Some toilets intended for people with disabilities, within the buildings of the regional citadel of Calabria, are now reserved for the exclusive use of managers of the sector, of the general directions of the departments, or even used for other purposes, in clear violation of the most elementary rules on accessibility.
The complaint of the CSA -Cisal union manager, Gianluca Tedesco: “It is a violation of rights, an insult to civilization and regulations on accessibility”
In a normal country, the bathrooms intended for people with disabilities should serve exclusively to them. But in the regional citadel of Calabria, as too often happens, normality is turned upside down. Here, accessibility is not a guaranteed right, but it seems to become an obstacle to be circumvented. Every day we speak of reducing architectural barriers, inclusion, equal rights. But to the citadel, the only barriers demolished seem to be those of modesty. A scene that, if it were not real, would seem to be taken from a grotesque comedy. But here there is little to laugh.
Several baths intended for people with disabilities, although regularly equipped and reported as accessible, have been made inaccessible due to the improper use that is made by managers or administrative offices. In more than one department, these services are banned because they are used for other purposes. Some of them are even marked by official signs with the words type: “bathroom reserved for the sector manager” or “reserved general management”.
In other cases, the bathrooms are transformed into small deposits or archives, with craft signs that completely upset the original function. During several checks, the plate with the international accessibility symbol has been removed or altered, erasing any reference to the real intended use.
There is no shortage of cases where these spaces have been customized with office furniture, brush holder, toothbrush, hangers and other accessories, actually transforming them into private toilet. In some rooms, the door has even been blocked from the outside with manual devices – as documents a photo with a red indicator – preventing access even in the absence of signs.
Perhaps the time has come that someone carefully reread the law 104/1992, especially those who have unduly subtracted these spaces from those who have to actually need it. Public buildings are not personal fiefdoms. Even those who work there should wait for their turn, like every citizen, in front of the door of a bathroom.
Faced with such a violation, the CSA -Cisal union asks with determination that all the illegal signs are removed without delay, the full accessibility of the toilets intended for people with disabilities, immediate checks by the offices in charge and arranged for an urgent inspection to restore legality and respect for fundamental rights are restored.
“We can only express our deepest indignation – continues German -. These behaviors, in addition to being ethically unacceptable, represent a real slap in the principles of civil coexistence and openly violates the rules on accessibility and protection of fragile people “.
It is time that dignity is returned and compared to spaces designed for those who really need.
German concludes: «A bathroom for the disabled is not a privilege to conquer. It is a right to respect. Always.”