Denmark making it punishable to exclude handicapped people

Following years of UN pressure, the Danes are the last Nordic nation to pass the law

Feb 9, 2017

The government has proposed making it illegal to exclude or reject handicapped people from entering a place of business or leisure solely due to their condition.

Denmark will be the last Nordic nation to pass such a law, which will also give handicapped people the opportunity to make complaints if they feel discriminated against due to their condition.

“This is a question we’ve discussed in Denmark for many years,” said the child and social minister, Mai Mercado.

“We already have a ban against discriminating against handicapped people in the labour market, but it needs to count at all other places as well. We won’t accept that handicapped people are discriminated against, and I’m proud that we are taking steps towards a general ban.”

How about infrastructure?
Danske Handicaporganisationer (DH), an umbrella organisation representing 330,000 handicapped people and their loved ones in Denmark, is pleased with the law proposal, which the UN has been pushing Denmark towards for quite some time now.

But the organisation is critical of the law not containing any demands for accessibility that forces restaurants or amusement parks to have ramps or elevators to give access to handicapped people.

The affected parties will now discuss the proposal in a hearing, after which Mercado will submit a final proposal to Parliament.

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