A wheelchair user from Aarhus has pitched a national plan for more publicly accessible disability toilets with ceiling lifts. All three politicians who heard the proposal on DR’s program gave it their backing.
Antoniett Vebel Pharao, 37, presented the idea on the DR program “Signe Moldes roadshow,” DR reports. In the format, citizens pitch ideas to three politicians, who can take them further to the Folketing.
She works as a welfare technology consultant at a company in Aarhus and has muscular dystrophy. She has been one of Denmark’s wheelchair users since the age of 16, according to DR. Her proposal is for more disability toilets with ceiling lifts in every municipality.
By her own mapping, only about ten public disability toilets in Denmark are large enough and fitted with a ceiling lift. There is no national overview of where they are located. She says more may exist that she does not know about.
Stig Langvad, senior consultant at Dansk Handicapforbund, confirmed to DR that no overall register exists. His own estimate is that there are around five to ten publicly accessible, round-the-clock toilets with lifts in the country.
Pharao told DR she has held her urine for up to 12 hours and has dehydrated herself to avoid needing a toilet. The dehydration contributed to kidney stones, and she has had three kidney stone operations. During her five years at university in Aarhus, she could not use a toilet during the school day.
Three politicians said yes
The pitch was heard by Danmarksdemokraterne leader Inger Støjberg, Venstre group chair Morten Dahlin and Alternativet’s political leader Franciska Rosenkilde. All three called the shortage a serious problem, per DR. Rosenkilde described it as a major failure, while Støjberg said it can keep people with disabilities out of the labor market.
Dahlin acknowledged that he had not realized how large the problem was before hearing the proposal. He has since submitted a written question to children’s, elderly and housing minister Jakob Mark (SF), asking whether there are plans to change rules or legislation on establishing disability toilets. The question is published by Folketinget.
A ministerial answer from 2024, also published by Folketinget, states that the building code does not require a ceiling lift, changing bench or shower in publicly accessible toilets. The listed requirements are minimum standards only. As housing minister, Mark is responsible for the building code.
Danmarksdemokraterne’s disability spokesperson, Karina Adsbøl, told DR she will raise the matter with Social Minister Monika Rubin (M). Støjberg remains positive toward the proposal, while Rosenkilde has not taken it further yet, according to DR.
Pharao is active in SF and ran in the 2025 municipal election in Aarhus without being elected. She argues that the toilet issue must be solved from Christiansborg, because she considers municipal social budgets financially starved. She has an arrangement with a nursing home in Spjald, in Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality, so she can use a toilet when she is in western Jutland.
