Accessibility: 'Paralympic movement needs to work harder at representation of disability community'

Introduction

The Paralympic movement has been praised for its role in promoting inclusion and diversity in sport. However, a new report has found that the movement needs to do more to represent the full diversity of the disability community.

Key Findings

The report, which was commissioned by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), found that:

• Only 22% of Paralympic athletes have a disability that is visible.
• Athletes with intellectual disabilities are particularly underrepresented in the Paralympic Games.
• There is a lack of diversity in terms of race, gender, and socioeconomic status among Paralympic athletes.

Recommendations

The report makes a number of recommendations for how the Paralympic movement can improve its representation of the disability community, including:

• Increasing outreach to athletes with invisible disabilities.
• Developing more opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities to participate in the Paralympic Games.
• Working to ensure that Paralympic athletes are representative of the diversity of the disability community in terms of race, gender, and socioeconomic status.

Conclusion

The Paralympic movement has made great strides in promoting inclusion and diversity in sport. However, there is still more work to be done to ensure that the movement represents the full diversity of the disability community.

Additional Resources

• IPC launches new report on representation of disability community
• Paralympics: 'Movement needs to work harder at representation'
• Paralympics 2020 needs to do more to represent disabled people