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Sign Language Rights

Advancing human rights and sign language worldwide.
  • Sign Language Rights

Basic human rights include access to language acquisition from birth. Early and timely exposure enables deaf children to fully communicate, enhancing their cognitive and social skills. Deaf children must have access to a national sign language from birth.

As highlighted by the CRPD, sign languages are integral to the human rights of deaf people. Language and culture are inseparable, and sign language is a crucial part of deaf culture and identity. These are essential for the cognitive, social, emotional, and linguistic development of every deaf person. Without early exposure to a national sign language, deaf children lack a strong language foundation, creating inequalities. The WFD advocates for the rights of deaf children to a national sign language and quality multilingual and inclusive education.

There are hundreds of unique and independent sign languages worldwide, distinct from spoken languages. Some nations even have multiple sign languages. To embrace diversity, it is vital to protect and strengthen the world’s many sign languages. The WFD tirelessly promotes the recognition, promotion, and protection of these languages.

Each sign language has its own structure, grammar, and lexicon, equaling spoken languages in every respect. Research demonstrates that sign language supports brain development and social skills. Contrary to misconceptions, evidence shows it aids spoken language development in native-signing children with cochlear implants and mitigates the negative effects of early auditory deprivation.

  1. Legal recognition of national sign languages

Article 21 of the CRPD requires States Parties to the Convention to officially recognise national sign languages in their legislation and other measures. When addressing deaf people’s linguistic human rights, it must be considered from a cultural and linguistic standpoint, with sign language being the core feature to ensure the achievement and respect of the human rights of deaf people. National “sign languages are the fully fledged natural languages, structurally distinct from spoken languages, alongside which they coexist” as recognised by the United Nations General Assembly in its Resolution recognising the International Day of Sign Languages. 

Deaf people worldwide have historically faced, and continue to face, discrimination with regard to the use of their national sign languages. The World Federation of the Deaf considers the lack of meaningful sign language legislation on the national level a grave violation of deaf peoples’ fundamental rights.

  1. Sign Language work

National sign languages develop naturally when deaf people come together. Deaf communities form around deaf people’s shared experiences and unique sensory orientations to the world.  Along with a national sign language, deaf people exhibit and practice Deaf cultural behaviours and values. National sign languages and Deaf cultures originate from deaf people. Like all living languages, national sign languages develop and evolve with their deaf communities, and deaf people must be placed at the centre of all aspects of their national sign language development, including teaching. Deaf people who are native speakers of their national sign languages, or who use their national sign language as their first or preferred language, must be acknowledged and respected as role models and teachers of these languages and cultures. This is also applicable in the development of new technological  products and services such as artificial intelligence (AI) tools using national sign languages, meaning that deaf people should participate and lead. The exclusion of the Deaf Community and their national organisations from sign language work (such as the production of sign language dictionaries, sign language interpreter training or sign language research) constitutes a violation of the linguistic human rights of deaf people, and specifically, Article 21 read conjointly with Article 4.3. 

Human Rights Instruments:

  • Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
    • Article 2: Defines “language” to include spoken and signed languages.
    • Article 9: Ensures accessibility, including access to information and communication technologies.
    • Article 21: Recognises the right to freedom of expression and opinion, including the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information through all forms of communication, including sign languages. Calling for the legal recognition of national sign languages.
    • Article 24: Guarantees the right to education for persons with disabilities, including the use of sign languages in educational settings.
    • Article 30: Persons with disabilities are entitled to recognition and support of their specific cultural and linguistic identity, including sign languages and deaf culture
  • UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues:

The UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues has highlighted the need to recognize sign language users as members of linguistic minorities, ensuring their rights in education, healthcare, and other public services: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2020/09/un-human-rights-expert-calls-recognition-rights-users-sign-languages

2030 Agenda – Goal 4: Quality Education, which aims to ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training, which directly includes deaf communities. Deaf children require access to education through their national sign languages.

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