– You should not have to lie in the shit to get rid of the shit, says stepmother Sylvia Furali. Furali is literally fed up with the fact that children and the disabled are not valued in a better way. Because there is no statutory requirement for changing tables in public toilets in Norway. Furali often experiences having to lay her children on the floor to get them changed. NARROW: In addition to lack of hygiene, Sylvia Furuli points out that it is impractical to care for dog floors. – It’s not exactly big. Photo: Stein S Eide / news – Urine and gugg Furali has two nappy babies. One is six months old, the other is a 7-year-old with Down Syndrome. Having to put the children on the floor during a diaper change, she thinks is disgusting. It is also perceived as degrading, especially for the elder. DIRTY: The mother of three from Elverum thinks it is cumbersome to go on a trip with the children when there are so few toilets with proper changing tables at petrol stations and picnic areas. Photo: Stein S Eide / news – Urine and other gags are guaranteed in more places than down in the toilet in these places, says Furali, who has gone to buy his own mats to put the children on. Still, she finds it both unhygienic, cramped, condescending and impractical to clean the floor. She believes it should be a requirement that public toilets have changing tables. POST ON FACEBOOK: It all started with a post on Facebook. Sylvia Furali got enough, and posted this post in a parent group. She received a lot of feedback. Many agreed with her, others responded that she had actually laid her baby on the floor. – It’s my whole point, that I would rather not do this. But often there are no alternatives, especially not for a seven-year-old, she says. Photo: screenshot, Facebook Encourages equipment in the car Store manager Tarik Bellhcen at Esso Bankhjørnet in Elverum encourages parents to bring equipment in the car so they can change their children’s nappies. He says they have no requirement for changing tables. – We have requirements for disabled toilets, but not changing tables, he says. But – when he hears about the problems of Sylvia Furali and other parents of small children, he will still install changing tables in the toilet. – It is a plus for the store to have it, because then we have an offer for families, he says. Also at rest areas along the road, changing tables are missing in many places. Construction manager Bjørn Inge Stefferud Holter in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration is working on the rehabilitation of toilets along the rest areas by national roads. He says changing tables are being installed as they replace the old toilet buildings. Where there are changing tables, they are often not in order because there has been too much emphasis on them. Holter understands that parents of young children find it unclean to lay their children on the floor. – We are trying to get it in place in new buildings, he says. REST AREA: It is not always so easy to change a nappy when you are on a trip. Many picnic areas now have new toilets, and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration states that changing tables are coming. Archive image of closed rest area toilet along E6. Photo: Jan Arne Laberget, Yrkestrafikkforbundet Believes the floor is a totally unsuitable place Health nurse Helene C. Knivsberg in Stavanger supports Sylvia Furali. She believes that the floor in a toilet is a totally unsuitable place for both the child and the parents. – Children have a right to be in the public space like everyone else. Being able to change a diaper is a prerequisite for that. Having to use the floor for this is not okay, she says. CRITICAL: Helene Knivsberg believes that good care rooms are a prerequisite for children to be in public spaces. Photo: Privat Knivsberg thinks it is strange that there are no specific requirements for changing rooms in the public space. She believes that changing tables and rooms must have requirements for both safety, hygiene and accessibility. – Public buildings must work well for everyone. It also means that the buildings will work well for young children. It is also important that the changing room is accessible to both moms and dads. Combining changing rooms and disabled toilets is also not an obviously good idea, as it can quickly present space challenges, she says. Have you experienced having to care for your child on the floor? Non-statutory requirements for changing tables It is not just easy to find out who can actually answer whether there should be changing tables in Norwegian, public toilets. First, the Directorate for Children, Adolescents and Families (Bufdir) responds. They state that there is no statutory requirement for changing tables. The Directorate for Building Quality confirms this, and states that there are no specific requirements because changing tables fall under the category «loose furniture». Communications adviser Jonas Hågensen in Bufdir further states that there is no work around the changing table from the state. – Development of changing tables suitable for larger people is considered product development, it is therefore the suppliers who sell this type of equipment who must take the initiative for such a development, he states. The Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud states that they have not worked with changing tables in public toilets either. – We have not had cases about this on our table, writes communications consultant Ingvild Sund. The Ministry notes the problem When asked whether changing tables should not actually be a requirement, it is the Ministry of Local Government and District Affairs that gives news an answer to that. They write in an e-mail that there are requirements in the technical regulations that at least one tenth and at least one of the toilet rooms or bathrooms in buildings with requirements for universal design, must meet requirements for universal design. – This means, for example, that there is free floor space for turning space for wheelchairs, writes State Secretary Nancy Charlotte Porsanger Anti. With regard to changing tables, she states that no special requirements have been discussed in connection with the changing situation for children, but that they take note of the problem. Disappointed and upset Sylvia Furali is disappointed and upset about the care situation in public toilets. – I especially think it’s sad for my seven-year-old. She also needs to get to the bathroom in a proper way, says Sylvia Furali. LEIT: Sylvia Furali thinks it is degrading to take care of the children on the floor. Here with the youngest Achilles in a carriage, which also sometimes serves as a changing place. Photo: Stein S Eide / news She often ends up caring for the children in the car, instead of in dirty toilets that are full of paper and other spills on the floor. – I could wish that there were demands for proper changing tables, not just wall-mounted but with legs on the floor. Then they are also suitable for older children with a little weight. It is degrading as it is today.
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Mother of three reacts to the diaper change offer: – It is so degrading
