JOIN USHow patriatchy hurts the differently abled more
When disability rights advocate Anastasia Somoza, a young woman with cerebral palsy, gave her rousing speech at the Democratic National Convention earlier in July, she did more to bring disability into the mainstream’s view than anyone else in recent memory. She also reminded the world that there is a gender dimension to disability, one that been overlooked too long, misunderstood or left unaddressed.
Women with disabilities often have to fight against two forms of discrimination, one related to disability, the other to gender. This is especially true for women living in poverty, women who are members of marginalised ethnic or racial groups or women who are part of the LGBT community.
One problem, grounded both in disability and gender discrimination, is lack of access to appropriate, affordable, quality health care or regular health screenings. And this double-edged issue is exacerbated by the employment challenges disabled women face.
The United Nations estimates that 75% of women with disabilities are unemployed while employed women with disabilities often earn less than their male counterparts and even women without disabilities.
Internationally, gender disparities also exist in education. For example, while the overall literacy rate for people with disabilities worldwide is 3%, UNESCO estimates that it is just 1% for women and girls with disabilities.
Vulnerability to violence
Even more disturbing is the fact that females with disabilities are often disproportionately subjected to violence, sexual abuse, neglect, maltreatment and exploitation. Studies have shown that women and girls with disabilities are twice as likely to experience gender-based violence compared to those without disabilities.
They are also less likely to receive reproductive healthcare services and in some places they are subjected to forced sterilisation. That may well be because many people assume disabled women have no interest in or lack the ability to have a sex life.
This troubling mistake has been artfully addressed by women like Jennifer Bartlett, co-editor of Beauty is a Verb: The New Poetry of Disability. In a recent New York Times piece, she provided greater insight into the issue of disabled women’s sexuality when she wrote: “I know I’m lucky not to be sexually harassed as I navigate the New York City streets. But I am harassed in other ways that feel much more damaging. People stare. People insist that I have God’s blessing. People feel most comfortable speaking about me … to avoid speaking to me.”
Ignored sexual needs
It seems to me that Bartlett is reminding us that no woman wants to be treated like a sexual object, but it would be nice if they could be treated like sentient human beings, who do in fact have sexual feelings.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has recognised that women and girls with disabilities are often at greater risk by virtue of abuse, injury, neglect and exploitation. It has also emphasised the need to “incorporate a gender perspective in all efforts to promote the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms by persons with disabilities.”
Those are nice words consistent with the kind the UN routinely crafts for documents that sit on shelves and generally remain ignored.
The fact is that disability impacts all of us at some time in our lives, whether we face reduced mobility, problems with thinking, memory, impaired vision or hearing, or other challenges that ultimately affect our ability to live independently or without assistance. For women, who often end up living alone in impoverished conditions, these challenges are even more dramatic, especially if they are black or Hispanic.
The fact remains that with new “disability growth areas” like depression and anxiety, eating disorders, still-undefeated cancers, traumatic brain injuries, autoimmune diseases, dementia and autism spectrum disabilities, much work has still to be done.
One of our tasks is to realise and address the “double disabilities” women face, whether by way of programmes, policies, or personal attitudes. The fighting spirit of women like Anastasia Somoza and Jennifer Bartlett can do much to help show us the way.