Disability in Russia

Nowhere's perfect, but the UK has come a long way in terms of increasing access for disabled people, with facilities to work around impairments and the legal right to equality. There's still some way to go here but it's also indicative of the improvements that you don't think twice about ramps in or leading to buildings, notices for subtitles or audio-described films at the cinema, mini, braille signs, wheelchair-sized elevators next to steps in buildings, signs for hearing loops or those knobbly slopes next to crossings and so on.

The differences are highlighted if you go to Russia, where there are far fewer (useful) adaptations...

Kazan: Source

There are 13 million registered disabled people (physical, mental or both) in Russia and few of the same facilities that you see in the UK. The lack of facilities and adaptations are one barrier; the other obstacle comes in the form of people's attitudes. This is illustrated simply in the video, below, which shows that council workers still build kerbs without a slope and, even when there are the legally required allocation of disabled parking spaces, other drivers are at best indifferent to the issue.

[English subtitles are available on this video]

The Russian government appears to have moved on a long way from the Soviet Union not hosting the 1980 Paralympics in parallel with the summer Olympics because, “There are no invalids in the USSR”. The Sochi 2014 facilities were built with complete wheelchair access for spectators and participants. Russia had signed up to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities a year after being awarded those Winter Olympics, which kick started the governmental level process. Russia is currently implementing the £1billion Accessible Environment Programme (running from 2011 to 2015), which aims to create more inclusive schools and sports facilities, to have more subtitles on TV and to have more accessible public transport (45% accessible by 2015) and it created 12,600 jobs in 2010.

The Entrance to a Beauty Contest for Women in Wheelchairs: source

How successful this is, or will be, is another question, as are the questions as to what extent this is merely a drop in the ocean or paying lip-service in the run-up to hosting the Paralympics. As Human Rights Watch's 2013 report on Russia points out, those wonderful sounding government targets and funding in the Accessible Environment Programme only apply to regions willing to participate and add their own funding. Russia's views of people with disabilities and their ability to work and access to benefits date back to 1932 and it still has the widespread practice of institutionalising such people. Human Rights Watch's case studies and examples show, many people continue to face barriers: living in apartment blocks without ramps, reliable lifts or doors wide enough for wheelchairs.

Kazan: Source

There are inaccessible streets and crossings, few traffic lights with audible signals and few public transport facilities and councils fail to clear the snow and ice. Businesses and government organisations are legally required to be accessible however the latter are exempt from laws on making adaptations if "beyond their budget" (though that, in fairness compares to Britain's laws on making "reasonable adjustments") and the former just don't knowing that the authorities won't act on it.

Government building in Kazan

Disabled people experience reduces legal and administrative means of redress; their access to other public services is reduced - education, healthcare; and still, only 20% of working-age disabled people are in employment, compared to 46% in the UK.

The government has made changes in policy and law. It's a start, but it's not enough. It can also help, by sending out a signal, to create a shift in attitude by showing positive images and enforcing the anti-discrimination laws. This, however, may turn out to be the biggest challenge. The video, embedded above, shows people's refusal to move cars from spots marked for disabled drivers. The head of a charity, Apparel, describes public perception as "very negative" both in society and the media. Worse, that negativity isn't always indifference but outright victimisation, as a BBC report shows.

That report, though, also shows a positive: a deaf girl who overcame the initial reluctance of other pupils and their parents. As some classmates said, they'd never seen anyone with an impairment before. When people have problems getting about town, let alone get out of their flats or buildings, it's little wonder that the sight of disable people should be a rarity. It's a start, nevertheless, and Russia certainly needs more of them. Hopefully, the Sochi 2014 Winter Paralympics has further raised awareness, along with Russia topping the medal table offering an additional positive image. The thirteen million, though, need much more.