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How useful are equality indicators? The expressive function of ‘stat imperfecta’ in disability rights advocacy

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dc.contributor.author Priestley, Mark Gramennos, Stefanos
dc.date.accessioned 2022-03-31T21:42:52Z
dc.date.available 2022-03-31T21:42:52Z
dc.date.issued 2021-05
dc.identifier.citation Priestley, M. and Grammenos, S. (2021) How useful are equality indicators? The expressive function of ‘stat imperfecta’ in disability rights advocacy, Evidence & Policy, vol 17, no 2, 209–226, DOI: 10.1332/174426421X16141001670976 sm
dc.identifier.issn Online ISSN 1744-2656 •
dc.identifier.uri ${sadil.baseUrl}/handle/123456789/3631
dc.description 18 p. ; PDF sm
dc.description.abstract Background: The measurement of equality is often difficult for groups who are weakly defined or poorly represented in official datasets. Social statistics are an essential component in rights recognition and advocacy because they make protected groups of persons visible and reveal the extent of their inequalities in comparison with population norms. Aims and objectives: This paper examines how disabled persons have been included, or not, in EU statistics used for evidenced-based policy ‐ for example in the European Semester process concerning Member States’ employment and social policies, or in monitoring compliance with international human rights standards under the UN CRPD. Methods: Over a period of a decade we mapped and disaggregated disability data from the main European social surveys, examining the availability and limitations of different sources to answer various policy questions. Findings: The analysis produced indicators revealing stark inequalities between disabled and non-disabled persons but raised challenging questions about data quality, reliability and comparability. This revealed tensions in engaging the trust of policymakers in less familiar, or less reliable, data concerning minority groups. Discussion and conclusions: Despite limitations of precision, imperfect statistics often retain a strong expressive function in human rights promotion. Greater investment is needed from governments and statistical authorities to strengthen disability equality data and indicators concerning marginalised rights holders. sm
dc.language.iso en sm
dc.publisher Policy Press sm
dc.relation.ispartofseries Evidence & Policy • vol 17 • no 2 • 209–226 •;
dc.subject Disability equality sm
dc.subject statistics sm
dc.subject outcome indicators sm
dc.subject rights advocacy sm
dc.title How useful are equality indicators? The expressive function of ‘stat imperfecta’ in disability rights advocacy sm
dc.type Article sm


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