Equality, non-discrimination and racism People with disabilities

On 9 March, FRA Director presented the FRA report on the experiences of people with disabilities in the EU in institutions to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The presentation took place in Geneva.

Dear Chairperson Kim, dear members of the Committee, 

Allow me to begin by thanking you for the invitation to attend this opening session. It is reflective of the strong relationship between the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights – or FRA – and this Committee. We saw this last year, when the Agency delivered an information session to members of the Committee on EU law, and again with the strong engagement during the Committee’s constructive dialogue with the European Union. We were happy to contribute to the Committee’s work on disability-based violence earlier this year. Much of FRA’s work hinges on the data we collect, which comes from all corners of the EU. Our survey findings disaggregate data by disability, amongst other factors, including gender, age, religion and ethnicity, and often in combination.  

For your information, FRA is the EU’s independent human rights agency. We provide evidence-based advice and expertise on fundamental rights to EU institutions and Member States as they implement EU law. The Agency is also a member of the EU’s CRPD Monitoring Framework. 

I am very pleased to be here today to present our recent major report to you – ‘Places of Care = Places of Safety? Violence against persons with disabilities in institutions.’ This report is the culmination of comprehensive desk research carried out in 30 countries – the 27 EU Member States, and FRA’s three observer countries, Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia – and fieldwork in 10 Member States. In the latter activity, over 140 interviews were carried out with policy makers, services providers, human rights bodies, disabled persons’ organisation, and disabled people with lived experience. 

It was thanks to the willingness of this last group, to share their experiences, that allowed us to fully grasp the breadth and depth of the violence that is prevalent in institutions across the EU. The stories we heard include explicit forms such as sexual and physical violence, forced sterilisation and arbitrary use of restraints, and more subtle forms, such as verbal and psychological violence, financial abuse, deprivation of liberty and overmedication. These examples are only the tip of the iceberg – they are underpinned by an institutional culture that is paternalistic and rooted firmly in the medical model of disability. This culture prevails across the EU despite ratification of the CRPD and political commitment to community inclusion. 

Built upon this foundation, and enabling the violence are three key gaps: a lack of resources, awareness and redress. In the first gap, budgetary restrictions and staffing issues were mentioned in every desk research and fieldwork report.  

When it comes to awareness, what was striking was the lack of education and awareness around rights and protections. Mistreatment and violence are often normalised due to the fact that a disabled person is not aware that their rights are being violated. 

In respect of the third gap, barriers to seeking redress and a fear of retaliation came through clearly. The fieldwork shows an increased awareness of the depth of dependency that people in institutions can have on staff. The perceived need to remain compliant in order to maintain the provision of care takes precedence over the quality of that care.  

Based on these findings, the report outlines a three-fold framework to combat the violence. The first action must be to examine the legal and policy frameworks that protect individuals from different forms of violence. The second action relates to structural safeguards to prevent violence from happening in the first place. Finally, the third action is to analyse processes to respond to incidents of violence, to ensure accountability.  

The report makes many recommendations for addressing the significant shortcomings we see. For example, when it comes to protection, FRA calls on Member States to align national legal and regulatory frameworks with the CRPD. We need to address the absence of data on persons with disabilities in institutions. Above all, FRA maintains that deinstitutionalisation is the only way to protect against the manifold assaults on the fundamental rights of people with disabilities living in institutions. Therefore, we call on Member States to progress this, while at the same time ensuring that there is a well-developed and well-resourced community awaiting those people who will move out. FRA also calls on the European Commission to ensure that EU funds do not contribute to the establishment or maintenance of institutional settings. 

When it comes to prevention, FRA recommends that monitoring practices be harmonised and standardised, and that monitoring bodies have independence, resources and teeth, in order to sanction non-compliance. 

Finally, when it comes to response, FRA emphasises that reporting must be strengthened through safe, accessible and confidential reporting mechanisms. Guidance and training should be issued to officials likely to interact with victims, including police and the judiciary. Structured coordination between relevant authorities must be developed to address the fragmentation that leaves victims without support.  

As this report identifies, and as I am sure you see throughout all of your work, there is an urgency to do all we can to preserve the hard-fought-for rights we are discussing here. Fundamental rights, democracy and the rule of law are under near-constant threat. Where once we may have demonstrated complacency, reassured that we operated in a world order underpinned by rights and values, we are now witnessing rollbacks on a daily basis. Anniversaries – such as the one we celebrate this year, 20 years on from the adoption of the CRPD – provide us with an opportunity to recall the importance of why we create such international conventions. It is opportune that the enhancement of the EU’s Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be adopted in the coming months, breathing fresh air into a 10-year strategy containing ambitious goals. 

I wish the Committee all the very best for this coming session. Amidst the difficulties you and other Treaty Bodies are facing, rest assured that you have the full and unequivocal support of the Fundamental Rights Agency. 

Thank you.

El Síndic de Greuges de la Comunitat Valenciana, Ángel Luna, ha instado al Ayuntamiento de Gandia a adoptar medidas para poner fin a la actividad de una vivienda en el campo que presuntamente se utiliza para la celebración de fiestas y eventos sin contar con autorización administrativa.

La actuación del Síndic se inició tras la queja presentada por una vecina, que denunciaba las molestias por ruido procedentes de una casa situada en una zona rural, donde desde hace años se organizan fiestas con música amplificada en el exterior y gran afluencia de personas. Según la reclamante, el inmueble se alquila para este tipo de eventos pese a no figurar registrado como vivienda turística.

Tras solicitar información al Ayuntamiento, la institución ha constatado que la policía local ha intervenido en varias ocasiones por avisos relacionados con música a alto volumen. Asimismo, las comprobaciones municipales han confirmado que la vivienda no dispone de licencia de actividad y que el uso turístico es incompatible con la normativa urbanística aplicable a la parcela.

El Ayuntamiento ha trasladado los hechos a distintos departamentos municipales y a la Dirección General de Turismo de la Generalitat Valenciana para determinar posibles infracciones administrativas.

En su resolución, el Síndic considera que la administración local ha realizado actuaciones de investigación y control. No obstante, advierte de que no consta que se hayan adoptado todavía medidas concretas que garanticen el cese de una actividad no autorizada que estaría generando molestias a los vecinos.

Por ello, la institución ha insistido al Ayuntamiento de Gandia sobre la necesidad de actuar con rapidez y determinación para restaurar la legalidad y proteger los derechos de los vecinos al descanso, a la salud y a disfrutar de una vivienda y un entorno adecuados.

Consulta nuestra actuación sobre este asunto.

The Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia, pursuant to Article 25 of the Human Rights Ombudsman Act, submitted an independent intervention (amicus curiae) to the Labour Court in Celje in a pending case concerning the regulation laid down in Article 11.a of the State Legal Examination Act (ZPDI). The intervention was submitted within the framework of an initiative currently under consideration by the Ombudsman.

The case concerns the obligation to reimburse education costs in the amount corresponding to the gross salaries received during judicial traineeship if, after passing the state legal examination, the trainee does not enter into an employment relationship at the request of the competent ministry, as provided for in Article 11.a of the ZPDI.

In the intervention, the Ombudsman points to several problematic aspects of such regulation, particularly from the perspective of the right to remuneration for work performed, the right to private property, the principle of proportionality and the right to the free choice of employment. According to the Ombudsman, the obligation to repay the entire amount of gross wages may constitute a disproportionate interference with the individual’s human rights, given that the trainee performs work within an employment relationship and generates economic value for the employer.

In the Ombudsman's opinion, the regulation also raises questions regarding respect for the principles of proportionality and fairness as elements of the rule of law, as well as the principle of equality before the law. In particular, it must be assessed whether comparable situations are treated equally in the legislation or whether there are reasonable and objectively justified grounds for different regulation.

The intervention also refers to Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to the peaceful enjoyment of possessions, and to the European Social Charter, which guarantees the right to fair remuneration. In this context, the Ombudsman draws attention to the views of the European Committee of Social Rights concerning the inadmissibility of unpaid internships that effectively negate remuneration for work performed and may constitute discrimination against young people. In the Ombudsman’s view, any interference with the right to fair remuneration for work and with the property rights of individuals must be carefully justified, proportionate and consistent with the international obligations of the Republic of Slovenia.

The full text of the Ombudsman’s independent intervention is available via the link on the right.

Brussels: The Ombudsman of Albania and President of the Mediterranean Ombudsmen Network (AOM), held an official meeting with the Ombudsman of the European Union, Ms. Teresa Anjinho.

The meeting focused on the supervision of institutions, the transparency of European funds and the approximation of public accountability standards.

Ms. Anjinho has taken over the leadership of the European institution after a long career in public and legislative life. She previously served as a Member of Parliament and Secretary of State in Portugal, as well as a member of the Supervisory Committee of OLAF (European Anti-Fraud Office). This informative profile serves as a clear message to the international community: the experience formed in high state engagements serves today as an asset and guarantee to exercise supervision with full independence and authority over EU agencies.

During the meeting, Mr. Shabani emphasized that:

“Guaranteeing EU standards in public administration is not only a mission for the future when Albania becomes part of the EU, but an obligation to become a reality as soon as possible.”

In his institutional capacity, the Ombudsman offered support for the European transparency agenda, reconfirming the strategic partnership with Brussels to guarantee good administration standards even beyond the current borders of the EU.

This report provides information about the activities carried out by the Public Defender's Office of Georgia in 2025 within the framework of its mandate in the following areas: examination of individual cases, monitoring, public awareness raising and education, relations with international human rights organizations, as well as data and information on the financial and human resources of the Public Defender's Office of Georgia.