On 22 September 2022, the 5th annual Conference called Independent Life was held in Bratislava. The aim of this conference was a discussion on the National Programme for the Development of Living Conditions of Persons with Disabilities in Slovakia. This conference was organised by the Advisory Council for Social Work and the SOCIA Foundation in cooperation with FORUM for Human Rights and the Slovak Disability Council .
During the third part of the conference, FORUM for Human Rights presented tools for communication with victims of crime with disabilities, which were created within the project Voices for Justice. These easy-to-read materials should ensure that victims with disabilities are provided with all information in an accessible way. Therefore, their usage could lead to a more active involvement of victims with disabilities in criminal proceedings and to their more effective access to justice.
At the beginning of the third part of the conference, Maroš Matiaško, advocate and lawyer at FORUM for Human Rights, explained the obligations arising from Article 13 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Then Denisa Kramářová, lawyer of the Ombudsman’s Office and consultant of FORUM for Human Rights, explained how to work with created materials. Next, the conference participants were divided into groups, where they had the opportunity to work interactively with easy-to-read materials. Finally, they evaluated the comprehensibility of the materials from the perspective of persons with disabilities. The participants of the conference stated that the presented tools are necessary for persons with disabilities also in other areas. Especially, if these persons meet other state bodies and institutions.
The easy-to-read materials are to be adjusted based on the feedback from the conference and they will be shortly availably in Slovak and Czech language on our webiste.
This event was co-funded by the European Union’s Justice Programme (2014-2020). The content of this event represented the views of the author(s) only and is his/her sole responsibility. The European Commission does not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.
