Progress made but more needs to be done, say handicapped rights advocates

December 3 is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Here in the Czech Republic, things have changed a lot since the communist era, when an independent lifestyle was virtually impossible for the handicapped. However, advocates say there is still a lot of work to be done.

Zdeněk Škaroupka is the director of Liga vozíčkářů, the Czech association of wheelchair users. It was established in 1990, soon after the fall of communism, to address the problems of people with disabilities. Mr Škaroupka describes what conditions handicapped people were living under the previous system.

“The situation was that most disabled people lived in institutions. Children and teenagers were living in social services housing for disabled youths. The situation was intolerable to me, because the children had very few opportunities to freely move on their own, for example to go into town; they were sort of locked up in their accommodation, and their life was, well, the way life was in those institutions at the time.”

One huge difference between then and now is definitely the accessibility of public spaces. Eva Kučerová, a Prague resident who relies on a wheelchair to get around, says the situation has gotten a lot better in the past 20 years.

“As far as my personal experience goes, the changes have been radical. When I was young, for example, right after my accident, when I was studying, there were no ramps for wheelchairs in the city’s public transportation system. So as a disabled person, you were always depending on your family and your own resources.”

Advocates say despite some advances, much more needs to be done to help the country’s handicapped. Zdeněk Škaroupka again.

“None of the areas that are problematic for disabled people have been addressed in a systematic, clear and definite way. Take wheelchair ramps for example: we have a construction law that states what a wheelchair accessible place should look like. But the problem is that there are no effective sanctions or fines in case the construction firm doesn’t adhere to the law.”

Mr. Škaroupka added that even though the International Day for Persons with Disabilities does offer a great opportunity to organize events and conferences, not enough is done in the Czech Republic to celebrate it.

“It would be good if we could take advantage of the day to spread the news that there are problems that disabled people have to face and that plenty of people that surround us have to deal with those problems. For instance, they could not take a parking spot that is designated to be used by disabled people only.”