Unheard Voices and Unseen Faces:

Pakistan's Failure to Protect The Dignity of Persons with Disabilities

by Amna Rashid

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The rights of persons with disabilities have often been side lined due to the apathy of policy makers and the public towards their plight. This paper will focus on the violation of the dignity of persons with disabilities in public spaces and highlight the acute failure of the state to protect the rights of persons with disabilities in Pakistan. The first part of the paper analyses the protection afforded to persons with disabilities under both international and national law, including international documents ratified by Pakistan, national instruments designed to protect the rights of persons with disabilities, and an interpretation of the fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution. The second part will then highlight the failure of the state to provide an inclusive environment to persons with disabilities. The third part of the paper explores the subjectivist point of view of persons with disabilities. Primary research was conducted under an interpretive epistemological framework and interviews with persons with disabilities, who are enrolled at a higher education institute in Lahore and previously studied at private or public educational and vocational institutes, were also conducted.

Their voices, which this article aims at making finally heard, all agree with the conclusions reached in the previous parts, adding a human dimension to the rigours of normative exploration.