Senja municipality has listened to Løvemammaene Nord!

Following tips from several of our members in several regions, the Løvemammaene have recently been working with companion tickets to the cinema. Most cinemas do not offer this on the internet or in the app, like the ordinary tickets. Løvemammaene's regional association North has sent inquiries to several cinemas in the region, and Senja municipality is the first to listen to and comply with our request. Hurray!

Many cinemas practice solutions such as having to call or get in touch by e-mail to buy an accompanying ticket, to later redeem these over the counter. This does not fall under the ordinary solution that able-bodied people without the need for a companion can make use of. In Løvemammaene, we believe this is discrimination, and it falls under the Act on Equality and the Prohibition of Discrimination. Among other things, the law states that people with functional variation must have the right to the ordinary solution, as long as it is practically possible to achieve it. The lion mothers believe this is a simple matter to arrange, so that people with functional variation also have the ordinary solution available.

Therefore, it is incredibly good that Senja municipality has taken the lead as a good example that it is both possible and unproblematic. A really happy news from Northern Norway this Friday! Below you can read both the letter and the reply.

This is how it now looks when you want to book a cinema with a membership card:

Below you can read the letter that our regional team in the North has sent out.

Hello.

I am vice-chairman of Løvemammaene Nord's regional team. We receive many inquiries from our members regarding their practice of purchasing a ticket for a companion. I have tried to read a bit on their website, but it was quite lacking regarding companion ticket and people with functional variation. However, I have heard that you do not practice selling companion tickets online/app (and checked it in your ticket system). I hope that together we can find a quick solution. 

If you want to order a ticket for a companion, you must therefore contact you directly at the counter. Already here, we discriminate against people with functional variation away from the ordinary solution. This is regulated by law, and must not happen. It is already described in Section 1 of the purpose of the Act, i Act on Equality and Prohibition of Discrimination - but it also falls under several other sections of the law. 

People with functional variation must have access to the ordinary solution as far as possible, and not another solution because one has a functional variation. In this case of buying a ticket for a companion, it is quite obvious that people with a variety of functions have a different solution than the ordinary one at their cinema. We at Løvemammaene believe that this is a simple matter to fix - and we have been in contact with several cinemas that have companion tickets available for purchase online and/or in the app. 

With you, physical or telephone contact must therefore be made. Nevertheless, you must later present a valid companion certificate over the counter. So, you have to first order - and then document. I expect that everyone who buys a regular ticket online or in the app must show a valid ticket at ticket control before they can enter the cinema hall? Therefore order an ordinary ticket and then document. We believe this is the solution for companion tickets as well. Companions must in any case present a valid companion certificate over the counter at you, in the same way that everyone with an ordinary ticket must present a ticket to gain access to the cinema hall. 

Suggested solution: Make an accompanying ticket available on the website so that you can order a ticket there. Check the accompanying certificate in the same way as a valid ordinary ticket is checked in ticket control to get into the cinema hall.  

Hoping for a quick reply!

With best regards
Karoline S. Hansen, deputy chair Løvemammaene Nord

And here you can read the answer:

Hi Caroline!

We have had a review of your enquiry, and looked at how we can accommodate the wishes that you make in your email to us.

We agree that people with a variety of functions do not have the same accessibility to buying tickets online as the general public. Although we have had a solution where companions have been able to call and reserve tickets, we see that this is not good enough.

We have therefore made the following changes here at our place;

• It is now possible to "buy" companion tickets online with us (limited to a maximum of 2 per purchase)
• We have opened the wheelchair seats for sale online. A pop-up will appear with the text "you are about to buy a wheelchair seat" if you choose these tickets.

I would like to thank you for contacting us, and for describing in a very good way the challenges that people with functional diversity face with us. It made us look at the matter with new eyes, and it made us try out new ways of practicing selling tickets - so that this takes into account as many people as possible ????

Have a nice day!

Etc

Kay Erling Ludvigsen | Cinema manager
Culture and sports