WeThe15: Disabled Community Skeptical of New Disability Awareness Campaign

To coincide with disabled people from around the world gathering for the Tokyo Paralympic Games this week, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and International Disability Alliance (IDA) have launched the biggest-ever human rights movement for disabled people.

The campaign, called WeThe15, was launched ahead of the Games on August 19. The name is a nod to the 15% of the world's population (1.2 billion people) that is disabled. The goal of the WeThe15 campaign is to end discrimination toward disabled people and to publicly campaign for disability visibility, accessibility, and inclusion.

Committing to Real Change

The campaign will start by focusing on Paralympic athletes but will expand to promoting equity for disabled people from across disciplines—from sports and business to arts and entertainment— for the next 10 years. This year, in light of the pandemic, the organizers are concentrating on COVID-19 vaccine access for disabled people.

While the goal is admirable, many disabled people do not expect the campaign to bring about meaningful change. Branded badges and social media hashtags make it easy for people and companies to make a show of supporting disabled people, but some experts predict that their support will be empty.

"Companies ought to commit to real change," Dr. Amy Simmons, a doctor of sociology in disability studies and currently a research assistant at the University of Kent, tells Verywell. "If a company edits their logo to include a patch of purple [from the campaign], but their actions do not indicate any commitment to change, their involvement in WeThe15 only serves to boost their moral capital and sales."

The Power of Disabled Sport

The IPC, the Special Olympics, the Invictus Games Foundation, and the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (Deaflympics) have teamed up for the first time for WeThe15. A major part of their Paralympic strategy is promoting the role of assistive technology in improving accessibility and inclusivity for disabled people.

In a statement, IPC President Andrew Parsons said that "by partnering with Special Olympics, Invictus Games, and Deaflympics, there will be at least one major international sport event for persons with disabilities to showcase WeThe15 each year between now and 2030."

Parson added that sports events, in particular, "add great value to the campaign and underline the hugely positive impact sport can have on society," and that they "strongly believe WeThe15 could be a real game-changer for persons with disabilities.”

A 90-second video detailing the realities of disabled life aired during the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games, reaching an estimated global audience of 250 million people.

Organizations Working Together

A host of organizations from across the globe will be supporting WeThe15 alongside the aforementioned athletic groups, including the Internal Disability Alliance, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UN Human Rights, The European Commission, The Valuable 500, Global Citizen, and Global Disability Innovation Hub, among others.

These organizations say they will work with governments, businesses, and the public over the next decade to initiate lasting change for disabled people. This includes taking steps to put disabled people at the heart of diversity and inclusion agendas.

In the IPC statement, Audrey Azoulay, the Director-General of UNESCO, said that "more than one billion people live with a disability today, and yet the world is still far from truly recognizing and honoring this 15% of society" and that "it is time to change our perception of people with disabilities and make their voices heard everywhere."

To that end, Azoulay added that the sporting achievements of Paralympic athletes are "formidable sources of inspiration and examples for all of us. UNESCO is proud to join the WeThe15 movement and its unique coalition to build a world that puts inclusion front and center."

Response From the Disabled Community

While many members of the disabled community celebrated the high ambitions of the movement and looked forward to what is to come, others were cynical. Countless awareness campaigns over the years have failed to lead to any real change.

Some people have pointed out that the Paralympics are a great launchpad for WeThe15, including Elizabeth Wright, a swimmer who competed in the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games.

"With the rising profile of the Paralympics, I can say that it is about time and so important that we use this movement to tackle the wider disability injustices and inequalities," Wright tells Verywell."[We need to] shift the view of disability from that as inspiration porn or a tragedy trope."

The Games are a good start, but they're far from the end-game. Wright says that the movement needs to "amplify the nuance of disability" beyond the lens of sport and "shift the narrative to be more inclusive of that wider lived experience."

Deaf journalist Liam O'Dell says that the campaign is misguided in its approach. "I can’t take a campaign seriously when it pledges to educate people, yet uses person-first language in its launch; lights up buildings in purple as a meaningless gesture; has organizations posting promotional images without alt text and focusses more on awareness."

On Twitter, the International Paralympics Committee stood by the campaign language.

However, the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Paralympic team took to Twitter to clarify that they say "disabled" and "non-disabled."

Who Is WeThe15's Intended Audience?

For Connor Scott-Gardner, a blind student, WeThe15 misses the mark. "I'm uncomfortable with the whole idea that we must humanize ourselves and go around saying, 'Look, I am a human being, just like you,'" Scott-Gardner tells Verywell. "It feels like this is a campaign for other people, and like we're trying to make ourselves more acceptable for them."

According to sight loss and disability advocate Jon Attenborough, it might a good thing that WeThe15 is not aimed squarely at the disabled community.

"Sometimes I feel like things are shared within our own community too much and can be a bit of wasted effort, as you’re essentially sharing it among people who are already converted to the cause," Attenborough tells Verywell. "So targeting people outside of the disability community is really important."