Summer School 2024

The Centre for Disability Law and Policy (CDLP) at University of Galway held its International Disability Law Summer School from Monday 17th to Friday 21st of June, 2024. The event followed a hybrid approach, that enabled speakers and delegates to participate in-person or online. The theme this year was ‘Gender and Disability Justice.’ The keynote speaker was Rosaleen McDonagh.

At a global level, pushback against the rights of women, girls, and gender minority people are rooted in the same soil and produce the same oppressions that disabled people face, including restrictions on access to justice, legal capacity, independent living, health care, and reproductive rights, barriers to education and employment, increased risk of violence and exploitation, and marginalisation in public debate.  These experiences are amplified when individuals hold multiple marginalised identities. To address these challenges we need to create solidarity within social movements, hold decision-makers accountable and find new pathways to enforce our collective rights.

The 15th International Disability Law Summer School explored these challenges by centering the voices of disabled activists and disability rights researchers from around the globe. We provided space to discuss the institutional and societal changes needed to make the promises of the United Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities a reality and explored how the disability justice-informed practices can offer potential for change.