The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is marked
on the 3rd of December. And we also have the 16 Days of Activism
against Gender Based Violence (GBV) which is marked from 23rd
November to 10th December every year. The overlap of these very
significant campaigns is also what I want to focus on today.
Globally, 18 per cent of the female population has a
disability (WHO), and many of these women are at higher risk of GBV than those
without disabilities owing to the multiple and intersecting forms of
discrimination they face. The intersection of
disability with factors such as sex, age, gender identity, sexual orientation,
religion, race, ethnicity, and economic situation also affects the experiences and
services on GBV.
But I am not here to discuss numbers and global strategies
and policies and what the UNCRPD says or not. I want to discuss how I have seen
the impact on young girls and women with disabilities who experience violence and
hopefully trigger conversation around what we can do to prevent and respond to
it.
I think one of my early exposure and understanding of this
issue was prompted by an interaction I had with a young person with disability who
recounted to me an incident about how at a public place she had to get to,
there were no ramps or lifts and so the only solution was for her to be carried
with her wheelchair for which she had to depend on some random strangers. And
then to prevent her from falling while they precariously lifted her, some of
these strangers held her arms and legs and parts of her body. She said she felt
violated to be touched all over by strangers, at their pity and to have to
endure this to access a public space that was her right to access. She spoke
that while this may not count as some horrific case of gender based violence,
it was to her a violent experience after which it took her again months to want
to step out again. And this is a young person with privilege to have a
wheelchair and access to counselling that helped her overcome her trauma from
this incident.
But imagine all those that don’t and we have already seen
how they are more vulnerable to all forms of violence. Unfortunately most
organisations working on issues around GBV have not integrated the disability
lens in their work. For example, do one stop crisis centres have sign language
experts or special educators that can help communicate with girls with various
forms of disabilities. A lot of material for awareness is not really accessible
to the visually impaired. Even websites providing information are not
accessible to many, something that I was faced with when while recruiting a
visually impaired colleague, she gave me this feedback. Technology has really
moved ahead and assistive support is available but we need to incorporate these
in our design and strategies in a conscious way.
As per the Press Information Bureau, over 700 one stop
centres are functional across India. However do we know if they have had a
disability lens audit? Can we really ensure that these centres can cater to
women and girls with various kinds of disabilities? This is another quick win and
could go a long way in making our GBV services inclusive and accessible to all.
Moreover all training of social workers, medical
practitioners, counsellors, justice workers need to be integrated with knowledge
and skills on working with clients with disabilities. Recently UNICEF has
launched a competency framework for the social workforce ensuring it is
disability inclusive. The more and more this is adopted and then social workers
are provided with these skills, the integration of services will be possible. A
critical part ofcourse of these trainings need to also be the empathy and
altitudinal changes. Only this can ensure that services are not just available
but provided with dignity.
Which brings me to the last part, with need for working on
an enabling environment through awareness and education on disability inclusion
to aim towards zero discrimination for persons with disabilities and especially
to shine a light on the vulnerability to GBV of this segment. This will go a
long way in prevention as well as mitigation of risks and response. Leaving you
with some images from a social media campaign I am very proud of which very seamlessly
included disability in the communication.
This
post is a part of “International Day of Disabled Persons” blog hop hosted by
Sakshi Varma – Tripleamommy. #IDPD2023Bloghop. Access all posts of this
bloghop at https://tripleamommy.com/2023/11/30/championing-diversity-uniting-voices-commemorating-idpd-together/. Please also visit www.tripleamommy.com
It is so important to break the silence around PWDs who face gender specific violence and glad you have got this conversation started. What is chillingly scary is that often recourse to justice is simply unavailble for such cases - as the accused can so easily hide behind the cloak of "helping" the woman.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that there should be zero discrimination, but it will take a lot of time and effort to achieve this. Gender Based Violence is not an uncommon matter. It needs more addressable mechanisms. Training is certainly at the forefront there. I hope this momentum grows with more awareness through posts like yours.
ReplyDeleteVery rightly pointed out that females with a disability are more vulnerable to gender-specific violence and discrimination. We have to create awareness and actively pursue the rights of people with disability in public spaces.It is not pity but empowerment that they need.
ReplyDeleteVery graphic and moving images. It is true that, Pictures speak louder than Words. Thank you for highlighting this vital issue. Especially the story about the girl in the wheelchair. Her sense of indignity and plight is not something that will occur to most.
ReplyDeleteYou have shed a very crucial light on the intersectionality of disability and gender-based violence, emphasizing the need for inclusive approaches in GBV services. The personal narrative vividly captures the challenges faced by women with disabilities and advocates for practical solutions like disability audits in support centers. The call for empathy and attitudinal shifts in training reflects a holistic approach. The mention of a successful social media campaign integrating disability in communication adds a positive touch, encouraging ongoing awareness and education for a more inclusive society.
ReplyDeleteGreat point to show awareness. Truly, we are very far from our goal to make discrimination happen but as long as someone takes the initiative to start spreading awareness on where and what should be the better way to do things, then, we eventually(and hope so) will be able to make it happen. -MommyWithAGoal
ReplyDeleteIts such a good issue that you have highlighted. As a society, we (the able-bodied ones) generally think of people with disability in terms of charity -- and feel good about being "kind and generous" to PwD. Though the first word of the RPWD act is "Rights", that hasn't permeated through. The PwD is as much a person with the same sensitivities and feelings as an able-bodied person, and we all need to be sensitive to that. Thank you for your blog.
ReplyDeleteBang on about the money. The fact of the matter is that it costs a lot of money to get the right access to therapies and treatments -- whether its for neurotypical or neurodivergent individuals. With one of the lowest health budgets in the world (as a percentage of GDP), we can expect little or no publicly funded quality facilities for PwD. Hence financial planning becomes crucial. Invariably, one parent takes on the earning responsibility while the other takes over the caring responsibility. Even so, they worry about the money after they retire. A great post addressing the practical aspects of this issue
ReplyDeleteDisability is a cross cutting issue, and the intersectionality of disability across diverse groups and different aspects of living needs to be looked at, for true inclusion to happen.
ReplyDeleteI agree that sometimes most of us feel pity, towards the neurodivergent, however, the need of the hour is to be guide them practically.
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