The NHRCK and the Special Olympics International(SOI) jointly held 『The Special Olympics World Winter Games 2013 Pyeongchang: International Human Rights Seminar for the promotion of human rights of people with intellectual disabilities』at the Alpensia Resort Convention Center in Pyeongchang Korea on January 31 2013.
Around twenty experts in the field of intellectual disabilities and human rights law attended the seminar to explore ways to promote human rights of people with intellectual disabilities and to build cooperative network.
The seminar began with the welcoming address by Dr. Stephen Corbin, Senior Vice President of the SOI followed by the opening remarks by Chairperson Hyun Byung-chul of the NHRCK.
Standing Commissioner Jang Myung Sook of the NHRCK suggested in her keynote speech a guardianship program for intellectually disabled people and stressed the importance of creating a culture in which the general public deeply cares about and has keen interests in them.
As of December 2011, the number of registered persons with intellectual disabilities account for a mere 7.3% of the total disabled population in Korea, but a whopping 42.6% of the disabled staying in protective facilities are the intellectually-disabled.
The average employment rate of people with intellectual disabilities is very low at 16.5% and their average monthly wage is only between 300,000 won and 500,000 won. What’s worse, their human rights conditions are very poor. 72.8% of female sexual violence victims who reported to the NHRCK were the intellectually-disabled. The survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare shows that one in every four people with intellectual disabilities have suffered from physical and/or mental violence.
The NHRCK’s commitment of the year 2013 to improving the human rights of people with intellectual disabilities includes promoting respect for the right of self-determination and choice of the intellectually-challenged, strengthening the social support and assistance system and improving the adult guardianship system.
