| | | | | |

Inaccessible Housing Is a Problem for Everyone

schlafendehundeweckenByschlafendehundewecken
Panel 4: Exaggerated fantasy panel labeled “What we wanted to do in this situation.” Valentin and Jasmin are drawn furious and wild, showing the anger they feel about the ableism. Their faces are angry, fists raised. Jasmin has a Molotov cocktail in her wheelchair’s drink holder, ready to burn it all down.

Those who need accommodations face an especially difficult situation in the housing market. But barriers do not affect only people with disabilities. In an aging society, they are becoming increasingly relevant to everyone.

We are currently searching for a wheelchair-accessible apartment in Switzerland and decided to document our experiences with comics. And here is one of many equally frustrating encounters.

Comic

Panel 1: At a crowded apartment viewing, a curly-haired man (Valentin) stands beside a woman who uses an electric wheelchair (Jasmin) and says, “Except for the narrow bathroom door, it’s a really nice apartment.” She replies, “Yes, it’s a shame, really.”
Panel 2: Close-up of Valentin in the crowd saying, “It’s pretty crowded here,” while Jasmin is partly cut off at the edge of the scene.
Panel 3: From the wheelchair user’s lower eye level, a person steps over her legs. She says in red text, “Yes, crowded… people are stepping over me again!” The passerby replies, “Sorry…”
Panel 4: Exaggerated fantasy panel labeled “What we wanted to do in this situation.” Valentin and Jasmin are drawn furious and wild, showing the anger they feel about the ableism. Their faces are angry, fists raised. Jasmin has a Molotov cocktail in her wheelchair’s drink holder, ready to burn it all down.
Panel 5: Panel labeled “What we actually did.” Valentin calmly says, “Just be careful!” The passerby answers, “Yes, sorry,” while Jasmin gives a polite, restrained smile.
Panel 6: After the viewing, an older person on crutches approaches the estate agent, a woman with glasses holding some forms, and says, “I’ll take one, please.” Meanwhile, the agent asks Valentin, “Are you leaving already? Please take a form with you.” Valentin answers, “Thank you, but…”
Panel 7: The older man says he is also looking for a wheelchair-accessible apartment. Valentin replies that they are not really interested because the bathroom door is only 60 cm wide.
Panel 8: Close-up of the elderly man, standing on crutches, who says, “Well, I'll need a wheelchair soon too. It's a shame about the door. I've been looking for a suitable apartment for so long. I even asked at the nursing home, but they told me...”
Panel 9: Final panel: Valentin sits on a chair, Jasmin in her wheelchair opposite the elderly man. Both listen with tears in their eyes. The elderly man continues: “...that their apartments are not accessible. I don’t want to live in a nursing home just yet! But where should I go?”wheelchair soon too. It's a shame about the door. I've been looking for a suitable apartment for so long. I even asked at the nursing home, but they told me...”

It was not only the bathroom door in this apartment that was not wheelchair accessible. Several other things would also have needed to change: the elevator was old, and the rooms were too small to fit both furniture and a wheelchair.

But in a housing market as competitive as this one, getting an apartment is almost impossible if renovations are needed to make it livable for everyone. In our experience, landlords often say no in these situations. They prefer tenants who can move in right away, without requiring significant effort.

Still, this story is mainly about the old man who moved us so deeply at the end of the viewing. His example makes clear that a lack of accessibility is not only a problem for people with disabilities, but for older people as well. Senior citizens, too, depend on an inclusive society and accessible infrastructure.

Our society is undergoing rapid demographic change. According to the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (BFS), 22 percent of the population will be over 65 by 2030. Combined with the 21 percent of people with disabilities living in Switzerland today, it is clear that the share of people who depend on accessibility is steadily increasing.

So why do we ignore these people’s rights and push them to the margins of our society?

In the end, these needs concern all of us—we all grow old.

The original German version of these comics was first published by Reporters Without Barriers – https://rob.ch/

schlafendehundewecken

SCHLAFENDEHUNDEWECKEN is the name under which we, Jasmin Polsini and Valentin Weilenmann (Mynt), have worked as an artist duo since 2007 across the fields of art, illustration, and graphic design. We create exhibitions, develop our own artistic projects, and take on commissioned work for private clients, small and medium-sized businesses, agencies, and publishers.

We see our art as a reflection of society: critical, inclusive, and always in search of new perspectives. By combining traditional painting and printmaking techniques with digital design, we create works that move, provoke, and invite dialogue.

Our name is our philosophy: creativity, like a “sleeping dog,” lies dormant in every person. It is the force that drives us to open spaces for reflection, diversity, and change.

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *