Article published in the journal Psiara analyzing the different surveys conducted on discrimination among people with disabilities.
**What is discrimination?**
It is defined as the situation in which a person cannot exercise their human or legal rights on an equal basis with others due to an unjustified distinction established in policies, laws, or treatment. It can be direct, indirect, or intersectional (a combination of various forms of discrimination).
**Mechanisms influencing the perception of discrimination.**
1. **Objective discrimination:** When there is no evident cause to justify it.
2. **Stereotype threat:** The fear of being discriminated against prevents attempting or achieving goals.
3. **Coping style:** An avoidant style fosters erroneous perceptions, while positive strategies improve outcomes.
4. **Overestimation of prejudice:** Can generate a constant state of alertness and distress.
**Key data from surveys in Spain.**
* **CERMI (2002):** 64% of people with disabilities stated they had suffered discrimination.
* **EDAD (2008):** 12.52% of men and 10.25% of women reported discrimination. Young people and those with mental or nervous system disabilities were the most likely to perceive it (Huete, A).
* **CIS (2013):** 18% of people with disabilities reported having been discriminated against. The general population identified “psychic disability” as one of the most frequent causes.
* **CEMUDIS (2018-2020):** 66.17% of the women with disabilities surveyed had felt discriminated against.
**Analysis of the EDAD 2008 Survey.**
Our analysis using logistic regression identified factors influencing the perception of discrimination:
* Being a woman and belonging to an NGO increases the risk.
* Living in municipalities of 10,000-50,000 inhabitants, having a university education, and being older reduces the risk.
* **Type of disability:** Disabilities such as deafness (pre- and post-lingual), skin conditions, total blindness, mild intellectual disability, mental illness, and osteoarticular deficiencies of the head present a very high risk of perceived discrimination. In contrast, conditions such as profound intellectual disability, dementia (possibly due to difficulties in perceiving or communicating it), or mild hearing/vision problems showed a lower perception.
**Conclusion.**
Perceived discrimination is not homogeneous and is influenced by multiple variables. Future research should delve deeper into the differences according to the type of disability in order to design more specific and effective social interventions.
(automatic translation with AI)