For Dennis Downey and James Conroy, editors of Pennhurst and Struggle for Disability Rights, Pennhurst represents “one of the great, if unacknowledged, freedom struggles of the 20th century,” fanning the flames of global deinstitutionalization and independent living movements. .
Following the closure of Pennhurst, most Western nations began closing institutions. This independent living movement was a precursor to the 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Article 19 of the convention obliges the signatory nations to guarantee “the equal right of all persons with disabilities to live in the community, with options equal to others.”
And article 12 asks the signatory nations to recognize that all citizens, regardless of their disability, have “legal personality” and therefore should enjoy autonomy and respect.
The convention charges signatory nations with an unequivocal obligation to make the traumatic experiences of institutionalization a thing of the past, while recognizing and preserving histories of trauma as narratives of dignity and respect.
A GLOBAL TRADE IN DARK TOURISM
Pennhurst is one of many “haunted” tourist attractions around the world inspired by the traumatized lives of people with disabilities.
A hemisphere away, high on a hill overlooking the rural town of Ararat in western Victoria, Australia, is Aradale Lunatic Asylum, the location of the notorious J-Ward.
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