On October 20, the Museum of the History of the City of Kyiv hosted a presentation of the results of an all-Ukrainian survey on the cultural rights of people with disabilities. This is the first representative survey in Ukraine on the state of observance of cultural rights of people with different types of disabilities.

Key results of the research.

• In 61% of respondents without disabilities, disability was associated with something negative, such as limiting: “disabled”, “people with disabilities”, “people who cannot take care of themselves”, “people who need help”, “helpless”, “incapable”, “people who face life difficulties”, “people with communication difficulties”.
• Approximately two thirds of people with musculoskeletal disorders (64%) do not attend cultural institutions and events at all. Less than half of visually impaired people (46%) and only one in five people with musculoskeletal disorders (23%) attended cultural events that they considered took into account their disability needs.
• Two thirds of Ukrainians (66%) consider the state, and almost half (49%) - local governments responsible for creating conditions for equal access for people with disabilities and without to cultural events and cultural institutions.
• More than a third of visually impaired people (37%) believe that there could be more books in an accessible format.
• According to a survey of people with intellectual disabilities, 40% of women and 24% of men surveyed cannot read. The figures suggest the impact of gender stereotypes on the learning and upbringing of people with intellectual disabilities. 
• About a third of Ukrainians with and without disabilities said that money and time are the main factors that prevent them from being creative more often.

The survey was conducted by the team of the public organization of people with disabilities Fight For Right in partnership with the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). The research was conducted from 15 to 22 September 2021 by the method of computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers. 2002 respondents were interviewed. The sample is representative for the adult population (18 years and older) of Ukraine. The sample does not include territories that are temporarily not controlled by the authorities of Ukraine - the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, some districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Statistical sampling error (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.1) does not exceed: 2,4%.

Among the speakers of the event were: Yuliia Sachuk, Chairman of the public organization of people with disabilities Fight For Right, Yaroslav Petrakov, Director General of the Directorate for Strategic Planning and European Integration of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, Oksana Prasiuk, Head of the Analytical Department of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, Professor Volodymyr Paniotto, Director General of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Leonida Ponomarova, Deputy of the Kyiv regional council of the VIII convocation and Nadiia Dobrianska, research analyst.

Yuliia Sachuk noticed during the presentation:

“Accessibility of culture for people with disabilities is often masked by opposite concepts: discounted tickets, sign language translation of one of a hundred concerts or a sound description of one of a hundred films. Or "let's carry on hands on the second floor" instead of to make the building unobstructed. I am tired of watching this, and I am especially worried that the authorities support such "practices". The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the need to change the situation”.

The main goal of the “Art for All” project and research, Yuliia stressed,-  “Is to open the curtain on the true situation with respect for the cultural rights of people with disabilities: to find out their thoughts, preferences, obstacles to the realization of cultural rights. And how much do people with and without disabilities know about the accessibility of art in Ukraine? After all, the policy is implemented, resolutions and strategies are adopted, funds are allocated from the state budget”

Are they effective? For example, more than half of the adult population of Ukraine without disabilities (56.3%) believe that people with disabilities have the opportunity to attend all cultural events at the same level as people without disabilities. And this figure indicates society's ignorance that at least one tenth of it remains segregated, outside the cultural life of the country. We received the first answers, each answer, number, pattern should be investigated further”.

For any additional questions, please contact:info@ffr.org.ua

Reference. The research was conducted as part of the project "Art for All: a study of the situation of cultural rights of people with disabilities in Ukraine" with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation. The position of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation may not coincide with the opinion of the authors. The project aims to study the demand of people with different types of disabilities for a cultural product by conducting a series of focus groups, questionnaires and an all-Ukrainian poll. The project is implemented by private entrepreneur Sachuk Yuliia Mykolaivna.