Accessibility and Social Protest: State Obligations for Inclusive Civic Participation in Public Space

Abstract

The right to protest and the rights of persons with disabilities have developed through legal frameworks that often operate separately. This study examined how the two sets of rights should coexist when a demonstration occupies public space. A qualitative documentary design, supplemented by doctrinal legal and public-policy analysis, was applied to a purposive corpus of 18 international instruments, domestic rules, judicial decisions, and institutional reports published between 2006 and 2024. Deductive-inductive thematic analysis identified five findings: fragmented normative recognition; more developed protection of persons with disabilities who participate in protests; the relative invisibility of non-participants who need to travel or access services; the continuous nature of State accessibility obligations; and the absence in Peru of a specific protocol for the inclusive management of demonstrations. The article proposes an Accessibility Protocol for Public Demonstrations based on accessible information, functional pedestrian corridors, alternative routes, interagency coordination, individualized support, continuity of essential services, and enhanced proportionality review. It concludes that the appropriate constitutional response is not to give abstract priority to protest or mobility, but to impose positive duties of design, facilitation, and accommodation on the State so that both rights can coexist without disproportionately shifting the burden to persons with disabilities or organizers.