Inclusion, a responsibility of all

Full of dreams and desires for a better future, Jose Hidalgo, a 23-year-old man with a hearing disability has been sending his resume to different companies since he finished high school. But there are factors like stigma, discrimination and inaccessibility that have been barriers to develop his skills.

Inclusivity of people with disabilities is not a brand new topic. Despite this, its progress has been very slight. The reality that capable sectors are marginalized in the XXI century requires that inclusion should be more than just public policies.

Despite the international agreements to which the Dominican Republic is a signatory and the country has its regulations on people with disabilities; this sector cannot yet take part in social and economic activities as equal as other communities.

A study published in 2020 by the National Council on Disability and the United Nations Development Programme shows that people with disabilities who are active in the labor market work as service workers and sellers in shops and markets, as cleaners and assistants, agricultural laborers, fishers, forestry workers, in the mining industry, as builders and transport laborers, waste collectors and street vendors.

According to Pablo Taveras, president of the National Association of the Deaf, known as Ansordo in Spanish, this list does not end. People with hearing disabilities work as deliveries, in free zones, as packers in supermarkets or as monitors in schools for people with this disability.

On the other hand, the Inclusion and Human Rights Advisor of the United Nations Development Programme, Ruth Fernández, said that data indicate the lack of professionalization of this sector.

The country does not have up-to-date statistics on the number of people with disabilities, but the National Population and Housing Census, conducted in 2010, revealed that those interested in working participate to a lesser extent in the labor market compared to the population without disabilities.

Law 5-13

This legislation seeks equal rights and opportunities for people with disabilities. Among the aspects addressed include a quota system that "unfortunately is not used in the vast majority of companies or public institutions," according to Ruth Fernández.

This regulation, created in January 2013, states that 2% of the staff of a company with at least 25 employees must be a person with a disability. With government institutions, it must be 5%.

"The quota is an interesting element of inclusion, but it has 2 very worrying situations," explains the executive director of Best Buddies RD, Maureen Tejeda Metz.

With two years of experience in areas of inclusion, Tejeda says that one of the most worrying factors is positive discrimination, “accomplishing quota spaces are granted to people with disabilities, and not because of their skills”.

The second point is the questions that are asked when including a person with disabilities: Which functions they have been doing in their area of work? Were competency-specific assessments done? Does your experience go hand in hand with the position you hold?

Discrimination

The circumstances mentioned by Tejeda could lead to discrimination since including these people is not just a matter of providing them a job.

"A job is not simply a remuneration that is taken home, it is empowerment, food, paying for household services, health insurance in conclusion, a better quality of life," says the lawyer Maureen Tejeda.

Likewise, Ruth Fernández points out that this sector of the population wants to work to have their income, live a full life and enjoy better levels of autonomy, independence, well-being and social participation, so "discrimination would be considered hiring people with disabilities and not assign them a role at work".

This means that to avoid the opposite effect, companies and institutions that want to be "inclusive" and meet the quota, must consider the roles they would assign and the needs to meet them.

Unemployment

"It is very sad to see what happens in the deaf community, 90% have no job at all," says Priscila Taveras, who was born with this disability and is a teacher at the National School for the Deaf, while specializing in primary education.

Priscila tells how she has seen that many of her classmates finish school and send their resumes to different places, but they cannot find a job.

The 2010 census showed 12.3% of the population has disabilities. More than the majority (61.1%) were economically inactive.

"We must continue to knock on doors, keep looking for new opportunities and more access to jobs," says Priscila. While Pablo Taveras, a publicist by profession and a sign language consultant, urges the government equal access to workspaces, as with people without a disability.

Missing data

The latest data that the country collected on the number of people with disabilities are from 2010 to 2013, which emphasize the absence of recent statistics and measurement mechanisms that allow knowing how is the current situation, carry out public policies and implement strategies to change it.

Progress has been made on this topic, but more action is needed. The country needs to establish legal mechanisms for the success of this quota, organizational awareness and a joint work of the population to generate greater opportunities for the community with disabilities.

Responsibility of all

These realities that present themselves as barriers do not stop deaf people, but they hope that they will be eradicated.

"If I don’t have a job, I go out to find something and I don’t keep quiet. I just work and keep searching," says José.

José, Arabellys Montero, Priscila Taveras and Pablo Taveras were able to study in universities and work on their profession or related areas. His friend Adriel Lamarche works in a public institution, despite not having a technical career or bachelor's degree.

Like these five young people, the deaf community hopes that more interpreter systems will soon be established, there will be more accessibility and less discrimination.

Their greatest illusion is that people without disabilities and deaf people should be seen for what they are, people who should enjoy equal rights.

Ruth Fernández says guaranteeing the right to decent work for people with disabilities is the responsibility of the entire Dominican society.