Rachel Hurst

Last updated

Rachel Mary Rosalind Hurst CBE is a British activist and former director of Disability Awareness in Action (DAA), an international network working on disability and human rights.

Contents

Early training and employment

Born in 1939, Hurst trained as an actress, dancer and teacher at Rose Bruford College, [1] using the qualification gained to work in an inner London primary school as a dance and drama teacher from 1970 to 1975. [2]

Disability activism

From the late 1960s onwards, Hurst started exhibiting symptoms of a congenital condition. She became a wheelchair-user in 1976 and subsequently lost her teaching job. [3] She decided that she needed to meet other disabled people, so she contacted what was then the Greenwich Association for Disabled People. Hurst quickly became a trustee and, from 1983 to 1990 the chair, and altered the organisation to become the Greenwich Association of Disabled People and Centre for Independent Living (GADCIL), run by and for disabled people. [4] The organisation took over the running of the local Dial-a-Ride service and were the driving force behind Forum@Greenwich, a community initiative for full accessibility and equality of opportunity. GADCIL was a member organisation of the British Council of Disabled People (BCODP), and Hurst was an officer of BCODP between 1983 and 1998, and its chair from 1985 to 1987. [4] Hurst became a member of the Impact Foundation UK, an international initiative against avoidable disability.  She, Sir John Wilson (the Chair of Impact), and Henry Enns the Chair of Disabled Peoples' International (DPI), created a charitable organisation to support the United Nations Decade of Disabled People, known as the Global Project in support of Disabled People, [5] with Hurst as the Project Director, and the others on the board of Trustees, along with representatives from Inclusion International, the World Federation of the Deaf, the World Blind Union and others. In 1992 Hurst persuaded Nicholas Scott, then Minister for Disabled People, to support the organisation; it was thereafter renamed Disability Awareness in Action (DAA) and housed in various Government buildings. [6]

DAA was an international information network on disability and human rights, promoting, supporting and co-ordinating local action globally in support of the rights of disabled people.  They did this by publishing, in three languages, large print and braille, monthly newsletters with stories and experiences from disabled individuals or their organisations all over the world, and also a series of Resource Kits, designed to help fledgling organisations get off the ground and give them the tools they needed to campaign and change the situation for disabled people in their locality.  Hurst was the Director of DAA from its creation in 1992 until her retirement in 2011.  She was also actively involved in DPI, being on the World Council between 1987 and 2003.  She also served as the Chair of the DPI European Union Committee (1992–1995) and of the DPI European Region (1995–1999).

Hurst has been awarded two honorary Doctorates, in Social Science from the University of Greenwich [7] and in Law from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.[ citation needed ]

Hurst was granted the Freedom of the London Borough of Greenwich in 1990, [8] and in 2003 won RADAR's Person of the Year Award, for the furtherance of Human Rights internationally.

In the 1995 New Year Honours she was awarded an OBE, followed in 2008 by a CBE. [9] [10]

Hurst has spoken at international, national and local conferences and seminars on the Disability Movement and equalisation of opportunities, Human Rights, Policy and Social Development, Bioethics and Disability, Independent Living, legislation, especially anti-discrimination, media images of disability, housing, access and transportation. She has been interviewed on local and national media and written articles in mainstream and disability press on disability rights issues. In the last few years[ when? ] her concentration has been on disablism, including bio-ethical concerns, such as genetics, genetic screening and the right to life.[ citation needed ]

Publications

Related Research Articles

Independent living (IL), as seen by its advocates, is a philosophy, a way of looking at society and disability, and a worldwide movement of disabled people working for equal opportunities, self-determination, and self-respect. In the context of eldercare, independent living is seen as a step in the continuum of care, with assisted living being the next step.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicky Chapman, Baroness Chapman</span>

Nicola Jane Chapman, Baroness Chapman was a British peer and disability rights activist.

Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) is a cross disability, consumer controlled international non-governmental organization (INGO) headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and with regional offices in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and North America and the Caribbean. DPI is a network of national organizations or assemblies of disabled people, established in 1980–81 to promote the human rights of disabled people through full participation, equalization of opportunity and development. DPI assists organisations in over 152 nations with the day to day issues of helping disabled people. They also host assemblies and symposiums across the world with their different national branches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Campbell, Baroness Campbell of Surbiton</span> British disability reform advocate (born 1959)

Jane Susan Campbell, Baroness Campbell of Surbiton, is a British disability rights campaigner and a life peer in the House of Lords. She was Commissioner of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), and served as the Chair of the Disability Committee which led on to the EHRC Disability Programme. She was the former Chair of the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). She was a Commissioner at the Disability Rights Commission (DRC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities</span> Treaty of the United Nations

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights treaty of the United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. Parties to the convention are required to promote, protect, and ensure the full enjoyment of human rights by persons with disabilities and ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy full equality under the law. The Convention serves as a major catalyst in the global disability rights movement enabling a shift from viewing persons with disabilities as objects of charity, medical treatment and social protection towards viewing them as full and equal members of society, with human rights. The convention was the first U.N. human rights treaty of the twenty-first century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonard Cheshire Disability</span> British charitable organization

Leonard Cheshire is a major health and welfare charity working in the United Kingdom and running development projects around the world. It was founded in 1948 by Royal Air Force officer Group Captain Leonard Cheshire VC.

The Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS) was an early disability rights organisation in the United Kingdom. It established the principles that led to the development of the social model of disability, wherein a sharp distinction is made between impairment and disability. From the organisation's policy statement: "What we are interested in, are ways of changing our conditions of life, and thus overcoming the disabilities which are imposed on top our physical impairments by the way this society is organised to exclude us."

Victor Berel Finkelstein was a disability rights activist and writer. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa and later living in Britain, Finkelstein is known as a pioneer of the social model of disability and a key figure in developing the understanding the oppression of disabled people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disabled People Against Cuts</span>

Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) is an organisation based in the United Kingdom for disabled people and allies to campaign against the impact of government spending cuts on the lives of disabled people. Formed on 3 October 2010 DPAC promotes full human rights and equality for all disabled people, and operates from the Social Model of Disability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diane Kingston</span> English human rights defender

Diane Kingston, is a human rights defender and international development specialist. She is the Global Technical Lead for Disability Rights and Equalities Sightsavers and a volunteer for Shout- the mental health crisis text service

Lorraine Susan Gradwell MBE was a British disability rights campaigner and sports person, feminist writer and poet.

The Disabled People's Direct Action Network (DAN) is a disability rights activist organisation in England and Wales that campaigned for civil rights with high-profile street demonstrations involving civil disobedience, rallies and protests.

The National Centre for Independent Living (NCIL) was a non-profit staffed organisation controlled by and run for disabled people active in social care issues to campaign for and support the independent living of disabled people in the community and using personal assistants, as opposed to living in institutions such as care homes and hospitals. It ceased its work in December 2011.

The British Council of Organisations of Disabled People (BCODP) was a radical national voice of disabled people for legal, social and cultural change in Britain from 1981 to 2017, with a high profile in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP) was established in 1985, a membership organisation in the UK that is controlled by disabled people. GMCDP is regarded as being influential in the social, cultural, economic, and legal policy debates on a national stage that have impacted on disabled people, grounded in the Social Model of Disability. The GMCDP magazine Coalition was referred to in these debates, its articles being cited in academic textbooks as well as within the community. The history of GMCDP has been a microcosm of the history of the radical disabled people's movement in the UK since the 1980s, with GMCDP members often involved centrally and nationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Hunt (activist)</span> UK disability rights activist (1937–1979)

Paul Hunt was an early disability rights activist and leader of disabled people's campaigns in the UK against residential institutions and for independent living. He was born on 9 March 1937 in Angmering, Sussex, with an impairment and he died aged 42 years in London, on 12 July 1979. His work and political influence is now cited in academic and political writings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miro Griffiths</span> Social activist

Miro Griffiths is a British disability advocate who is a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow based at the University of Leeds, in the School of Sociology and Social Policy. He is also deputy director of the Centre for Disability Studies, an interdisciplinary research centre exploring disabled people's oppression, marginalisation, and liberation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Darke</span> British academic, artist and disability rights activist

Paul Darke CF is a British academic, artist, disability rights activist and whistleblower. Darke is an expert on disability in film and politics.

Rights Now, sometimes written with an exclamation mark, was a British umbrella group of disabled people's organisations and charities which campaigned for a change in the law to prevent discrimination against disabled people and for a full civil rights law, even though the result was the flawed Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The biggest protest in numbers of people was in July 1994 at Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, London. It was a very broad-based campaign, including trade unions for example. Campaigning to improve the laws for full civil rights continued, but Rights Now as a group ended in 1995.

Arthur Verney (1943-2013) was a British Deaf and disability rights campaigner and activist.

References

  1. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours - transcript". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  2. ↑ Blog, Scope's (4 November 2015). "Fighting for independent living – #DDA20". Scope's Blog. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  3. ↑ "Fighting for independent living – #DDA20". Scope. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  4. 1 2 Campbell, Jane; Oliver, Mike; Oliver, Michael (1996). Disability Politics: Understanding Our Past, Changing Our Future. Psychology Press. ISBN   978-0-415-07998-3.
  5. ↑ Frankel, Claire; Times, Special To the New York (6 December 1990). "Seeking a Full Life For Disabled People". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  6. ↑ "Rights not Charity – DPAC". dpac.uk.net. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  7. ↑ "Honorary Graduates". University of Greenwich. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  8. ↑ "Freedom of the Borough". Royal Borough of Greenwich. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  9. ↑ "The London Gazette". 30 December 1994.
  10. ↑ "The London Gazette". 29 December 2007.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.