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Q&A with Virginia Ossana, Senior Program Officer, Movement and Capacity Strengthening at WEI, who served as liaison with AWID Forum, and member of the AWID Accessibility Committee.

Q: Tell us about your role at WEI?
Well, I do a lot of different things. For instance, I recently completed a research project on activists working to advance disability and gender justice in the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe and how funders can support them. I advance WEI’s movement strengthening work with the disability and gender movements, including supporting the Latin American Collective of Women with Disabilities for Human rights. And I advise organizers of feminist conferences and gatherings on how to make them accessible for people with disabilities.  

Q: What is AWID? How did WEI partner with them?  AWID is the Association for Women’s Rights in Development, a global, feminist, membership organization working to achieve gender justice and women’s human rights. AWID organizes a conference––the AWID Forum––once every few years to bring together feminist leaders and activists from around the world. In the lead up to the December 2024 AWID Forum in Bangkok, WEI was invited to be a part of the Accessibility Committee to advise on how to make the event accessible. It wasn’t just accessibility for people with disabilities like myself and members of the WEI community, but also a broader scope, including the LGBTQI community, sex workers, people living with HIV, and people who use drugs. The Committee met regularly for almost two years, including an in-person meeting in February 2024 in Bangkok, where we discussed and strategized around all things accessibility and conducted an accessibility audit of the conference venue and related spaces, including hotels. 

Q: What were some of the accessibility wins at AWID?
A huge win was that people who needed a support person could bring them at no extra cost. People who were part of the Access Fund, which is basically a scholarship, had their plane tickets paid for and all of their participation was covered by the fund. That ensured that a lot of people with disabilities could attend.  

Content-wise, it was really gratifying to see accessibility and women with disabilities center stage at the Forum, not just at WEI events or those hosted by our partners. The Accessibility Committee––and AWID’s commitment to accessibility––was held up as a tenet of the Forum, and women with disabilities were among the opening and closing plenaries. WEI’s Executive Director Maryangel García-Ramos and Board Member Niluka Gunawardena absolutely rocked the closing plenary. It was incredible to listen to them and cheer for them in front of a crowd of thousands. It was like a cherry on top of dessert––a crowning moment to almost two years of work. 

Q: Can you describe what it felt like to be at AWID?
It’s global, it’s multicultural, it’s multilingual. You’re meeting all of these people, working across every issue––racial justice, climate change, trans rights––and you’re trying to listen and learn and attend as many different events as you can. The vibe is more grassroots, more informal and intimate than other conferences––despite the thousands in attendance. 

There was also a lot of joy and celebration throughout. One surprise––that speaks to both accessibility and joy––was that when we went to get our meals, there was an accessible buffet so people with disabilities could serve themselves, and for me, there was a person who assisted me so I could choose whatever I wanted to eat. Usually what happens in those spaces is someone will get a plate for you––and you just try to make it easy for them and eat whatever they bring. We’re disabled folks, we’re used to it being that way. It may sound like a small thing, but it changes how you show up in a space when you’re able to make your own decisions. I literally saw people, including one of WEI’s partners, taking pictures and videos because they were so surprised and happy to see this happen.  

Q: What are some takeaways for future feminist forums?
We need to go a step further in budgeting for accessibility when it comes to sign language interpreters. In a sprawling event like this where there are 20 sessions every hour, it’s not possible to have interpreters everywhere. My advice is to ask conference attendees in advance who needs an interpreter and then budget for them to bring as their support person, including paying for their fees. In the end, it would be more cost-efficient––and avoid the scramble of having to try to find interpreters on the spot.  

Overall, we’ve come a long way. Feminist movements are learning to be more inclusive and take advantage of resources and the expertise of traditionally marginalized communities. They are signing on and implementing the Feminist Accessibility Protocol and putting appropriate measures in place. We need to keep pushing for the mainstreaming of disability in these spaces and in conversations that are not disability-specific––because as Maryangel said at AWID’s closing plenary “every issue is a gender, race, and disability issue.” 

We are starting to see small sprouts from the seeds we’ve planted, but there’s a lot more watering to do.  

Virginia Ossana, a disabled Argentinian woman, is Senior Program Officer, Movement and Capacity Strengthening at WEI.  

“Tenemos que seguir trabajando para que se incorpore el tema de discapacidad en estos espacios…”

Entrevista con Virginia Ossana, Oficial Senior de Programas, Movimientos y Fortalecimiento de Capacidades en WEI, quien sirvió como enlace con el Foro de AWID y miembro del Comité de Accesibilidad de AWID. 

P: ¿Háblanos de tu trabajo en WEI (por sus siglas en inglés)?
Bueno, hago muchas cosas distintas. Por ejemplo, hace poco termine un proyecto de investigación sobre activistas que trabajan para promover la justicia sobre la discapacidad y el género en Medio Oriente, Asia Central y Europa del Este, y sobre cómo pueden apoyarlos los financiadores. Promuevo el trabajo de fortalecimiento de movimientos de WEI, específicamente con los movimientos de discapacidad y de género, incluido el apoyo al Colectivo Latinoamericano de Mujeres con Discapacidad por los Derechos Humanos. Y doy consultoría a los organizadores de conferencias y encuentros feministas sobre cómo hacerlos accesibles para las personas con discapacidad.

P: ¿Qué es AWID (por sus siglas en inglés)? ¿Cómo se asoció WEI con ellos? 
AWID es la Asociación para los Derechos de las Mujeres y el Desarrollo, una organización internacional y feminista, que trabaja para lograr la justicia de género y los derechos humanos de las mujeres. AWID organiza un Foro, cada tres o cuatro años, para reunir a líderes y activistas feministas de todo el mundo. Previo al Foro de AWID, que tuvo lugar en diciembre de 2024 en Bangkok, WEI fue invitada a formar parte del Comité de Accesibilidad para asesorar sobre cómo hacer que el evento fuera accesible. No se trataba solamente de la accesibilidad para las personas con discapacidad, como yo y los miembros de la comunidad de WEI, sino también de un alcance más amplio, que incluía a la comunidad LGBTQI, a les trabajadores sexuales, a las personas que viven con VIH y a las personas que consumen drogas. El Comité se reunió periódicamente durante casi dos años, incluida una reunión presencial en febrero de 2024 en Bangkok, en la que debatimos y elaboramos estrategias en torno a todo lo relacionado con la accesibilidad y llevamos a cabo una auditoría de accesibilidad del lugar de la conferencia y de los demás espacios involucrados, incluidos los hoteles.

P: ¿Cuáles fueron algunas de las victorias en cuestiones de accesibilidad en AWID?
Una gran victoria fue que las personas que necesitaban una persona de apoyo podían llevarla sin costo adicional. A las personas que formaron parte del Access Fund (Fondo de Apoyo), que es básicamente una beca, se les pagaron los boletos de avión y toda su participación fue cubierta por el fondo. Eso garantizó que muchas personas con discapacidad pudieran asistir.

En cuanto al contenido, fue realmente gratificante ver la accesibilidad y a las mujeres con discapacidad en el centro del Foro, no solo en los eventos de WEI o en los organizados por nuestros socios. El Comité de Accesibilidad, y el compromiso de AWID con la accesibilidad, se tuvo como un principio del Foro, y las mujeres con discapacidad estuvieron entre las sesiones plenarias de apertura y de cierre. Maryangel García-Ramos, Directora Ejecutiva de WEI y Niluka Gunawardena, Miembro de la Junta Directiva, sacudieron absolutamente la sesión plenaria de cierre. Fue increíble escucharlas y animarlas frente a una multitud de miles de personas. Fue como la cereza del pastel, el broche de oro que culminó casi dos años de trabajo.

P: ¿Puedes describir cómo te sentiste al estar en AWID?
Es global, es multicultural, es multilingüe. Te reúnes con todas estas personas, trabajas en todos los temas (justicia racial, cambio climático, derechos de las personas trans) y tratas de escuchar, aprender y asistir a tantos eventos diferentes como puedes.  El ambiente es más comunitario, más informal e íntimo que en otras conferencias, a pesar de les miles de asistentes.

También hubo mucha alegría y celebración en todo momento. Una sorpresa, que habla tanto de la accesibilidad como de la alegría, fue que cuando fuimos por nuestra comida, había un buffet accesible para que las personas con discapacidad pudieran servirse, y para mí, había una persona que me ayudó para que pudiera escoger lo que quería comer. Por lo general, lo que sucede en esas situaciones, es que alguien te lleva un plato, y tú te conformas y comes lo que sea que te traigan. Somos personas con discapacidad, estamos acostumbrados a que sea así.  Puede parecer algo pequeño, pero el poder tomar tus propias decisiones, cambia la forma en la que existes en un espacio. Literalmente vi a la gente, incluida una de las socias de WEI, tomando fotos y videos porque estaban muy sorprendides y felices de ver que esto sucediera.

P: ¿Cuáles son algunas de las conclusiones para futuros foros feministas?
Tenemos que dar un paso adelante e invertir en la accesibilidad en lo que respecta a los intérpretes de lengua de señas. En un evento tan extenso como éste, donde hay 20 sesiones por hora, no es posible tener intérpretes en todas partes. Mi consejo es preguntar con anticipación a los asistentes a la conferencia sobre quién necesita un intérprete y luego presupuestar para que lo traigan como su persona de apoyo, incluyendo el pago de sus honorarios. Al final, sería más rentable y evitaría la lucha de tener que tratar de encontrar intérpretes en el momento.

En general, hemos recorrido un largo camino. Los movimientos feministas están aprendiendo a ser más inclusivos y a aprovechar los recursos y la experiencia de las comunidades tradicionalmente marginadas. Están firmando e implementando el Protocolo Feminista de Accesibilidad y poniendo en marcha las medidas adecuadas. Tenemos que seguir presionando para que se incorporen los temas sobre discapacidad en estos espacios y en las conversaciones que no son específicamente sobre la discapacidad, porque como dijo Maryangel en la sesión plenaria de clausura de AWID, “todo es un tema de género, raza y discapacidad”.

Estamos empezando a ver pequeños brotes de las semillas que hemos plantado, pero hay mucho más riego por hacer.

Virginia Ossana, mujer argentina con discapacidad, Oficial Senior de Programas, Movimiento y Fortalecimiento de Capacidades en WEI.

Women Enabled International is excited to announce an extraordinary one-time donation from MacKenzie Scott, a philanthropist dedicated to advancing gender equality globally. This grant is a testament to our organization’s longstanding and steadfast dedication to advancing human rights and justice at the intersection of gender and disability, from a global perspective.

This donation recognizes the power and importance of disability inclusion to advance gender equality. While gender equality funding accounts for less than 2% of all charitable giving in the United States, disability rights funding is even scarcer, at just one penny for every 10 dollars of U.S. foundation giving.

MacKenzie Scott’s generous support underscores the urgent need for increased funding in this critical area to address the inequality experienced by women with disabilities around the world, who represent one in five women globally.

“Funding at this intersection is not niche given that women with disabilities are leading some of the most impactful work on gender equality,” WEI Board President Catherine Hyde Townsend says. “This donation from MacKenzie Scott sets an important precedent, acknowledging that intersectional funding strategies are vital to advancing gender equality worldwide”.

This investment also comes at a pivotal moment for WEI, as we are poised to launch our new strategic plan. “This funding honors the fight for gender and disability rights and justice and enables us to deepen our impact, broaden our reach, and strengthen our global and local partnerships with the worldwide gender and disability movement,” says WEI Executive Director Maryangel Garcia Ramos. “It also validates our new bold strategic vision where we firmly believe the future of gender equality is inclusive and the future of disability rights is feminist.”

Women Enabled International recibe una donación sin precedentes de $5 millones de dólares de MacKenzie Scott

Women Enabled International se complace en anunciar una extraordinaria donación única de MacKenzie Scott, una filántropa dedicada a promover la igualdad de género a nivel mundial. Esta inversión es un testimonio de la dedicación firme y duradera de nuestra organización para promover los derechos humanos y la justicia en la intersección del género y la discapacidad, desde una perspectiva global.

Esta donación reconoce el poder y la importancia de la inclusión de la discapacidad para avanzar en la igualdad de género. Mientras que la financiación para la igualdad de género representa menos del 2% de todas las donaciones en los Estados Unidos, la financiación en tema de derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad es aún más escasa, con solo un centavo por cada 10 dólares de las fundaciones estadounidenses.

El generoso apoyo de MacKenzie Scott subraya la urgente necesidad de aumentar los fondos en esta área crítica para abordar la desigualdad que viven las mujeres con discapacidad en el mundo, las cuales representan una de cada cinco mujeres a nivel global.

“La financiación en esta intersección no es de nicho dado que las mujeres con discapacidad están encabezando algunos de los esfuerzos más impactantes alrededor del trabajo por la igualdad de género”, dice la Presidenta de la junta Directiva de WEI, Catherine Hyde Townsend. “Esta donación de MacKenzie Scott sienta un precedente importante, reconociendo que las estrategias de financiación interseccional son vitales para promover la igualdad de género en todo el mundo”.

Esta inversión también llega en un momento crucial para WEI, ya que estamos preparadas para lanzar nuestro nuevo plan estratégico. “Este financiamiento honra la lucha por los derechos y la justicia de género y discapacidad y nos permite profundizar nuestro impacto, ampliar nuestro alcance y fortalecer nuestras alianzas globales y locales con el movimiento alrededor del mundo en género y discapacidad”, dice la Directora Ejecutiva de WEI, Maryangel García-Ramos. “También valida nuestra nueva audaz visión estratégica donde creemos firmemente el futuro de la igualdad de género es inclusivo y el futuro de los derechos de las personas con discapacidad es feminista“.

Women Enabled International (WEI), the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), Legal Voice, and Covington & Burling LLP filed an amicus brief on behalf of thirteen disability rights organizations and scholars in the United States Supreme Court, advocating for the Court to uphold the federal protections of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) and allow doctors to provide necessary abortions in the case of medical emergencies, which Idaho’s abortion ban currently criminalizes. The brief highlights that people with disabilities will suffer disproportionate harm if Idaho is permitted to criminalize health-preserving and life-saving abortion care.

About the case

Idaho legislators passed an abortion ban in 2020, prior to the end of the federal right to an abortion under Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health. After Dobbs, Idaho’s law took effect and the most current version of the law (amended in 2023) criminalizes nearly all forms of abortion, except those that are “necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman,” termination of an ectopic pregnancy, or abortions that resulted from rape or incest in extremely limited circumstances.

This Idaho law directly conflicts with the well-established federal law, EMTALA, which requires hospitals to treat patients experiencing an emergency medical condition with stabilizing care. EMTALA applies not only when a patient has a life-threatening condition but also when a patient has a condition that places their health “in serious jeopardy” that threatens “serious impairment to bodily functions” or “serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.” Pregnant disabled people can experience a range of conditions that threaten their lives or health; in such circumstances, EMTALA may require hospitals to provide abortion care as necessary stabilizing treatment.

The conflict between Idaho’s abortion ban and EMTALA’s requirement for stabilizing medical care put healthcare providers in an impossible position. If they provide health stabilizing care, they could face criminal prosecution under Idaho’s ban, but if they withhold care, they leave patients in crisis and violate EMTALA. Because of this conflict, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit in a federal district court challenging the Idaho abortion ban to the extent that it conflicts with federal law.

On January 5, 2024, the United States Supreme Court announced that it would hear the case. The Supreme Court will determine whether the federal law of EMTALA preempts the Idaho abortion ban, in which case the federal law would take precedence over the narrow exceptions of Idaho’s abortion ban. If the Supreme Court does not hold that EMTALA protects health-preserving abortion care in medical emergencies, emergency medical care will be denied to those who most need it and are least likely to be able to access it.

About the amicus curiae brief

An amicus curiae (“friend of the court,” in Latin) is a person or organization with a strong interest in the issues brought up in a case to which they are not a party. The amicus curiae may submit a written brief stating its interpretation of the law or arguments relating to the facts under consideration by the Court.

WEI, DREDF, Legal Voice, and Covington & Burling LLP have filed an amicus brief with thirteen other disability rights organizations and scholars including:

• The American Association of People with Disabilities
• The Autistic Self Advocacy Network
• Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
• Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center
• Disability Rights Advocates
• Disability Rights California
• Disability Rights Washington
• Katherine Pérez, Director of the Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy, and Innovation, and Visiting Professor of Law at Loyola Law School*
• The National Council on Independent Living
• National Health Law Program
• Professor Robyn M. Powell, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Oklahoma College of Law*
• Ruth Colker, Distinguished University Professor and Heck Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law at Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University
• Tony Coelho, former U.S. Congressman, Founder of the Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy, and Innovation

* Participating in their individual capacity, not as representatives of their institutions.  Institutions are listed for affiliation purposes only.

The amicus brief highlights the barriers to accessing medical care and the increased likelihood of medical complications for people with disabilities, both of which make it more likely that disabled people will need the emergency abortion care that EMTALA protects, but that is criminalized under Idaho’s abortion ban. It argues that upholding the Idaho ban’s narrow exceptions for only life-saving care will prevent Congress’s core purpose in enacting EMTALA: to ensure that hospitals provide emergency medical care to those who most need it and are least likely to be able to access it.

WEI, DREDF, and Allen & Overy’s amicus brief argues the following key points:

• Congress enacted EMTALA to ensure that at-risk people—including people with disabilities—receive stabilizing medical treatment in emergency situations.  It is clear from the legislative history of EMTALA and other health care legislation that Congress intends for disabled people to have full access to all health care services without discrimination.
• Disabled people are particularly likely to need the stabilizing abortion care guaranteed under EMTALA. People with disabilities are more likely to have serious pregnancy-related health complications and less likely to have access to regular prenatal and primary care. This makes it more likely that disabled people will need health-preserving, stabilizing care in hospital emergency rooms.
• Without EMTALA’s protections, state abortion bans will undermine the medical system in important ways, causing additional harm to people with disabilities. Idaho’s ban has driven qualified health care providers from the state with the fear of prosecution, leading to a significant gap in obstetric care. Disabled people without financial resources face logistical barriers—including transportation barriers—to access essential medical care.

The amicus brief can be viewed here.

New amicus curiae brief before the United States Supreme Court

Women Enabled International (WEI), the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), and Allen & Overy LLP filed an amicus brief on behalf of twelve disability rights organizations and scholars in the United States Supreme Court, advocating for a return to the use of updated regulations for mifepristone, a drug used to carry out medication abortion, that improved access to safe abortion. The brief highlights the disproportionate impact that medically unnecessary restrictions on medication abortion have on people with disabilities.

About the case

Medication abortion is the most commonly used method of abortion in the United States, accounting for more than half of all abortions.  Mifepristone is part of a two-drug regimen for medication abortion and was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2000.  Since its approval, the drug has established a well-documented safety record, as demonstrated by hundreds of high-quality studies and its real-world use by more than five million people.

This lawsuit—filed by anti-abortion advocates against the FDA and the manufacturer of mifepristone, Danco Laboratories, in November 2022—challenges the FDA’s initial approval of mifepristone as well as its more recent actions to increase access to the drug. The Fifth Circuit, a U.S. Court of Appeals, did not block the FDA’s 2000 initial authorization of mifepristone in its ruling, it reinstated burdensome restrictions on the drug from before 2016. These restrictions included: ending the ability of certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe mifepristone; reinstating in-person dispensing requirements for prescriptions; and stopping a new pharmacy certification process, which enabled retail pharmacies to dispense mifepristone directly to patients.

In December 2023, the United States Supreme Court announced that they would hear the case on appeal from the Fifth Circuit’s decision. The Supreme Court will be determining if the FDA’s 2016 and 2021 changes to mifepristone regulation should be reinstated.

If the Supreme Court does not reverse the Fifth Circuit’s decision, access to the most common medication abortion regimen used in the U.S. would be limited across the country—even in those states where abortion rights are protected.

About the amicus curiae brief

An amicus curiae (“friend of the court,” in Latin) is a person or organization with a strong interest in the issues brought up in a case to which they are not a party. The amicus curiae may submit a written brief stating its interpretation of the law or arguments relating to the facts under consideration by the Court.

WEI, DREDF, and Allen & Overy LLP have filed an amicus brief with twelve other disability rights organizations and scholars including:

• The American Association of People with Disabilities
• The Autistic Self Advocacy Network
• Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
• The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
• Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center
• Disability Rights Advocates
• Disability Rights New York
• The National Council on Independent Living
• Katherine Pérez, Director of the Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy, and Innovation, and Visiting Professor of Law at Loyola Law School*
• Professor Ruth Colker, Distinguished University Professor and the Heck Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law at the Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University*
• Professor Robyn M. Powell, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Oklahoma College of Law*
• Tony Coelho, former U.S. Congressman

* Participating in their individual capacity, not as representatives of their institutions.  Institutions are listed for affiliation purposes only.

The amicus brief outlines how reinstating outdated restrictions on medication abortion disproportionately burdens pregnant people with disabilities, who face more barriers to accessing care. The amicus brief urges the United States Supreme Court to reverse the Fifth Circuit’s decision which rolled back the clock on medication abortion access.

WEI, DREDF, and Allen & Overy’s amicus brief argues the following key points:

• Restricted access to mifepristone creates a healthcare crisis that disproportionately harms people with disabilities. People with disabilities are more at risk for severe maternal morbidities and maternal mortality during their pregnancies than non-disabled people and pregnancy can worsen disability-related health outcomes.
• Unnecessary restrictions to mifepristone exacerbate the harms that people with disabilities already encounter in terms of physical barriers to accessing abortion care (such as inaccessible medical clinics and non-existent adaptive equipment). Telehealth abortion appointments and mailed prescriptions give people with disabilities the option to access care without the delays of navigating inaccessible facilities.
• Without expanded options for medication abortion care, people with disabilities will continue to experience transportation and logistical barriers to reproductive health care that raise privacy, abuse, and coercion concerns. Inaccessible travel options and logistical barriers like transportation reliance on third parties place people with disabilities at risk for reproductive coercion and compromise their medical privacy.
• Regulation of mifepristone that is not supported by medical research further harms people with disabilities who already face disproportionate financial barriers and medical system discrimination.

The amicus brief can be viewed here.