AUTISTIC MINORITY INTERNATIONAL WWW.AUTISTICMINORITY.ORG Geneva, 25 November 2015 Oral statement at the eighth session of the Forum on Minority Issues ("Minorities in the Criminal Justice System") of the United Nations Human Rights Council THE CRIMINALIZATION OF AUTISTIC BEHAVIOURS Thank you, Mister Chair. Autistic persons continue to be deprived of liberty based solely on disability because autism is not accepted as what it actually is, namely a lifelong neurological difference that is equally valid. We autistic self-advocates view autism as a distinct culture and identity, and the autistic minority is estimated at seventy million people, one percent of the world's population. Increase autism acceptance, and you will decrease deprivation of liberty of autistic persons. Along with misperceptions about autism and frequent misdiagnosis and a lack of inclusive education, all of which may lead to involuntary mental health detention, the increasing criminalization of autistic behaviours is of particular concern as a reason why autistic persons get caught up in the criminal justice system and subsequently are deprived of liberty in prisons or mental health institutions. In all those cases, deprivation of liberty is due to autistic persons being judged by nonautistic standards. Autistic behaviours may be misinterpreted as aggressive or threatening, and lead to the criminal prosecution and deprivation of liberty of autistic persons, whether diagnosed, undiagnosed, or misdiagnosed. For instance, an autistic person may not understand what is expected of them during a police control and fail to follow orders. They may dislike being touched and resist arrest and during a subsequent trial avoid eye contact and demonstrate unusual facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, and communication patterns, thus giving the impression of guilt to non-autistic police officers, prosecutors, and judges. This, as well as sensory overload, anxiety, and an apparent lack of empathy may lead to their imprisonment or institutionalization on the basis of their disability, which was not sufficiently recognized by law enforcement authorities. Autistic detainees may find the legal and bureaucratic obstacles and hurdles involved in challenging their arrest or detention insurmountable. They may struggle to follow judicial proceedings and defend themselves effectively. Mostly, they will not be able to afford resourceful lawyers. In many countries, mental health laws deprive us of legal capacity altogether and thus restrict our access to justice even further. This is not compatible with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other UN standards. Ours is an often invisible disability. Nevertheless, we require support and reasonable accommodations to exercise our rights before court. Also, disability-related adjustments must be made to account for our particular vulnerability whilst being held in a place of detention. ADVANCING AUTISM SELF-ADVOCACY AT AND THROUGH THE UNITED NATIONS, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, AND HUMAN RIGHTS TREATY BODIES GENEVA@AUTISTICMINORITY.ORG