Melanie Lubbe, a person of Short Stature and Founder/President of the organisation Equal Citizens of Short Stature in South Africa, believes that the willingness of such individuals to participate in degrading activities should never take precedence over the overall will and welfare of the entire group. She is passionate about educating persons with disabilities about their rights. This is an ongoing task, as well as continuing to put pressure on the Government to protect and support marginalised groups. For further information please contact info@ecoss.org.za
The debate on whether persons of short stature (Dwarfs) should be used in movies/adverts or at events as mascots, has been going on for decades.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD), (preamble h, Art. 8, 15, 16, 17 &18) clearly stipulates the obligation of member countries of the UN to protect persons with disabilities from exploitation, violence and abuse which includes degrading treatment.
Spain's parliament recently banned "comic" bullfighting events which feature persons of short stature dressed in costumes. Disability rights groups welcomed this as ending a form of mockery, but not all the performers agree.
The Director General of Disability Rights in Spain, Mr Jesus Martin Blanco, a person of short stature himself, made the ban a priority. In a 2021 interview, Blanco said the government was "absolutely rejecting this culture that ridicules human beings for their disabilities". He shared his own experiences of how he used to hide in dread as a child because he was ridiculed and made fun of.
Not so long ago, in the 1990s, a town in France banned "dwarf tossing" events where persons of short stature were thrown in the air. A series of legal cases followed, and one performer, Manuel Wackenheim, took it to a meeting of the UN Human Rights Committee.
Wackenheim argued that the events did not violate human dignity, and it was discriminatory to ban them. For him, human dignity consisted of having a job, which he longer had given the events had stopped. The UN committee found in favour of France's right to make such a ban to protect human dignity.
On the one hand these events are perceived as degrading and socially damaging. On the other hand, performers defend their right to perform and to continue work. A right which they say the same law guarantees.
The debate continues, in the new Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie in which a character traditionally played by actors of short stature is now played by Hugh Grant. The same divided opinions are shared for the new Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs film.