Robert Martin (disability rights activist)

Robert Martin MNZM (b. 1957) is a disability rights activist from New Zealand who has promoted the self advocacy movement internationally and was involved in the proceedings resulting in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. He is a candidate for election to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for the 2017–2020 term.[1]

Early life

Martin was born in Whanganui, New Zealand. A difficult birth resulted in a brain injury. As a baby he was sent to Kimberley Mental Deficiency Colony (later renamed the Kimberley Centre).[2]

Apart from brief periods living with his family and a failed attempt at fostering, Martin spent his childhood in institutions as a ward of the state. These institutions included Lake Alice Hospital (a psychiatric hospital) and Campbell Park School. In his biography, Martin describes inhumane conditions and abuse in these institutions[3] which he would later campaign to close.[4]

Career

In 1972 Martin was released from care and returned to Whanganui. For a short while he lived with his parents but the relationship was characterised by violence and unhappiness. Over several years Martin lived and worked in the care of IHC New Zealand, an advocacy and care organisation for people with intellectual disabilities in New Zealand. During this period Martin began educating himself, often through books he stole. He became involved in activities to break down barriers for people with learning disabilities, including protests and non co-operation with carers. He organised a strike of intellectually disabled farm-workers.[5]

By the time he was in his mid-twenties Martin was playing a leading role in the disability rights organisation People First. He held office at regional and national level and in 1993 traveled to Canada to represent New Zealand at a People First conference. Shortly after this Martin participated in the writing of "The Beliefs, Values, and Principles of Self-Advocacy".[6]

In the mid-nineties Martin was appointed to the staff of IHC as a traveling advocate in New Zealand. His role was to promote self-advocacy among people with disabilities and to build public understanding that would enable the movement of people with intellectual disabilities from institutions into the community.[7]

Martin also traveled overseas extensively for Inclusion International promoting self-advocacy. He became a council member of Inclusion International and in 2003 was appointed Inclusion International’s representative on the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee "to consider proposals for a comprehensive and integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities."[8] For a period Martin was the only person with a learning disability involved in the UN proceedings, he participated particularly in discussions around the status of families (Preamble X of the Convention) and the right of people with disabilities to live in the community (Article 19).

Personal life

In the 2008 New Year Honours he was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.[9] In 2014 a biography of Martin was published[5] and he was featured in a television documentary series.[10] The Robert Martin Self Advocate Leader Award is awarded by himself at the annual Having a Say Conference in Australia, to the participant whose self-advocacy impresses him most.[11] Martin lives in Whanganui with his wife Lynda.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Robert Martin nominated as Candidate for UN Committee | Scoop News". Scoop.co.nz. 2014-06-11. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
  2. ↑ Hunt, Anne (2000). The Lost Years - From Levin Farm Mental Deficiency Colony to Kimberley Centre. A. Hunt Nationwide Book Distributors. p. Foreword and pg 350. ISBN 0-473-06755-2.
  3. ↑ "Exorcising demons of a damaged past". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  4. ↑ "Four-year plan for disabled - National - NZ Herald News". Nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  5. 1 2 McRae, John (2014). Becoming a Person: the biography of Robert Martin. Craig Potton. ISBN 9781927213193.
  6. ↑ The beliefs, values and principles of self-advocacy. Cambridge, Mass.: Brookline Books. 1996. ISBN 9781571290229.
  7. ↑ Millen, Julia (1999). Breaking Barriers IHC's first 50 years. IHC New Zealand (Inc). pp. 95–96. ISBN 1-877-242-063.
  8. ↑ "UN Enable - Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities". Un.org. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
  9. ↑ "New Year Honours 2008". New Zealand Gazette. 2008-01-11.
  10. ↑ "Robert Martin Documentary". Inclusion-international.org. 2014-04-14. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  11. ↑ Having a Say Conference Report (PDF) (Report). 2015. p. 14.
  12. ↑ "Fighting hard for rights of those with disabilities - Wanganui Chronicle - Wanganui Chronicle News". Nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 2015-08-31.

External links

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