We are creative lawyers
Since we were founded in 2002, Validity has learned a lot about how to promote greater respect for the rights of persons with intellectual disabilities. We have learned from listening to persons with disabilities themselves, to our partners, and to experts in many fields. We have tried and tested many different strategies to discover how to be of greatest service to persons with intellectual disabilities and to the wider disability-rights movement. Now, we have a variety of tools that we can use to tackle the most entrenched human rights violations. These allow us to create strategies for change that are tailor-made depending on the different issues and contexts we encounter.
Some of the tools we use are as follows:
- Strategic litigation – Through taking a small number of individual cases to national, regional and international courts, Validity is a global leader in pushing for legal validation of the human rights of persons with intellectual disabilities. Each case seeks to improve the lives of our clients and many other persons who suffer similar human rights violations.
- Advocacy – We engage with coalitions and wider movements to push for greater protection and respect of human rights by governments, policy-makers, national and international institutions. We do this through calling for change in law, policy and practice, providing feasible solutions for substantially increasing equality and inclusion of persons with intellectual disabilities.
- Research – We regularly undertake research initiatives to develop an evidence-base that is used to inform our strategic litigation and advocacy initiatives. Validity’s research has been central in re-framing the issues faced by persons with intellectual disabilities as more than just matters of social justice, by grounding our work in binding human rights standards. We have also developed internationally-acclaimed monitoring methods for investigating human rights in social care institutions.
- Capacity-building – Validity also undertakes extensive formal and informal capacity-building with organisations of persons with disabilities, lawyers and other stakeholders. We provide concrete input to help others advocate for inclusion and justice through a combination of tailored training programmes, expert seminars and promoting professional exchange through our global networks.
We are local and global
Validity is a small but specialised international non-governmental organisation. Our main activities are carried out in six core countries in Central and Eastern Europe and in Africa. Partners in these countries have asked for our support and we have been able to build sustainable interventions in each country. We also offer our specialist legal knowledge as a resource to partners in other countries when requested.
At the international level, Validity works to ensure that the issues faced by persons with intellectual disabilities are addressed consistently:
- We hold Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). We work closely with our partners around the world to provide detailed information on the issues faced by persons with disabilities across the United Nations system.
- We hold Participatory Status at the Council of Europe as a member of the Conference of International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs). This enables us to initiate ‘collective complaints’ under the Revised European Social Charter, a document which sets out rights guaranteed across 47 countries in Europe and Central Asia.
- We also have a pending application for Observer Status at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR). With Validity’s increasing experience on the African continent, we have already provided advice and guidance on the creation of a new African treaty on the rights of persons with disabilities, and standards on providing redress for victims of torture and ill-treatment.