The Dignity Project Interview with Louise Sauvage OAM

To celebrate #IWD2021, we invited Louise Sauvage OAM to be our guest for this week’s The Hopkins Centre Dignity Project blog.  

Louise is a Paralympian and NSWIS elite coach who is recognised, not just for her successful career as a wheelchair racer, but also for her pioneering efforts in raising the profile and perception of Paralympic sport and athletes.

Dignity to Louise is 'being treated like everybody else… as a person, not necessarily how I appear, but respected for who I am'. Louise is a huge fan of accessibility and dignity, particularly in terms of access, inclusion and universal design. When entering a building, ‘often I get told, there is access – and they bring you around the back. That's not access to me – access is independent access – it's the same access for everyone. I don't want to go in a back door and through the kitchen, just to get the same spot. I want to come into the same building with my family and friends, and then have the same experiences, and be treated like everyone else, and that basically goes back to your dignity, and being treated as a person. I'm a person first!’ 

View Louise's inspiring and thought-provoking interview on YouTube and transcript below:

Click here to download interview transcript.

Join the discussion at The Dignity Project community hub: https://bit.ly/3qxB2ZR