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Photo. Against a yellow background, there is a picture of a microphone, that at the same time, is placed against an aqua green and pink background. Credit: Canva
A primary focus of women in the disability rights movement is to understand the different forms of discrimination encountered at the intersection of two minority identities. Like in other regions around the world, women with disabilities in Latin America are talking more about our experiences and pushing back against the ableism and misogyny that doubly discriminates against us.
The situation is nonetheless complex. It’s not enough to add up the obstacles experienced by people with disabilities and women. It’s not enough to add up the demands of the disability rights and women’s movements. While this is all very valid, it goes beyond a single identity to their intersection; to the lived experiences of prejudice and discrimination that only women with disabilities encounter and deeply understand. They are many and ongoing, from situations as routine as doctor’s visits to more dire incidences of reporting gender-based violence.
How can doctors, police, educators and so on adequately and fully serve and care for women with disabilities if laws and policies are written without us in mind? And how can inclusive laws and policies be written if the people writing them don’t reach out to or represent us?
Institutions set up to serve us frequently fail to meet our needs on multiple fronts not least of all accessibility- be it lacking sign language interpretation, large print versions of documents, building access and so on- and therefore fail to protect and provide us with the services afforded to women without disabilities. It’s in these moments that our intersectionality and invisibility is most apparent and saliently felt.
Social institutions’ standard of service and care are based on an ableist model of personhood. Disability simply doesn’t factor into the equation let alone its intersectionality with other minority identities. Lack of disability representation among public officials- the politicians and policy-makers who make decisions on our behalf- is a part of the problem that plagues most societies, including in Latin America. How can doctors, police, educators and so on adequately and fully serve and care for women with disabilities if laws and policies are written without us in mind? And how can inclusive laws and policies be written if the people writing them don’t reach out to or represent us?
As women with disabilities, the responsibility falls on us time and again to do the work of systemic and structural change. While we need to be aware of and vocal about the intersectionality of disability and gender discrimination, it’s the State’s duty to build capacity in areas of need and serve the public even when it’s not quick, easy or convenient. Our inclusion isn’t other people’s discrimination. Nonetheless, a resistance to meeting our needs is overt and rooted in discourses of scarcity. Lacking the economic resources to make social-structural and institutional changes is a favorite argument of States around the world, and it’s one that often wins out. As a result, we’re sidelined and silenced [rendered invisible] by those who, again, are meant to care for and serve us.
Invisibility is challenged by speaking up; by representing ourselves [our intersectionality] and not being represented by people who don’t share or care about our experiences. When we speak up, we empower our community to do the same. An empowered community is one that fights for the full exercise and expansion of its rights. In Latin America, we see this happening as women and other marginalized groups with disabilities are becoming increasingly restless, reaching out to one another and organizing. Collectively empowered, we’re pushing back against State-led prejudice and discrimination through multiple means and with this comes the message that we won’t be silenced or sidelined anymore.
About the author:
Luciana Sosa was born in Uruguay. She is 26 and is a high school student. She is a passionate activist for human rights and is a member of Red META (movimiento estamos tod@s en acción) since June, 2017.
Picture of a girl in a school inform. Her hair is braided and she is looking intensely into the camera. In the background, there are five other children. Credit: Raj Rana via Unspalsh.
Last week I signed up for a new Disability Studies course in Delhi because I’m so passionate about learning new things, going to classes, thinking about everything critically and getting an education. But also, I would get to know so many disabled teachers and students from across India, something that I’ve craved since childhood. But alas, in academia and research, even Disability and Gender Studies, cis-het white/Savarna abled people’s feelings and views continue to hold the most value.
I always had a difficult time in schools, not just socially but also academically. It’s always been a struggle to score well; most of the time I end up failing or dropping out. As a disabled kid, this was more difficult because everyone expected that my mind would compensate for my disabled body. There’s a media trope where disabled bodies serve as inspiration porn, so that we can be more palatable for abled audiences. It applies to all kinds of socio-politically marginalized groups and is tied to respectability and iconicism.
Every time crips enter an educational institution, we are asking for a new way of teaching, learning and accessing knowledge. We are challenging the entire institutionalized system of education.
I’ve internalized these failures so much that I often felt it was the reason why no one wanted to be my friend. Every time I enter a new institution, I have so much hope of encountering new people, new experiences and new pedagogy. Maybe I don’t try hard enough or I become too critical, and therefore, it turns out to be the same old set up: competition, acquiring degrees, calculating success, and most of all…segregation. Where can I find the sad, lonely, angry, rejected queers and crips?
Every time crips enter an educational institution, we are asking for a new way of teaching, learning and accessing knowledge. We are challenging the entire institutionalized system of education. We’re fighting against a century old tradition of obtaining degrees. However, mainstream society has always been so afraid of change that they choose to segregate “normal” education from “special education” [for the crips] or they’ll separate our schools entirely. This extends to all other areas of our lives: building entrances, classrooms, bathrooms, transportation, the way people choose to have relationships with us; it’s all separated. So many abled people who call me a friend only hangout with me away from the rest of their abled friend groups.
A picture of Shivangi. She is sitting on the floor, leaning back on her left hand.
In the current political climate of India, age old Hindu traditions and systems that are casteist, transphobic, sexist and ableist are suddenly what the nation state is all about. If anyone questions them or seeks to change them, or simply exists outside of them, then they’re imprisoned or killed. I guess that’s where all the sad, lonely, angry, rejected queers and crips wind up- locked up in institutions, hidden away, closeted, shut down, disguised and concealed from sharing their authenticity.
Although, bear in mind, that’s not where we remain. No matter how much we are denied opportunities and violently separated from mainstream societies, we have retained and preserved the knowledge from all our queer elders fighting for their rights from institutional prisons. Our crip ancestors who’ve left us so much information about the inevitability of revolution, how we can have a wild imagination about Disability Justice that university theories can’t even begin to make sense of. We don’t need Disability Studies from the perspective of old white academics and ancient degrees. We’re fashioning small communities in our bedrooms and taking our sweet time to process and appreciate the slow nature in which we move to challenge a fast-paced capitalist society. We are surviving and thriving!
Shivangi (@DisabledSpice) is a disabled and queer activist and graffiti artist from Delhi. She works as a consultant, researcher, policy advisor, and facilitator with an emphasis on advocacy for disability, gender, sexuality and accessibility.
Por Estefanía Cubillos Nova. First published on Medium.
Al imaginarnos un mundo liderado por mujeres es probable que pensemos en Michelle Obama o Malala Yousafzai, por ser destacadas lideresas que han alcanzado grandes hitos y cuyo trabajo es motivo de inspiración para otras niñas o mujeres a nivel mundial. No obstante, yo siempre busqué una afinidad directa en esas figuras públicas, y nunca la encontré.
No creí que se tratara de una barrera idiomática, ideológica o geográfica. Mi inquietud crecía, y fue así que empecé a investigar, buscando encontrar las respuestas adecuadas a todas las dudas que tenía sobre los liderazgos de las mujeres, que no se asemejaban a mi realidad.
Transcurría el año 2013, cuando conocí a Marissa Martínez, procedente de Panamá, una mujer líder y con discapacidad visual, que constantemente comparte poderosos mensajes de lucha a otras compañeras en su misma condición. Conocerla y escucharla fue algo que me marcó para siempre.
Cuando la conocí me cautivaron sus enérgicas palabras, que me infundieron un sentido de seguridad en mi propia identidad. Al escucharla, comprendí que aquella afinidad que buscaba estaba en mi capacidad no solo de sentir orgullo de mi identidad, si no de infundirlo también a otras compañeras, sin olvidar lo que implican las situaciones particulares y diversas de cada una de nosotras.
Una foto de Estefanía Cubillos Nova Junto a Marissa Martínez.
Hoy, años más tarde, me permito reconocer que, sin la voz fuerte y bien encaminada de Marissa, jamás hubiese dado un paso adelante para luchar desde los movimientos asociativos y exigir los derechos que a todas las mujeres con discapacidad nos corresponden.
Es indispensable que las niñas con discapacidad,aprendan a aceptarse y estar orgullosas de su condición desde temprano. Este es un factor de vital importancia que aún no se discute en el hogar, la escuela, ni en la comunidad.
En este contexto, encontramos muchos obstáculos para generar una verdadera incidencia en pro de las mujeres con discapacidad. Desde los comentarios que se hacen en nuestros hogares hasta el contenido que se genera en los medios de comunicación, las personas con discapacidad crecemos, desde la infancia, rodeadas de estigmas asociados a la lástima, la imperfección y el rechazo.
En mi caso, recuerdo el tiempo en que no utilizaba el bastón blanco para desplazarme por temor a ser ignorada en el colegio, o cuando evitaba comer en lugares públicos para que las miradas de la gente no se concentraran en mí. Con gran asombro pude constatar años más tarde que otras amigas ciegas vivieron lo mismo. Entonces, tuve la certeza de que era el momento de actuar y modificar todo de raíz.
Una foto de Estefanía Cubillos Nova con los brazos abiertos. Con la mano derecha, sostiene un bastón blanco. Fotografía proporcionada por Gabriel Elliot.
Volviendo al relato de Marissa Martínez, rescato cuán fundamental es asumir y apropiarnos de la discapacidad como una condición que forma parte de nuestra existencia, desde una perspectiva orgullosa y optimista.
Tal como ella lo afirma, “no importa cuál sea nuestra condición. Nosotras tenemos el deber de sentirnos orgullosas por ser mujeres con discapacidad, es un derecho que nadie puede limitar. Nuestras virtudes y potencialidades no tienen por qué reducirse al liderar y disfrutar del mundo. También nos corresponde dejar de avergonzarnos o esconder que tenemos dificultad para ver u oír”.
La fórmula para avanzar y crear nuevos liderazgos está en nuestras manos. Tenemos que empezar a inculcar la importancia de sentirnos a gusto con nosotras mismas y con lo que representamos.
Ya no queremos que se nos proyecte bajo la nefasta perspectiva de caridad e infantilización eterna. Nunca estuvimos dispuestas a ello. Es hora de que alcemos nuestras voces y ocupemos lugares de liderazgo, porque cuando las mujeres con discapacidad lideramos, las comunidades prosperan.
Sobre la autora:
Estefanía Cubillos es periodista, disfruta viajar y es egresada del Instituto Sobre Liderazgo y Discapacidad 2019 (WILD) impartido por MIUSA.
Por Mujeres con Capacidad de Soñar a Colores*. Publicado por primera vez en Medium.
Ilustración de tres mujeres con trajes de superheroínas. La primera lleva un bastón blanco y un teléfono móvil, la segunda, una tablet, y la tercera, un reloj digital. Por Mapa Herrera (https://medium.com/mapa-herrera)
Guardianas de la Diversidad es una serie creada por Mujeres con Capacidad de Soñar a Colores, que se basa en las historias vividas por mujeres con discapacidad y amigas. Cada capítulo tiene un cómic y un podcast que se complementan y nos invitan a seguir las aventuras de diferentes superheroínas y a cuestionarnos la realidad.
Esta propuesta surgió durante la pandemia de COVID-19 por la necesidad de seguir formándonos sobre nuestros derechos, crear material para cumplir nuestra misión de visibilizar -ahora en el espacio virtual- las violencias que vivimos y tener una fuente de ingresos en tiempos muy precarios en lo económico para las mujeres con discapacidad.
El objetivo de Guardianas de la Diversidad es explorar nuestras realidades y darlas a conocer de una manera que llame la atención, para que más personas puedan estar al tanto de ellas y trabajar con nosotras para cambiar las injusticias a las que nos enfrentamos.
La serie también tiene un eje importante de formación, no solo sobre estos derechos sino sobre el trabajo en el mundo virtual. Por ejemplo, recibimos una serie de talleres sobre cómo hacer podcasts con el apoyo del Fondo de Respuesta Rápida de Derechos Digitales, lo que nos dio nuevas herramientas de trabajo a largo plazo.
Ilustración de tres mujeres. Arriba se lee: “¡Queremos que nuestros derechos se respeten sin necesitar superpoderes para lograrlo!”. Por Mapa Herrera (https://medium.com/mapa-herrera)
La serie se divide en capítulos:
En el primero,Arcoíris digital: Rompiendo barreras, acompañamos a las Guardianas de la Diversidad en sus aventuras por defender sus derechos en el mundo digital.
En el segundo capítulo, ¡Queremos muchas voces, no una sola!, las acompañamos en sus aventuras por defender sus derechos a la participación social y política.
Actualmente estamos desarrollando el tercer capítulo, sobre los derechos sexuales y reproductivos, que compartiremos en nuestras redes sociales en el 8 de marzo, Día Internacional de las Mujeres.
Este material nos ha enseñado mucho y esperamos que también sirva para formar a otras mujeres con discapacidad y que cuando termine la pandemia nosotras mismas podamos usar este material para dar talleres a otras mujeres.
Les invitamos a ver los comics y escuchar los podcasts, porque se basan en las historias de nuestra vida real y demuestran que tenemos derechos, y ¡que se cumplan es responsabilidad de todas y todos!
Mujeres con Capacidad de Soñar a Colores es una colectiva de mujeres con discapacidad y aliadas de Sololá, Guatemala, que trabaja a través del arte y el fortalecimiento individual y colectivo para promover los derechos de las mujeres con discapacidad en diferentes ámbitos. Por su parte, la equipa de Guardianas de la Diversidad está compuesta por cinco mujeres con discapacidad y tres aliadas, además de un equipo específico que hace la edición de los podcasts. En nuestro trabajo nos acompaña el proyecto METOCA de Teatro de las Oprimidas.
Por Luciana Sosa. Publicado por primera vez en Medium.
Las mujeres con discapacidad en América Latina tenemos una voz, y queremos que se la escuche.
Fotografía de una persona con cabello largo sosteniendo un megáfono blanco y rojo. Crédito: Clem Onojeguo vía Unsplash.
Uno de los principales objetivos del movimiento por los derechos de las mujeres con discapacidad es visibilizar la discriminación que atravesamos quienes vivimos en esta intersección en distintos espacios de la vida diaria. La situación es compleja: en Latinoamérica vivimos en una sociedad capacitista que nos discrimina por tener una discapacidad y que, además, es machista y nos discrimina por ser mujeres.
Lo complejo de esto es que no es suficiente sumar los obstáculos a los que nos enfrentamos como personas con discapacidad por un lado y como mujeres por el otro. No nos basta con sumar los reclamos de la agenda del movimiento por los derechos de las personas con discapacidad a los de las mujeres. Si bien todos esos reclamos son más que válidos para nosotras, hay algo que va más allá de la suma, y que está relacionado con la intersección, con determinadas situaciones que solamente vamos a vivir las mujeres con discapacidad.
Por ejemplo, si una mujer con discapacidad tiene que ir a una consulta médica o a radicar una denuncia por violencia de género, es allí donde encontramos obstáculos, es ahí donde la interseccionalidad es visible, porque, por lo general, los recursos existentes en las instituciones no cumplen con los requisitos de accesibilidad que necesitamos, ya sea intérpretes de lengua de señas, documentos de lectura fácil o infraestructura, y por ende no nos dan un servicio adecuado.
Si bien todos esos reclamos son más que válidos para nosotras, hay algo que va más allá de la suma, y que está relacionado con la intersección, con determinadas situaciones que solamente vamos a vivir las mujeres con discapacidad.
Las instituciones manejan todavía el modelo de una mujer “estándar”, sin ningún tipo de diversidad funcional, y no nos tienen en cuenta. Solo nosotras somos capaces de ver esos cruces con claridad, pero quienes se encargan de formular políticas para dar respuesta en nuestros países parecen no escucharnos.
Fotografía de tres personas paradas alrededor de una cuarta. Apoyan las manos sobre sus hombros. Crédito: Rosie Fraser vía Unsplash.
Estoy convencida, al escucharnos entre nosotras, de que es necesario tomar conciencia de nuestras experiencias y visibilizarlas. Al mismo tiempo, soy consciente de que esa es la tarea de los Estados: la de formar a todxs lxs funcionarixs de los distintos servicios públicos, aunque no sea fácil.
Solo nosotras somos capaces de ver esos cruces con claridad, pero quienes se encargan de formular políticas para dar respuesta en nuestros países parecen no escucharnos.
La resistencia básica a considerar a las mujeres con diversidad funcional a menudo usa el mismo discurso: el de la escasez de recursos. Cuando se nos niega -implícita o explícitamente- una atención adecuada en los servicios a los que recurrimos, se nos está discriminando. Se nos está mandando, otra vez, al cuartito del fondo.
Para hacer frente a la invisibilización, necesitamos ser “sujetas hablantes”: somos quienes debemos ser representantes y de a poco dejar de ser representadas. Solo quienes vivimos con la discapacidad podemos hablar “en nombre de”, ya que compartimos las mismas experiencias sociales asociadas a esa posición. Para lograr nuestro objetivo, necesitamos a nuestro colectivo más empoderado. Para seguir conquistando derechos, pero también para lograr un ejercicio pleno de los derechos que ya conquistamos.
Las mujeres y disidencias con discapacidad de Latinoamérica estamos inquietas. Al cuartito del fondo, nunca más.
Luciana Sosa nació en Fray Bentos, Uruguay. Tiene 26 años y es estudiante de bachillerato. Es una apasionada activista por los Derechos Humanos y forma parte de la Red META (movimiento estamos tod@s en acción) desde junio de 2017.
Demonstrators hold up green handkerchiefs, which symbolize the abortion rights movement, during a demonstration in favor of legalizing abortion. Pañuelazo por el derecho al aborto legal, seguro y gratuito - Agustina Girardo, 8 April 2018, CC BY-SA 4.0
In one of those marches, there were literally hundreds of thousands of us in the street. I was overjoyed to be a part of it all, I felt alive, part of something bigger than myself and truly hopeful that a change was underway. Until…
A picture of a friend and myself at the Women’s March, #8M, held in Córdoba, Argentina, 2020. Credit: Victoria Guevara @vicguevarafotos
Yes, unfortunately, there is an “until…”
Until I asked the person standing in front of me if they could make a bit more space for me. I didn’t have enough room to put my crutches down. I could feel my balance starting to fail me, and needed to rest the weight of my body for a second. I was tired, so I asked them.
And what happened next I am still trying to process.
They looked at me, or rather at my legs, and said “well, what are YOU doing here? Why did you come if you knew it was going to be like this?” I was shocked at the time and the only thing I could say was “I have as much right to be here as you”, then left. That was a tough moment, and for a second, I thought “Oh well, it’s just another day. Just let it slide and go home.”
“I have as much right to be here as you.”
I felt humiliated, but, mostly, I felt angry. I could not believe that someone in the same movement that advocates for equal rights was, right then and there, implying that as a woman with a disability my place was not at the march. The thing is I am a woman, too, so I should be everywhere where our rights — particularly our sexual and reproductive rights- are being discussed and decided.
But then, when I actually was home, and I had talked about it with other friends in the disability community, I realized that as an advocate -both for myself and for other women with disability- letting it slide was the worst thing I could do.
“The thing is I am a woman, too, so I should be everywhere where our rights — particularly our sexual and reproductive rights- are being discussed and decided.”
That experience became a reminder of all the work that lied ahead of us, and it is a blatant example of how ableism permeates every space, even those that are supposed to be safe spaces. When you think about it, though, you may say “I would never say something like that”. There are, however, more subtle ways in which women with disabilities are being excluded from feminism, and those ways –being harder to notice- are even more dangerous. Think for example of the number of feminist events being held on upper floors and having no elevators, accessible bathrooms, close captions, sign language interpretation and so on, and think of how often we take that inaccessibility as the norm.
“We need accessibility, yes, but we also need an attitudinal shift that does not question our place in the movement.”
In the end, I didn’t let that comment slide. I took it and the anger it sparked in me and I turned them into the fuel that lights my activism today. I kept going to the marches. I still do, even when they are not accessible, to show that we exist, that we care, and that those are our rights, too.
I still fight for sexual and reproductive rights in general and for abortion rights in particular because the bill that would make abortion legal, safe and free in Argentina has yet to be passed, and because countries like Poland, instead of amplifying sexual and reproductive rights, are further restricting them.
If feminism is to achieve equality for all, it cannot afford to leave women with disabilities, –one fifth of women worldwide– behind. We need accessibility, yes, but we also need an attitudinal shift that does not question our place in the movement.
There is a lot of work to do, and we are here to do it.
Together, as it should be, because we are women, too.
Virginia is a women’s rights and disability rights advocate. Originally from Argentina, she has moved around quite a bit for the last decade and now lives in the UK. She enjoys reading, writing and having her coffee with three sugars. Some might say she likes her sugar with a bit of coffee.
She is a member of the Latin American youth movement META- Movimiento Estamos Tod@s en Acción and is also the Communications and Programs Advisor at Women Enabled International.
By Shubha Nagesh, Mildred Omino, Seble Frehywot, Yianna Vovides, and Chulwoo Park. First published on Medium.
Photo of a magenta sign on green grass, with the disability symbol, the text “Step free route” and an arrow pointing to the right. Credit: Yomex Owo Via Unsplash.
Persons with Disabilities (PWD) constitute the largest minority population in the world- 80% of these people live in developing countries and more than half are women. Kenya and India are categorized as Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs), precisely the United Nations place the two countries under developing countries category where majority of Persons with Disabilities live. Disabled women are in very bleak situations globally and they almost represent 15% of the global population. It is known that women and girls with disabilities face a higher proportion of gender-based violence, sexual abuse, and neglect (Valentine et al., 2019). Physical environment, infrastructure, facilities, and services, depending on how they are planned and built, can impede or enable access, participation, and inclusion of women with disabilities in society. Moreover, their overall literacy rates are lower and unemployment rates are higher as compared to male counterparts (UNESCO, 2018). In all this, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities clearly elaborates and specifies the rights of women and girls with disabilities (Steinert et al., 2016).
Research indicates that women and girls with disabilities are subjected to multiple layers of discrimination based on their gender and disability and often face “double discrimination”(Kabia et al., 2018).While there are several issues affecting women and girls with disabilities, lack of access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights disproportionately affects women and girls with disabilities, in particular the following rights: access to health care, decision making on family planning and legal capacity, marriage and family, ownership of property, violence against women with disabilities, the institutionalization of girls with disabilities, and access to justice. The persistent failure to recognize the intersectionality between gender and disability has led to inaccessible sexual reproductive health rights, which escalates to other rights mentioned above. Globally, the invisibility, lack of acceptance, stigma and discrimination experienced by girls and women with disabilities can be addressed if people around them adopt radical attitudinal shifts towards inclusion and accommodation. More than anything, the stigma and discrimination faced by girls with disabilities from people they know–families, neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces- can be eradicated if they adopt inclusive practices that bring out the potential in young girls with disabilities.
The persistent failure to recognize the intersectionality between gender and disability has led to inaccessible sexual reproductive health rights.
As per the Census 2011, 44.1% of the disabled population in India are women, and many of the girls with disabilities are more likely to stay home. They neither attend schools nor participate in intervention centers, or other platforms where they could interact with their peers. Two sources of stress for most parents remain menstruation and marriage, both of which are associated with significant stigma and become causes for social isolation and discrimination (Dawn, 2014). In India, the exclusion of girls and young women with disabilities is persistent and worsens where societal and cultural norms that add to the stigma and discrimination become more pronounced and visible.
Societal norms, such as beliefs that girls and women with disabilities are asexual, unable to raise families or offer parental care to their children, are infantilized or have pervasive sexuality have negative implications on equitable access to sexual reproductive health rights. Often their unique needs are largely ignored owing to such societal norms. The reality does not quite reflect the Rights of Person with Disability Act 2016, particularly the sexual and reproductive rights of women in section 25.
More than anything, the stigma and discrimination faced by girls with disabilities from people they know–families, neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces- can be eradicated if they adopt inclusive practices that bring out the potential in young girls with disabilities.
The lack of knowledge, low awareness, poor access, and deficient utilization of services by women with disabilities are made worse particularly in remote and rural areas. The overall situation in rural areas is manifested by underdeveloped infrastructure and lack of social amenities which compound the already adverse situation of girls and women with disabilities. Most of girls and women with disabilities in rural areas do not get opportunity to access basic rights such as education, health and even information necessary for critical decisions about their sexual reproductive health.
According to the 2019 Kenya’s Population and Housing Census preliminary reports, there are 523,883 women with disabilities in Kenya. However, this data does not seem to reflect the realities on the ground due to fewer registrations, invisible disabilities, stigma, low awareness, and inadequate training of census administrators on disability. Reports by the WHO and the World Bank confirmed the gap in disaggregated data in disability (Owino, 2020).
The Reproductive Health Bill of 2019, which is yet to be passed by parliament, has a strong definition of informed consent to ensure that women themselves can make the decisions around reproductive health procedures. However, under the section on abortion, the bill still requires guardians or parents to make the decision for a “mentally unstable person” — which often includes women with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities — to undergo what amounts to a forced abortion. Furthermore, the bill does not address the issue of sterilization without the informed consent of women with disabilities and an all-too-common occurrence in Kenya as well as a serious human rights violation, including a violation of the right to find a family and to be free from torture or ill-treatment.
There is an urgent need for a holistic radical shift in society to remove structural and systemic barriers that hinder meaningful inclusion of girls with disabilities. Investment in their future is worth every penny, and can transit them from their homes to schools, colleges, and employment opportunities. Girls with disabilities are potential change makers, sources of income and support to the family, and capable of leading economically and socially productive lives. Slowly but steadily, key people in the community like health personnel, educationists, and the youth should work to ensure girls and women with disabilities realize their potential by creating safe spaces for them.
There is an urgent need for a holistic radical shift in society to remove structural and systemic barriers that hinder meaningful inclusion of girls with disabilities. Investment in their future is worth every penny, and can transit them from their homes to schools, colleges, and employment opportunities.
Finally, investments should be made with deliberation to promote accessibility in society, schools, offices, and public conveniences. Girls with disabilities should be able to navigate society and their community with ease, dignity, and respect–so they can get past inhibitions and reluctance to create their identity and demonstrate positive impact, all to ensure they fully enjoy their rights and make the way easier for those after them. The world can uphold disability equity if community leaders and policymakers are all involved in different ways by ensuring that they take responsibility in upholding the rights of girls and women with disabilities in all spheres of life including but not limited to education, health and economic empowerment.
Dr. Shubha Nagesh works for The Latika Roy Foundation, Dehradun, India, with children and young adults with developmental disabilities.
Ms. Mildred Omino is an Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity with a fellowship focus on Reproductive Health Equity for Girls and Women with Disabilities. She is a Kenyan Gender and Disability Rights Activist.
Dr (Prof.) Seble Frehywot is the cofounder of IT for Health and Education Systems Equity initiative, Associate Professor of Global Health and Director of Health Equity Online Learning at the George Washington University.
Dr (Prof.) Yianna Vovides is the cofounder of IT for Health and Education Systems Equity initiative, serves as Director of Learning Design and Research at the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS), Professor for the Master of Arts in Learning, Design, and Technology (LDT) program at Georgetown University, and Curriculum Director for LDT, Georgetown University.
Dr (Prof.) Chulwoo Park is faculty of IT for Health and Education Systems Equity initiative, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health and Recreation at San José State University.
