Double Discrimination for Disabled Women

Disabled women make up some of the world's poorest and most marginalized
people in the world and they suffer disproportionately because they are
discriminated against both because of their gender and because of their
disability. According to Human Rights Watch, approximately 300 million
women around the world have mental and physical disabilities. Women
constitute 75 percent of the disabled people in low and middle income
countries. Women with disabilities comprise 10 percent of all women
worldwide.

Not enough data has been collected, but there is evidence that disabled
women and girls face significantly higher rates of violence and
discrimination than non-disabled women including the gross abuse of
disabled women's sexual and reproductive rights, their rights to marry and
form a family, high rates of physical and sexual violence, gross
unemployment, low levels of education and school attendance

Even in countries where protective laws exist, in practice disabled women
are too often left to live in isolation, particularly in rural areas.

Speaking with some of the Gender, Disability & Development Institute 2006 women,

they shared what they take to be some of the major challenges women with disabilities

are facing:

 High rates of unemployment and no or too few training opportunities for jobs

 Lack of accessible public transportation for people with physical
disabilities

 No software, large print or Braille for people with visual disabilities

 Schools that are not accessible for people with physical disabilities.

 Little awareness about disabilities and high levels of social stigma

 No laws protecting the rights of people with disabilities or where laws
exist they are not enforced

 Inadequate funding for disability rights

 Corruption in government allocation of funds

To counter the effects of double discrimination, it is vital that all
women's rights organizations work towards becoming inclusive. Moreover, the
international community needs to recognize that women with disabilities are
a tremendous resource to the development process. In working together, we
can break down stereotypes and stigma, and empower disabled and
non-disabled women to achieve our human rights.

Strengthening Women's Rights Organizations through Inclusion

How can women's rights organizations assist with breaking down some of
these barriers that disabled women face? Disability rights activists have
decades of experience in advocacy and activism to counter discriminatory
practices in health care systems, education systems, in the workplace, in
legislation and policy, and in politics. Sharing successes for achieving
social justice with non-disabled feminists is undoubtedly extremely useful.
Encouraging feminist activists to adopt practices of inclusion in all their
work is therefore a fundamental way of building collective power.

Diabled Women Building Relationships, Friendships, and Feminist Movements

Feminists the world over realize that it takes more than just following a
list of suggestions to improve the quality of women's lives and promote the
influence and impact of women's organizations. We need to surround ourselves
with good networks of support. Some of the best ideas are born in
conversation with a friend, and attending the GDDI showed me that in
working collaboratively with experienced leaders you can turn those ideas
into tangible results. If you are looking to make your organization more
inclusive, building friendships and relationships with either women you
know who have a disability or with local disability organizations may in
fact be the most effective means of strengthening your organization or
movement.