…the issue of disability is a problem not because the individual is disabled, but because of the environment and society’s views in responding to the existence of people with disability.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) has said that the social approach is key to eliminating the stigma surrounding people living with disability because it prioritizes environmental adaptation and the community’s perspective.

At the “Facts of Women with Disability” talk show, which was followed from here on Friday, Komnas Perempuan commissioner Bahrul Fuad explained that the social approach views the limitations of people living with disability as something that must be affirmed and accommodated by the family and the community.

“The social approach model views that the issue of disability is a problem not because the individual is disabled, but because of the environment and society’s views in responding to the existence of people with disability,” he expounded.

He further said that through the social approach, the stigma surrounding people living with disability can slowly be eliminated because of greater advocacy and education targeting the community and families.

Fuad noted that advocacy and education include information about limited abilities, environmental obstacles, and social obstacles that each disabled person has.

With this approach, the community and families can better understand how to accommodate and adapt to the limitations and obstacles faced by people with disability.

The social approach model can also help people with disability develop their potential so they can move toward independence over time, he added.

The approach model, he continued, is clearly different from the previous models that view the issue of disability as a curse that places disabled people in a helpless position or one where they need compensation for the rest of their lives.
"What we are educating is that we are now in the social approach model era so that every individual, including people with disability, has the same rights as other citizens to develop their capacities," he said.

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Translator: Hana Dewi, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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