Abstract:
This chapter focuses on exploring the socio-cultural construction of disability
in Sri Lanka and its impact on the everyday lives of persons with disability.
The analysis is based on an ethnographic study in diverse social settings. As against
context-specific characteristics, disability is defined merely as a physical or intellectual
impairment of a person from a charity perspective where the ideology of
karma plays a crucial role by providing a justification for the existence of inequality
among human beings. The construction has adverse effects on all domains of the
everyday lives of persons with disabilities. Discrimination against persons with disability
originates from family itself that reinforces by other social institutions. Thus,
not only the attitudes of lay people but also of service providers suggest no signs of
moving from charity to a rights-based approach toward disability. Though Sri Lanka
has a National Policy on Disability to promote rights of people with disability, there
are huge gaps existing at the level of enforcement. While acknowledging the
strengths of social mode, the chapter argues that disability demands an integrated
approach toward empowering persons with disabilities and to mobilize the entire
society to create an environment with reasonable accommodation for an inclusive
society that accepts disability as part of the diversity. The government and civil
society organizations have a crucial role in moving forward from a charity perspective
to a rights-based approach toward disability.
