Axe ‘invisible barriers’ affecting people with disabilities: Hong Kong watchdog

Hong Kong’s equality watchdog has urged service providers and property managers to eliminate “invisible barriers” that impact residents with disabilities after conducting its first review of reported cases of discrimination.

In addition to laying out eight recommendations for such organisations in a new guide, the Equal Opportunities Commission highlighted on Thursday some of the cases that had prompted the review.

They included the case of a bus driver who refused to allow a wheelchair user to board and another involving a person with autism who was scolded for touching products on a shelf.

Watchdog chairwoman Linda Lam Mei-sau said that among the four anti-discrimination ordinances covered by the statutory body, mistreatment related to disabilities made up about 50 per cent of the total cases handled in recent years.

Many of the related complaints to the commission involved what Lam called “invisible barriers”, such as discriminatory attitudes by staff or a lack of operational procedures.

“We think it is important to remind service providers and premises operators [that] apart from the physical barriers which are visible to the naked eye, there are [other] important barriers,” she said.

The new guide highlighted 11 common types of operational and attitudinal barriers identified by the commission, using examples of real cases it had handled, most of which were settled through conciliation between parties.