Disability in France
Approximately 12 million French citizens are affected by disability. The history of disability activism in France dates back to the French Revolution when the national obligation to help disabled citizens was recognized, but it was "unclear whether or not such assistance should be public or private." Disabled civilians began to form the first associations to demand equal rights and integration in the workforce after the First World War. Between 1940 and 1945, 45,000 people with intellectual disabilities died from neglect in French psychiatric asylums. After the Second World War, parents of disabled children and charities created specialized institutions for disabled children for whom school was not accessible. In 2018, the French Government began to roll out a disability policy which aimed to increase the allowance for disabled adults to €900 per month, improve the digital accessibility of public services, and develop easy-to-read and understand language among other goals.
Demographics
According to the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, in 2007 there were 9.6 million disabled people living in France. In 2023, 140,000 people with disabilities aged 16 and older are living in specialized institutions.Definition
Disability is defined in article 114 of the Disability Law 2005 as "any limitations in participating in society because of a substantial, permanent condition affecting a person's physical, sensory or mental functioning, which includes cognitive and psychiatric disorders and disabling chronic illnesses". The United Nations has requested that France updates its legal definition of disability as it does not take into account society's limitations through the human rights-based approach to disability.Policy and legislation
France ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2010.When he was elected in May 2017, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, declared that disability would be a priority of his five-year term of office.
United Nations reports on France
France has been the subject of much criticism for its use of the medical approach to disability rather than the human rights-based approach as set out in the CRPD., and the persistent use of psychoanalysis in the treatment of autism.The United Nations condemned France in 2015 for placing a 16-year-old autistic boy in a psychiatric hospital without his or his mother's consent. This type of institutionalization, which took place a few days after the teenager was sent to an institut médicoéducatif, is considered a deprivation of freedom and a violation of his security under international law. On 4 February 2016, the UN further expressed its concern regarding cases of ill-treatment of children with disabilities in institutions and the lack of independent monitoring of such institutions. It was also concerned that the "packing" technique, which amounts to ill‑treatment, has not been legally prohibited in France, even though it was banned by the health authorities, and was reportedly still being practiced on some children with autistic spectrum disorders.
In 2017, the UN special rapporteur, Catalina Devandas Aguilar, visited France from 3 to 17 October. She observed that France's legislation, particularly the 2005 disability law as well as the law on mental health, were not in alignment with the CRPD, notably Article 12. She called for legislative authorities to undertake a comprehensive review of the entire legal framework in order to complete the process of legal harmonization, in accordance with Article 4 of the convention. Ms. Devandas noted that France had failed to implement and take into account the change of paradigm required by the convention, and the majority of officials she had met with during her trip to France had not been aware of the changes brought about by the CRPD, solely referring to the local 2005 law. She was also concerned with France's approach to institutionalization which runs contrary to the CRPD and the goal of social inclusion. The Committee noted in their report that children with disabilities enrolled in mainstream schools "face multiple barriers to access education on an equal basis with others. This is not only due to the lack of accessible infrastructure, but also because there is no specialized training for regular teachers and school assistants, and no curricular adaptations and accommodation in the classrooms, which affects the quality of education." She expressed "grave concern" about the situation of around 81,000 children placed in segregated medico-educative institutions, recommending that France shut them down and transform them into non-residential resource centers. "Even more worrisome, according to unofficial estimates, there are reportedly some 12,000 so-called 'children without a solution' in France, and up to 40,000 autistic students, who receive no education at all."
In 2021, the UN visited France again, and Jonas Ruskus, UN special rapporteur for disability rights, raised the same concerns about France's medical approach to disability, issues related to consent, and the education of children with disabilities. The crux of the problem remained the 2005 law on disability which was still not harmonized with the CRPD and which sets out the medical model, particularly Article 1 of the 2005 law, which creates confusion between medical associations and organizations of persons with disabilities. This leads to systemic discrimination against persons with disabilities and to a conflict of interest since these medical associations also run and manage institutions. Mr Ruskus stated that he was disappointed to see such high levels of structural discrimination in France regarding people with disabilities "expressing doubt that the French motto of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité was really applied to people with disabilities."
In 2022, the UN wrote a letter to France expressing its concern of threats of intimidation towards a special educator in an institut médicoéducatif, Olivier Paolini. He stated that the institution did not adhere to the minimum requirements of schooling as it did not deem it important. As no official reply was provided by the French government, the UN made the letter public.
During its examination of the rights of children in France, in April 2023, the UN reminded France of the "very large" work it needed to do to ensure the rights of disabled children. Those children "without a solution" were of particular concern as well as those living in Belgium, many kilometers away from their families. It remains concerned at the high levels of children institutionalized and the discrimination children with disabilities face in mainstream schools. The committee also deplored the fact that the average autism diagnosis in the country is too late, on average at 7 years old.
Council of Europe decision
On 17 April 2023, the Council of Europe unanimously ruled that France had violated four articles of the European Committee of Social Rights charter on disabled people. Inaccessibility, lack of education opportunities and lack of access to healthcare were the main areas of concern. The Council noted that many people with disabilities and their families live in precarious financial situations due to the barriers they face.Social Security Law
Allocation d'éducation de l'enfant handicapé is paid to the parents or guardians of some children with disabilities. To be eligible, the child must be under the age of 20 and:- Assessed as being as at least 80% disabled or
- Assessed as being between 50 and 79% disabled and require specialist equipment or support at school
- Not resides at a medico-social institution where the cost is covered by the state or health insurance
Education
Mainstream education
In 2022, over 430,000 children with disabilities attended mainstream schools, with or without one-on-one or mutualized aid, and/or with technical or other adaptations. Some of these students may be a part of Unités localisées pour l'inclusion scolaire of which there were 10,272 in 2022. Both mainstream classes and ULIS are run by the Education Ministry.Mainstream classroom
The conditions to attend a mainstream class, in both primary and secondary education, depend on the seriousness of the disability.Localized Units for School Inclusion (ULIS)
The ULIS program allows children with disabilities to learn at their own pace and with an adapted curriculum in a group of around 12 students. The amount of classes or activities that are to be attended in the mainstream classroom depends on the student's personalized plan.Medical-social institutions
If a child or young adult cannot attend a mainstream school, they will be redirected toward a medical-social institution, such as an institut médicoéducatif for children with intellectual disabilities aged 3 to 20 years old, where they can also get different types of therapy based on their disability. Medical-social institutions are run by the Health Ministry, financed by French Social Security and managed by private parent associations or charities, such as the French Red Cross.Cooperation with mainstream schools
During the 2022–2023 school year, there were around 203 teams from the medical-social sector that can be mobilized to support children with disabilities in mainstream schools.Since 2018, the national strategy for autism has created 180 nursery school autism classes and 90 primary school autism classes within mainstream schools. These classes are contained and are part of the medical-social sector.
Employment
The three leading pieces of legislation for disabled workers in France are; The French Labour Law, the 1987 Disability Employment Act and The 2005 Disability Act.The Employment of Disabled Workers Act 1987 outlined a quota system for the employment of disabled persons. It stipulated that any company with a workforce of more than 20 employees must ensure that at least 6% of their personnel are disabled workers.
Quota objectives are achieved by a combination of sanction and incentive: employers evade paying the penalty as far as possible and are encouraged to recruit and retain people with disabilities through the prospect of financial support. Evidence suggests that many employers prefer to pay the contribution rather than consider employing a person with a disability.
EU SILC data for 2009, compiled by ANED, illustrated that the employment rate for disabled people in France was 49.8%, in comparison to 72.1% for non-disabled people