Marschen för tillgänglighet

EDITORS NOTE: It has been one year since ADAPT’s Free Our People March. The impact of ADAPT activists taking to the streets promoting civil rights for people with disabilities is still being felt around the world. Following questions and answers about the Swedish Marschen för tillgänglighet or March for Accessibility. If you have questions that aren't answered here, don't hesitate to mail your questions to Hans Filipsson and if you speak Swedish, visit their website: http://www.iyl.se/mft/viewpage.php?page=2.

1: What is The March for Accessibility?
2: Why is an anti-discrimination act that outlaws inaccessibility necessary?
3: What is the background of the march?
4: Who supports us?
5: What can I do to help?

1: What is The March for Accessibility?
"Marschen för tillgänglighet" is Swedish and translates The March for Accessibility. It is an initiative aimed at enacting an anti-discrimination law into Swedish legislation, outlawing inaccessibility in general for people with disabilities. While Sweden does recognize the need for attendants for people with disabilities, inaccessibility remains a serious issue in contemporary Swedish society

The first "real" march was held August 16th 2003 when about 600 persons marched 5 km (about 3 miles) from Wennergren Center (Norrtull) to Mynttorget (The Parliament building) in central Stockholm.

The second March for Accessibility 2004 was held August 21 2004, with the same march route.

The organizing committee will soon decide if and when there will be a new march 2005.

2: Why is an anti-discrimination act that outlaws inaccessibility necessary?
Theoretically, everyone agrees on a society accessible for everybody, but there is a giant gap between intention and reality. Media and public opinion, as well as politicians and other policymakers, have to be made conscious of the seriousness of the situation in Sweden. Everyone must be able to cross a street or to visit websites, to go see a movie or eat out with his/her spouse, children, parents, friend and so on - in short: everyone must be able to live their lives just like everybody else, no matter if they have a disability or not.

In Sweden, there is already strong legislature intended to make society accessible. The problem is that the present laws are not followed. Some laws were enacted several decades ago. For instance, a law on making public transportation accessible was enacted 1979, but not much has happened since then. Why? Swedish legislation lacks means of sanctioning. If a public transit company doesn’t make their buses accessible with lifts (for instance for people who use wheelchairs) or loudspeaker exclamations (for instance for people with reading disabilities or visual impairments), the company won’t face any punishment whatsoever. The only effect it will have is some possible bad PR within the disability movement. According to law, inaccessibility in Sweden is not defined as discrimination. It has to be! An anti-discrimination act that outlaws inaccessibility would link the inaccessibility on an individual level. Individuals are affected by the inaccessibility. Thus, it is there the means to intervene against the companies, shops, communities, ministries and so on that won’t follow the legislation has to be.

In several other western countries, laws that prohibit companies, authorities and "communities" from having inaccessible enterprises exist. Some examples are:

• USA - Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)

• Australia - Disability Discrimination Act (1992)

• Great Britain - Disabilitity Discrimination Act (1995)

• South Africa - Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (2000)

In Sweden, an investigation about if something similar should be implemented is in process. Since July 1st 2003, there is a general Swedish anti-discrimination act which protects from discrimination due to ethnic heritance, religion or other beliefs, sexual preference and - disability. Still, inaccessibility is not defined as basis for discrimination. We believe it should be a matter of course in Swedish legislation.

3: What is the background of the march?
The background of the march lies in the American disability advocacy group ADAPT's "Free Our People March," an event aimed at enacting the equivalent of the Swedish laws granting people with disabilities the right to attendant cares. Compared to Sweden, the US does not lack an anti-discrimination law.

Links:
www.freeourpeople.org - about the "Free Our People March" and ADAPT's work toward enacting the MiCASSA  
www.adapt.org - about ADAPT

4: Who supports us?
More than 80 organizations and companies, representing over 600 000 people (Sweden's population is 9 million), support us. Click here for a complete list of organizations and companies that support The March for Accessibility.

5: What can I do to help?
As an individual, you can sign our petition and also tell your friends to support us.

We welcome any organization or company to support us. Even support only by outspoken acknowledgement will be sufficient. Hence, no fee or commitment is required to support us.

If you or your organization want more information or has decided to support the event, please contact Hans Filipsson by hans@tillganglighetsmarschen.nu or phone +46-(0)18-510 999 (please mind the time difference, GMT +2h). 

It is of uttermost importance that as many organizations and individuals as possible - disability or not - take part in order to get attention.

We especially welcome the cooperation of Swedish immigrant organizations interested in the situation for immigrants with disabilities.