International Journal of Interpreter Education Volume 1 Issue 1 Article 7 Sign Language Interpreting: A Human Rights Issue Hilde Haualand [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/ijie Part of the Education Commons, and the Sign Languages Commons Recommended Citation Haualand, Hilde () "Sign Language Interpreting: A Human Rights Issue," International Journal of Interpreter Education: Vol. 1 : Iss. 1 , Article 7. Available at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/ijie/vol1/iss1/7 This Commentary is brought to you for free and open access by TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Journal of Interpreter Education by an authorized editor of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Haualand: Sign Language Interpreting: A Human Rights Issue Sign Language Interpreting: A Human Rights Issue Hilde Haualand1 Fafo of Labor and Social Research, Norway World Federation of Institute the Deaf and the Swedish National Association of the Deaf Abstract Viewed as isolated cases, sign language interpreters facilitate communication between 1 or more people. Viewed broadly, sign language interpreting may be seen as a tool to secure the human rights of sign language using deaf people. To fulfill this goal, interpreters must be provided with proper training and work according to a code of ethics. A recent international survey of 93 countries, mostly in the developing world (H. Haualand & C. Allen, 2009), found that very few respondents had an established sign language interpreter service, formal education and training opportunities for interpreters, or an endorsed code of ethics to regulate the practice of interpreters in their country. As a consequence of these limitations in the interpreting field around the world, there is potential for deaf people’s human rights to be violated. In this article, the accessibility and training of sign language interpreters are discussed from a human rights point of view within the context of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, and a snapshot of the previously unexplored interpreting scene in various countries around the world is given. Keywords: human rights; Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities; accessibility; interpreter education; code of ethics; developing countries 1 Correspondence to: [email protected]. International Journal of Interpreter Education, 1, pp. 95-110 © 2009 Conference of Interpreter Trainers 95 Published by TigerPrints, 1 International Journal of Interpreter Education, Vol. 1 [], Iss. 1, Art. 7 Haualand Sign Language Interpreting: A Human Rights Issue 1. The Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities: A paradigm shift The United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD)2 indicates a paradigm shift from a medical focus to a political and social focus in the work to secure the freedom and dignity of people with disabilities. Attitudinal and environmental barriers, not the physical impairment, prevent people with disabilities from enjoying full human rights. For sign language using deaf people, major barriers include a lack of recognition, acceptance, and use of a sign3 language in all areas of life, as well as a lack of respect for deaf people’s cultural and linguistic identity. 1.1. A World Federation of the Deaf report: Deaf people and human rights The information provided in this commentary article is based on the report titled Deaf People and Human Rights4 (Haualand & Allen, 2009) and data collected from the survey conducted as a part of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) Global Education Pre-Planning Project on the Human Rights of Deaf People. Topics discussed include the legal status of national sign languages; access to sign language interpreters, including the existence of a sign language interpreting service; training for sign language interpreters; and whether there is a code of ethics for sign language interpreters in the various countries surveyed. 1.2. Deaf people and sign language in the CRPD In the CRPD, sign language interpreting is highlighted as a core tool for ensuring the human rights of deaf people. The CRPD mentions sign language in the following five articles: • Article 2 _ Definitions; • Article 9 _ Accessibility; • Article 21 _ Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information; 2The full text of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities can be found at http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=259 3 Editorial note: The author has requested the use of the term ‘sign language’ rather than ‘signed language’ be used throughout the article in reference to languages that are signed in general, in order to adhere to World Federation of the Deaf policy. 4The reports from the Global Education Pre-Planning Project and the Deaf People and Human Rights Report can be downloaded from http://www.wfdeaf.org/projects.html International Journal of Interpreter Education, 1, pp. 95-110 © 2009 Conference of Interpreter Trainers 96 https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/ijie/vol1/iss1/7 2 Haualand: Sign Language Interpreting: A Human Rights Issue Sign language interpreting and human rights • Article 24 _ Education; and • Article 30 _ Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sports. The definition of language in the CRPD includes “spoken and signed languages and other forms of non-spoken languages” (Article 2)5 . Thus, sign languages are implicitly included in all articles that mention “communication” or “language.” The CRPD provides a powerful tool for enhancing the human rights of people with disabilities, and the afore-mentioned articles highlight the basic factors for protecting the human rights of deaf people. However, simply having access to qualified sign language interpreters is not sufficient to ensure that deaf people can enjoy their human rights. The implementation of four basic, and closely intertwined, factors is tantamount to the protection of the human rights of deaf people: • Recognition and use of sign language(s), including recognition of and respect for deaf culture and identity. • Bilingual education in sign language(s) and the national language(s). • Accessibility to all areas of society and life, including legislation to secure equal citizenship for all and prevent discrimination. • Signed language interpretation. Full enjoyment of human rights for deaf people can be found in the core of this model, in which sign language (including recognition of and respect for deaf culture and identity) is the central factor. The sign language interpretation and accessibility circles share more space than the other circle because accessibility often rests upon the availability of sign language interpreters. Sign language is at the core of deaf people’s lives and makes accessibility for deaf people possible; without accessibility, deaf people are isolated. A key factor for access to government services (and any other service run by institutions and businesses in which the personnel do not use sign language) for deaf people is provision of, and access to, sign language interpreters, as is highlighted in Article 9 (accessibility) of the CRPD which states that in order to enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas. (p. XX) The article further declares that States Parties, among others, shall take appropriate measures to “provide forms of live assistance and intermediaries, including guides, readers and professional sign language interpreters, to facilitate accessibility to buildings and other facilities open to the public” (CRPD, YEAR, Article 9.2 (e), p. XX; [author’s emphasis]). In WFD’s view, sufficient availability and qualification of sign language interpreters is a human rights issue, and education and training of interpreters is also regarded in this light. To safeguard a deaf person’s independence and autonomy (CRPD Preamble [n]), the provision of trained sign language interpreters, with a true commitment to provide their services according to the code of ethics for sign language interpreters, is a prerequisite. The survey revealed that of the 93 respondent countries, only 18 have a service for providing sign language interpreters, training for sign language interpreters, a code of ethics that they are obliged to follow, and a government that is prepared to pay for the interpreters’ salaries. However, in most of those countries in which the formal requisites are established, the number of qualified interpreters is too low to meet the actual demand. The lack of qualified interpreters, service providers, and training curricula and institutions, as well as the absence of a code of practice to encourage the professionalization of the interpreting field in many countries in the world reflect the potential for deaf people to experience a violation of their human rights on a daily basis. 5 See http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=262 International Journal of Interpreter Education, 1, pp. 95-110 © 2009 Conference of Interpreter Trainers 97 Published by TigerPrints, 3 International Journal of Interpreter Education,