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Read, Debate: Engage.
| topic: | Discrimination |
|---|---|
| located: | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| editor: | Katarina Panić |
Persons with disabilities living in the Balkans often face stigma, discrimination and social exclusion in many spheres of life, despite the fact that local constitutions prohibit discrimination and promote inclusion.
And although legislation is often more progressive in comprehensiveness than the society, which generally fails to empathise such vulnerable groups and recognise their needs, sometimes the laws lack elementary consideration.
"Sometimes I think the MPs don’t understand what they are voting for," Biljana Tomić from the Bosnian town of Prijedor told FairPlanet.
Tomić, who the local Association of Paraplegics, Children with Paralysis and Other Physically Handicapped Persons, welcomed the government’s recent decision to allocate more public funds to orthopaedic aid and rehabilitation, as well as simplified procedures. However, Tomić points out, some categories were left unaddressed and, in some cases, people's rights were restricted due to their age.
"On one hand, my son needed a wheelchair, and we got it. It is just like it should be, it suits him, and that is satisfying, too. As a caregiving parent, I have a right to compensation, which is also fine," Tomić said. "Recently, this compensation was increased to the minimum wage in the country, which made it triple what it used to be.
"On the other hand, this right expires when the child turns 30, which is nonsense," she added.
Tomić's son, Nebojša, is diagnosed with cerebral paralysis. According to doctors, he is permanently incapable of functioning independently and requires constant care. He is 28 years old now, and in two years his mother is going to lose the status of caregiving parent and its associated benefit of a monthly compensation.
"The bill reads the caregiving parent of a child with a disability has the right to be compensated since the deinstitutionalisation is a common goal," Tomić added. "However, the lawmakers say such a right expires once the child is 30. This is entirely inexplicable. Nothing will change in our lives. Actually, it will but for the worse.
"Nebojša will be in a worse condition the older he gets, and I will be physically weaker the older I get. This is something that needs to be corrected in our legislation. Otherwise, it is unacceptable."
Image by Steven HWG .
