Xejn dwarna minghajrna (nothing about us, without us) : 70 years of struggle and radical changes in the disability sector in Malta

Abstract

Although Malta has a European culture and identity, its size, history and geographical location help make it very different from other European countries in a number of ways. These three factors inevitably impinge on the way Maltese society has evolved, including the growth and development of the disability movement. Disabled people in the Maltese islands only began to emerge as a vocal minority in the fairly recent past. Until World War II (1939-45) they endured oppression and social ostracism in silence and invisibility.