"Disabled endure 'shockingly high' level of discrimination"

Today's Independent newspaper's web site reports that campaigning charity Leonard Cheshire Disability said that despite the presence of the Disability Discrimination Act there were "shockingly high" levels of discrimination towards the disabled.

"We actually found that 40% of disabled people in Britain were able to identify difficulties or problems they have experienced accessing goods and services in the last 12 months.

And significantly 23%, nearly a quarter of disabled people said they had been discriminated against while trying to access goods and services in the past year, so really shockingly high levels of discrimination and inaccessibility given how long we have had anti-discrimination legislation."

Quote by Leonard Cheshire Disability from the Independen newspaper report

Leonard Cheshire Disability are a charity that campaigns "for change to give disabled people the opportunity to live their life their way".  The new Equality Act has just been passed through Government and makes many improvements to the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act:

“But the key now will be to make sure that the Act works for disabled people up and down the country, and that disabled people are aware of their rights, and are able to challenge discrimination when they face it.
Leonard Cheshire Disability will be releasing a new report next week looking at how we can ensure that disabled people can actually use the law to challenge discrimination and make society more accessible for everyone.”

Press release from the Leonard Cheshire Disability web site