Disability in Greece: Prejudice, compassion and indifference – What research shows

On the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, set for December 3 of each year, the National Confederation of Persons with Disabilities (ESAmeA) presented a survey conducted in collaboration with the polling company GPO on “Attitudes and Perceptions on Disability in Greece and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Chronic Diseases and Their Families “, which took place from 14 to 21 November 2021 in a sample of 1,203 households in all regions of the country and its results outline a rather black image of the daily lives of people with disabilities, despite the good intentions shown by society as a whole, according to the survey responses.

More specifically, when asked about the attitude of citizens towards people with disabilities, to the question “Would you personally say that you feel uncomfortable or comfortable when you meet someone with a disability?” 14.2% say they feel “very uncomfortable” or “quite uncomfortable”, 28.6% “neither uncomfortable nor comfortable” while 57% “quite” or “very comfortable”.

This picture, however, turns upside down as soon as the questions become more personal.

For example, in the question “Whether or not you actually have children, would you like to tell us how comfortable you would feel if one of your children were in a relationship with a person with a disability / chronic illness?” The percentage of citizens who feel “very” or “quite” uncomfortable reaches 24.2%, the percentage of citizens who “neither uncomfortable nor comfortable” reaches 32.3% while the percentage of citizens who feel “quite” or “Very” easily falls to 32.6%.

Regarding the rights of people with disabilities, the majority of the citizens state that they are mostly uninformed, since 56.6% state that they know “not at all” or “little” about these issues. Respectively, the people with disabilities themselves state that they are not aware of their rights by 37.5%. Citizens are also dissatisfied with the information and awareness-raising activities regarding the rights of people with disabilities and / or chronic illnesses and their families carried out by government agencies / services by an overwhelming 83% (“not at all”). a little”).

Regarding equality, not only for issues of disability but also for “gender, age, racial or ethnic origin, religion and sexual orientation”, 78.1% of citizens believe that not everyone receives the same treatment and rights, while only 20.8% answer “yes” and “probably yes” to the question. Interestingly, the percentages among people with disabilities are almost the same as 80.6% answer “no” or “probably no” and 18% “yes” or “probably yes”.

The question “how do you think people with disabilities and / or chronic diseases are treated in Greece” is led by prejudice with 45.4%, followed by compassion / pity with 39.6%, indifference with 21.3%, embarrassment 20 , 9%, the rejection 7.8%, and the “as weight” with 5.8%. Only 6.3% answer “equally” and 5% answer “with admiration”.

The main problem of accessibility of people with disabilities is recognized by 91.6% of traffic in the city and by 90.3% in public transport with equally disappointing percentages for employment, education, culture and even health services and welfare. Indeed, people with disabilities surveyed confirm that they have 88.2% access to public transport, 87.5% to urban traffic, 81.9% to employment, 75% to culture, by 74.3% in health and welfare services and by 68.1% in education.

However, it seems as to the responsibilities of the difficulties faced by people with disabilities, the citizens throw the ball to the state since the question “Which of the following are in your opinion factors that prevent people with disabilities from living on an equal footing with other people?” 71.3% answer “the inadequacy of state policies” while 56.6% see it as a factor that contributes to “social prejudices”. There is no lack of 22.5% who consider that “disability / chronic illness itself” is the factor while only 12% recognize responsibilities in the relative and friendly environment.

The results of the research were presented in the context of an online event by Antonis Papargiris, scientific director of the GPO, who, examining the ambiguities of the results between how citizens state that they stand towards people with disabilities, what they consider to be the progress on rights. but also what is the real situation, he wondered “why do all these problems continue and exist?” responding immediately after “let me point out that I personally believe that much of the answers we have presented today are dictated by political correctness. “Certainly the recognition of the enormous difficulties is a great achievement for the disability movement, but much remains to be done.”

“December 3rd for the movement of organizations of people with disabilities, with chronic diseases and their families is a day of social protest, exercise of social control, is a day of rights” underlined the president of ESAmeA, Ioannis Vardakastanis, adding “of course we celebrate, but “All we celebrate is disability as part of human diversity.” Mr. Vardakastanis called for vaccination as a responsible attitude, in order to protect all vulnerable citizens with disabilities or chronic diseases. “Through society we draw our power, we do not have in our hands to close switches, to stop productive processes. “We always want the society to see people with disabilities as social protagonists, as social activists and not as beggars of state or private charity,” said Mr. Vardakastanis, explaining why research on people with disabilities and their attitude are very important. society towards them.

The results of the research were also commented by Konstantinos Stefanidis, President of the National Accessibility Authority, Professor at the Department of Computer Science, University of Crete, Head of the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCI), Maria Gavouneli, Chairman of the Committee at the Law School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and Xenofontas Kontiadis, Professor of Public Law and Social Security Law at the Department of Public Administration of Panteion University and President of the Center for European Constitutional Law – Themistocles and Themistocles Foundation.

Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news