Is Discrimination Based on Disability Being Eliminated? -Report on Access Refusals of Guide Dog Users
2024. 5. 13
News
A guide dog user receives support for operating the touch panel at a supermarket self-checkout counter (at Maruetsu Itabashi Minamimachi store in March 2024).
Japan has a law called the "Act on Assistance Dogs for the Physically Disabled Persons," which allows guide dog users to enter facilities where unspecified numbers of people can enter with their guide dogs. However, there is no end to the number of access refusals of guide dog users by facilities, and many guide dog users have experienced restrictions in their activities.
JGDA conducts an annual interview survey of its clients about access refusals and compiles and discloses the results. In 2023, 103 guide dog users (44% of the total) reported that they had experienced an access refusal during the year.
（Delivered on March 25, 2024：https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/release/202403228370）
Did you encounter any access refusals with your guide dog in 2023?
When we asked those who responded "Yes" the number of times they were refused, we found that 208 cases had occurred. The most common places where access refusals occurred were restaurants, with 114 cases (55%), followed by transportation, with 25 cases (12%), and accommodations, with 18 cases (9%).
More than 70% of the refusals were due to a lack of awareness of the law, such as "lack of employee training" and "ignorance of the obligation to accept guide dogs".
Places where access refusals occurred in 2023
The "Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities" mandates the "prohibition of discrimination based on disability" and the "provision of reasonable consideration".
"Provision of reasonable consideration" means that when a person with a disability expresses a need for some consideration to remove social barriers, consideration is provided to the extent that it is not too burdensome. An example is a waiter reading the menu for a guide dog user at a restaurant.
However, 81 respondents (34%) in this survey indicated that they had experienced discrimination based on disability, revealing that there are many other barriers to their participation in society besides access refusals.
Did you experience discrimination based on disability in 2023?
Among the comments, the one that particularly stood out was "difficulty in operating touch panel screens". These comments indicate that while the evolution of ICT technology is accelerating, flexibility for the visually impaired needs to catch up. We found that barriers in terms of information and culture are rapidly increasing.
In order to remove such barriers in daily life, we believe there is an urgent need to inform people about the law, “provision of reasonable consideration”, etc. In addition to the understanding of business operators, it is also necessary to reduce the anxiety of those who actually meet the visually impaired so that they do not become negative, thinking that "it seems difficult to support the visually impaired."
JGDA holds seminars and releases videos on YouTube to introduce basic knowledge about guide dogs and visual impairment.
As a result of this survey, we will further strengthen the dissemination of such information.