Women with disabilities face violence, exclusion from leadership – study

Women and girls with disabilities continue to face high levels of sexual, physical and psychological violence while remaining underrepresented in leadership and decision-making spaces, a new study conducted in Rwanda, Kenya and Malawi has found. The study shows that 23 per cent of women and girls with disabilities surveyed in Rwanda reported experiencing sexual violence over the previous 12 months, while 71 per cent said women and girls with disabilities had minimal representation in leadership roles. Titled “Assessing the participation and leadership of women and girls with disabilities in ending violence against women and girls,” the study was conducted by the Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), Disabled Women in Africa (DIWA), and the Rwandan Organisation of Women with Disabilities (UNABU). ALSO READ: A look at healthcare hurdles women with disabilities face The findings were released on Friday, September 25. Researchers used a mixed-methods approach, surveying 287 women and girls with disabilities and supplementing the findings with focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and key informant interviews. The study examined respondents’ experiences of violence during the previous 12 months. In Rwanda, 46 per cent reported experiencing emotional or psychological violence, compared with 49 per cent in Malawi and 62 per cent in Kenya. Physical violence was reported by 37 per cent of respondents in Rwanda, compared with 38 per cent in Malawi and 48 per cent in Kenya. Sexual violence was reported by 23 per cent of women and girls with disabilities in Rwanda and Malawi, while the figure stood at 27 per cent in Kenya. The findings highlight the multiple and overlapping forms of violence faced by women and girls with disabilities, including physical, emotional, psychological, sexual, financial and online abuse. Women aged between 30 and 39 also identified abuse as a major threat. Limited representation in leadership Beyond violence, the study found that women and girls with disabilities continue to have limited representation in leadership and decision-making spaces. In Kenya, 76 per cent of respondents said women and girls with disabilities had minimal representation in leadership roles, while the figure stood at 71 per cent in both Rwanda and Malawi. The study recommends ensuring that women and girls with disabilities have meaningful influence in leadership rather than merely being represented. “Ensure women and girls with disabilities have meaningful influence — not just seats at the table — in leadership, budgeting, agenda-setting, and decision-making processes,” it states. It also calls for greater investment in accessibility, including ensuring that police stations, courts, shelters, health facilities and referral systems are physically and communicatively accessible to women and girls with different disabilities. The study further recommends stronger formal partnerships between women’s rights organisations and Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) through joint planning, advocacy and shared accountability. ALSO READ: Five challenges that people with disabilities need addressed “Recognise and resource women and girls with disabilities as leaders and agents of change in their own right — investing in their knowledge, leadership, and advocacy capacity rather than treating them primarily as beneficiaries,” the report recommends. Calls for stronger measures Disability rights activists said the findings point to the need for stronger measures to prevent violence against women and girls with disabilities and improve their access to protection and support services. They also stressed the importance of ensuring that efforts to address gender-based violence are inclusive and respond to the specific barriers faced by people with disabilities. Vanessa Niyonkuru, a 19-year-old sign language interpreter who has a physical disability and is a member of UNABU, said women with disabilities continue to face misconceptions about their abilities. “Women and girls with disabilities lack decision-making spaces,” she said. Niyonkuru added that access to education can help unlock the potential of people with disabilities and reduce their vulnerability to discrimination and violence. “I was born physically disabled. I studied at Gatagara School and I have also completed secondary school in multimedia production. I am also a sign language interpreter,” she said. “Access to education can help eliminate other forms of violence against girls and women with disabilities.” ALSO READ: Senators push for full count of people with disabilities She also called for wider use of sign language to improve accessibility. Yvette Nikuze, a member of the Organisation for the Integration and Promotion of People with Albinism (OIPPA), said discrimination remains a challenge in the labour market, with some institutions reluctant to employ women with disabilities. Ruth Virginia Mkutumula, Executive Director of Disabled Women in Africa, said women with disabilities should move beyond simply being present in spaces addressing violence against women and take a stronger role in influencing policies and decisions. DIWA is a Pan-African network operating in more than 22 countries and works to advance the rights, leadership and empowerment of women and girls with disabilities. “Women with disabilities mostly are found in some of these spaces only on the tokenistic level,” Mkutumula said. “But we want to see beyond being in space.” She said research in Rwanda, Kenya and Malawi found similar challenges, including limited participation of women with disabilities in spaces where discussions and decisions on ending violence against women take place. The findings also showed that many women with disabilities experience different forms of violence, including intimate partner violence, while facing barriers to meaningful participation in efforts to address the problem, she said. “It’s very important that women with disabilities go beyond participation and influence policies and have their voices heard in those spaces,” Mkutumula said. “Before a woman can be called a woman with a disability, she is a woman first.” She added: “That means most of the challenges that other women are facing, women with disabilities are also facing, but the discrimination is double and the vulnerabilities are double.”

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Women with disabilities face violence, exclusion from leadership – study