The Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD) has spoken out against the controversial comments made by a gospel singer on TVM last night.
“We strongly condemn the appalling comments made by the opinionist Phyllisienne Brincat on the Popolin programme aired on TVM last night,” the commission wrote.
Brincat garnered some major backlash after going on TVM and saying that illness and disability derive from generational sin.
“It’s from generation to generation. It is written so. When we are born, we are born under the mark of Satan because the world became cursed once sin entered,” she said, justifying her unconventional views.
In response, the CRPD pointed out that such an extreme statement just worsens the stigmatisation that people with disabilities already face on a regular basis.
“The idea that disability is linked to the sins of previous generations is, as Jacob Callus rightly pointed out on the same programme, completely insulting, and will only lead to the further stigmatization of persons with disability.
“This is a blatant case of hate speech.”
The entity continued by highlighting the work and progress that Malta has made to develop out of this mentality, and opinions such as that of Brincat only make it harder for people with disabilities to be treated with due respect.
“The disability sector has come a long way from these antiquated ideas and these opinions are completely detrimental to the acknowledgement that persons with disability should be given the respect they are entitled to as equal citizens in Malta.”
Do you think that Brincat’s comments classify as hate speech?
