Women and disability

About 650 million people in the world - or 10% of the world's population - live with disabilities, and frequently encounter a myriad of physical and social obstacles. The majority often lack the opportunities of their non-disabled peers and are usually among the most marginalised in society.

A UN report noted, "Girls and women of all ages with any form of disability are among the more vulnerable and marginalised of society". Women and girls with disabilities are subject to double discrimination. Marginalised both on account of their disability and their gender, they face social isolation and rejection and are taught that they are inferior to their peers.  This has a clear impact on both their own aspirations and their family's aspirations for them in the future.

It is estimated over 200 million women with disabilities live below the poverty line. As discussed in this blog, there is no mention of disability in any of the eight Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to promote gender equality and empowerment of women with disabilities. This has significantly held back the progress of disabled women and girls in developing countries.

Due to the double discrimination, they are less likely to receive the health and rehabilitative care they need to remain economically or socially independent and they face reduced access to education, employment or social inclusion compared to both disabled men or non-disabled women. Despite these clear links, gender and disability have persistently been treated separately in development discourse.

Although the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) recognises that women and girls with disabilities are subject to multiple discrimination. However, the CRPD is very unique in recognising women and girls with disabilities as a distinct group. Theoretically, disabled women are in all human rights agreements, the sad reality is that they rarely referenced specifically and are often overlooked in development policy.

This often means disabled women are isolated from educational programmes, healthcare and food during humanitarian crises. Disability causes poverty, and poverty can lead to disability. Women are more likely to have limited resources and are more likely to be deprived of basic necessities and unable to access their rights.

A recent report by Action on disability and development (ADD ) on displaced populations in post-conflict Norther Uganda, a disabled woman describes how "when food is given being given, sometimes persons with disabilities are given what others leave behind on their plates".

The same report found that many disabled women remaining in camps longer after many others have returned home because they are physically and economically unable to leave as a result of their disability. This is yet another example of why governments and all organisations which work in development need to ensure they are focusing on working with, and listening to disabled people. (Human Rights Watch,2010)

 In order to tackle systematic violations of women's human rights more needs to be done to tackle this discrimination throughout the international system. The develop sector needs to develop specific development targets and indicators to measure the impact on women and girls with disabilities. These should be a cross-cutting aspect of all global and national development goals which should be at the top of the development agenda.

If the UN is going to meet the Sustainable Development Goals the development sector, leading international institutions such as the UN and World Health Organisation (WHO) need to work closely with governments to ensure women are included in  all aspects of development policy.