My name is Regina Mwangi, a Kenyan youth and I do identify as woman with a disability, a wheelchair user to be specific. Celebrating the International Day of Women is very important for me to just as a woman but also a woman with a disability. It is a day that the entire world recognizes the plight of women and the efforts that have been channeled towards achieving gender equality. The 2022 theme for International Women’s Day is ‘Gender Equality for a Sustainable Tomorrow' with the campaign #BreakTheBias. This theme speaks volumes to the challenges that women face and the immense potential that can be unlocked if we created a society that supports women empowerment and equality.
As we celebrate International Women’s Day it is also very critical for us to acknowledge different realities for different populations of women. One of this population is women and girls with disabilities who face compounded vulnerabilities in the society for being of a female sex and also for having a disability. These vulnerabilities tend to increase depending on the social and economic factors. It’s for these reasons that girls and women with disability should be involved in the commemoration of Women’s Day and the fight for gender equity and equality. Girls with disability can be involved in the celebrations of the International Women’s Day through self-advocacy to create awareness on the challenges and barriers they face and recommend solutions to those challenges. Self-advocacy is a very practical concept when it comes to raising awareness on disability issues as persons with disabilities are the experts of their different life experiences and empowering them to do self-advocacy is one of the right things to do. Self-advocacy is empowering to people with disability as it makes them key players on the fight for disability inclusion and not just beneficiaries or recipients of project interventions. I began my proactive work on promoting disability rights through advocacy for the rights of youths with disability. I have always been vocal about the rights for people with disability inspired by my personal lived experience with disability.
Persons with disabilities experience the impact of climate change disproportionately and intensely compared to the rest of the population. Due to stigma, discrimination, marginalization and different barriers faced by people with disability are at increased risk of the adverse impact of climate change including climate displacement, food security and health risks. The meaningful participation and inclusion of persons with disability in disasters response will ensure that disaster response to climate change is inclusive of persons with disability. The views and perspectives of girls and women with disability should be considered in the fight against climate change.
Governments, organizations and different stakeholders should support girls and women with disability to realize their full potential. This support should cover different spheres of life where they face the most barriers in participating. Investing in inclusive education for girls with disabilities is very critical to ensure that girls receive quality education that would launch them into their careers and life in general. I am a product of quality education that has enabled me to pursue my career aspirations which unfortunately is not the case for every girl with a disability. This did not come easily to me as a disabled girl though. In my early education I was enrolled into a school that was not inclusive and I faced discrimination when in it came to taking part in extracurricular activities which lowered my moral at times. Thank fully for my high school and tertiary education I landed scholarships that catered to the required expenses.
It is also paramount for duty bearers to promote disability inclusive employment and entrepreneurship to secure the livelihoods of girls and women with disability. Policies that protect the access for employment for girls and women with disability need to be enacted. In my early career I faced challenges in requesting my employer for transport as part of reasonable accommodation as I was perceived that I was seeking for favors that were not being accorded to employees without disability. Negotiating for provision of reasonable accommodation and more so having to justify why I needed it unfortunately did cause a psychological trauma. To date I do not feel confident or comfortable enough to apply for jobs in companies where the employer does not explicitly invite applications from women with disability and outline support provided to employees with disability.
Access to health for girls and women with disabilities is also very crucial especially access to inclusive sexual reproductive health for girls as women with disability should be made a reality not just an aspiration that is not backed by practical actions. As we move forward it is essential that we continue to create accessible public and private spaces as well as raising awareness to breakdown the stereotypes and stigma that people with disability face in our society.
In conclusion, girls with disability have dreams and different aspirations that tend to be dimmed by the different barriers that they face including environmental, attitudinal, systemic and institutional barriers. It is the desire of every girl with disability to not to have to fore go their dreams due to discrimination on the basis of disability and gender. Creating a barrier free accepting and promoting equality in our societies are key ingredients in promoting the well-being of girls and women with disability.