The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) held a < Commemorative Forum Celebrating the 4th Anniversary of the Enforcement of Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination of Persons with Disabilities, Remedy against Infringement of their Rights, etc> at the Press Center in Seoul on April 19 with collaboration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and Disability Discrimination Act of Solidarity Korea (DDASK). The series of this forum was held in other 5 major cities including Daegu (4.17), Daejeon (4.18), Pusan (4.24), Kwangju (4.25) and Jeju (4.26).
The Enforcement of Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination of Persons with Disabilities, Remedy against Infringement of their Rights, etc (Anti-Disability Discrimination Act) was enacted in order to ensure the right to equal treatment and their participation in the society without discrimination against disability. In the past, such discrimination was remedied according to the National Human Rights Commission Act. Since the enforcement of the Anti-Disability Discrimination Act, a broader range of discriminatory acts became regulatory more specifically such as harassment, indirect discrimination (a consequential discrimination which is offended by the application of standards devised without consideration of persons with disability) and discrimination in advertisement (advertisements which express an unfavorable treatment against persons with disability). Moreover, the Anti-Discrimination Discrimination Act grants the Ministry of Justice the authority to issue an order for correction in case of not accepting recommendations, which is considered to have more positive impact on the solution for a victim.
In this Forum, the following were discussed; 1) Policy recommendation to ensure the implementation of the Anti-Disability Discrimination Act 2) Outcome of the enforcement of the Anti-Disability Act in 2011 3) Improvement Plan for the Anti-Discrimination Act 4) Changes in last 4 years regarding the enforcement of the Act, and 5) Measures to Revitalize Human Rights Ordinance for Persons with Disabilities.
The NHRCK wishes that this forum would serve as a basis to form social consensus on the improvement of the Anti-Disability Act and relevant policies.
