The EQUAL Project – Equality before the Law and the Right to Self-Determination of Persons with Intellectual and Psychosocial Disabilities sought to understand the conditions for implementing Law no. 49/2018 (Legal Framework for Adults in Need of Support), adopted following the ratification by the Portuguese State of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It also aimed to explore the underlying social, political, economic, and cultural factors that have either promoted or hindered this change.
More specifically, the study aimed to:
- identify barriers, challenges, and opportunities surrounding the implementation of Law no. 49/2018;
- examine the implications of formal and informal restrictions on rights and decision-making on the agency, citizenship, and social participation of persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities;
- inform the public debate on the right to self-determination of persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities;
- strengthen the status of Disability Studies and the Sociology of Human Rights in Portuguese academia.
Team
Academic Researchers
- Paula Campos Pinto (Principal Investigator – CIEG and ODDH/ISCSP-ULisboa)
- Teresa Janela Pinto (CIEG and ODDH/ISCSP-ULisboa)
- Patrícia Neca (CIEG and ODDH/ISCSP-ULisboa)
- Fernando Fontes (CES-UC)
- Bárbara Maltez (Research Assistant – CIEG and ODDH/ISCSP-ULisboa)
Non-Academic Researchers
- Aretha Ribeiro (Cercitop)
- Artur Tavares (APPACDM Coimbra)
- Cristina Espiney (AEIPS)
- Maria Adelaide Cruz (AEIPS)
- Patrícia Batista (FNERDM)
- Rosa Moreira (HUMANITAS)
- Sandra Marques (FENACERCI)
Scientific Advisor
- Antonio Luis Martínez Pujalte (Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche)
Host Institution
Interdisciplinary Centre for Gender Studies (CIEG) and the Observatory on Disability and Human Rights (ODDH), School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lisbon (ISCSP-ULisboa)
Partner Institutions
- National Federation of Social Solidarity Cooperatives (FENACERCI)
- National Federation of Entities for the Rehabilitation of People with Mental Illness (FNERDM)
- HUMANITAS – Portuguese Federation for Intellectual Disability
- Office of the Prosecutor General (PGR)
- Ombudsman’s Office
- High Council for the Judiciary
Funding
Project funded by national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P.
(EXPL/SOC-ASO/1326/2021).
Duration
January 2022 to December 2023.