few social workers who support people with disabilities so that they can take part in the lessons. The salary paid in sheltered workshops is a bad joke.

Clearing man-made obstacles out of the way of people with disabilities in this way is not possible. We don't have to rethink participation and inclusion. The ideas behind the Disability Equality Act and the Federal Participation Act are good. However, we have to implement them consistently and develop them further.

The whole of society must work for this. The problems that have existed so far must be moved up the political agenda. Access to the first labor market must be easier for people with disabilities.

At the same time, the population needs a rethink. We need to trust people with disabilities more.

And that requires more encounters. In the sports club, in kindergarten, at school, at work. Living inclusion instead of glorifying the previous inclusion nightmare.

An act of solidarity. And even if life with a disability does not affect everyone, it should still be in everyone's interest to enable equality and participation. And not just because there is no reason to discriminate against groups of people and we should get over this point slowly.

Anti-discrimination should also be beneficial economically, after all, we are heading for a severe shortage of skilled workers. Wouldn't it be great if more people with disabilities practiced jobs for which they are qualified instead of working in a workshop for people with disabilities for a pittance? And wouldn't it be great if you just trusted them?

And if neither solidarity nor economy are convincing arguments, we should remember that the easy and relaxed and healthy life is not guaranteed forever.

After all, something can always happen. Many people were not born with their disability, but suffered accidents or illnesses.

Shouldn't it then be in all of our interests that the situation of non-participation and ongoing discrimination change, even if many of us are not actively affected?

At the same time, unfortunately, it is not surprising that the road to true inclusion is taking so long.

Let's recall how briefly, for example, women have had the same rights before the law (since 1957) as men. And how meticulously we still have to ensure that important positions in the country are filled equally.

Because otherwise only men who correspond to the idea of ​​"normal" occupied these posts. Because otherwise, in a hundred years, patriarchy would only be criticized within the corresponding feminist and left-wing bubble.

And it's not just white straight cis women who have earned their place at the men's table. But all discriminated and marginalized groups. More attention needs to be paid to that. From us as a society as a whole, as well as from the leaders of the country.

If we want to shape the 1920s as a decade of social upheaval, we must be careful not to forget any groups in the end. Especially not the particularly vulnerable ones.