Law in the community: the University of Greenwich/Greenwich Association of Disabled People Centre for Independent Living (GAD) research project

The GAD Advocacy Service is funded by the London Borough of Greenwich Directorate of Neighbourhood Services; its remit to support disabled people experiencing Hate Crime, Domestic Violence and Harassment. Run by disabled personnel and giving advice to all disabled people it is unique in London. Since its inception in 2004, the Advocacy Service has been stretched to its limit - there is a need to extend the remit of the Advocacy Service to give specialist legal advice on other issues. In 2003, the CEDRM-UK project was set up in the University of Greenwich Law Department as part of the Disability Rights Promotion International Legal Education and Research Project; its objectives were firstly, to facilitate the collection of data on the effectiveness of legislation in promoting the rights of disabled persons; and secondly, to pilot new methods in teaching and training in Human Rights Law – students acquire an expertise in Human Rights Law through research into the practical application of legislation relating to civil and human rights in the daily life of the community. In July 2007, GAD and CEDRM-UK embarked on a joint project to report on the work of the Advocacy Service and to create a database to support its caseload. The 2008-9 Project team will report on their work and findings relating to facilitating equality in the workplace; the inclusion of cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis within the legal definition of disability and the implications of the statutory duty to promote disability equality for the provision of extracurricular activities for schoolchildren. [From the Author]

Social and demographic factors of young fathers in the UK and USA

Research on disadvantaged young fathers has been minimally addressed in the literature, particularly in the UK. In both countries teenage pregnancy rates are high and costly in terms of social policy and community provision. This paper explores 2 studies involving 24 young men with an average age of 17 on the transition to young fatherhood; one study was conducted in the UK with white young men and the other in the USA with black young men. The findings from both studies indicated common themes from their stories, particularly with regard to the high levels of disadvantage and social exclusion they had been exposed to in their demographic environments and the anti-social behaviour they described engaging in, prior to the birth of their child/ren. Specifically, a significant proportion of the young men described how they had been immersed in drug and gun crimes and how this shaped their lives and neighbourhoods. Becoming fathers is presented by both sets of young men as rescuing them from this criminal lifestyle.