Women are disabled too

The World Bank estimates that there are 300 million disabled women and girls worldwide. Disabled women in developing countries can face triple discrimination – for being poor, female and disabled. As such, they are often the least educated, weakest and most vulnerable members of any society, especially susceptible to neglect, isolation and abuse. They are often the least educated and have few opportunities to speak out.

The impactof inadequate water and sanitation is greatest on women and girls. If theconcerns of disabled women and girls are not considered, it can result in theintroduction of measures that are unsuitable to their needs and detrimental totheir welfare. For instance, the embarrassment that disabled people face whenbathing publicly and using communal toilets is compounded by disabled women’svulnerability because of both their disability and gender.

Improving access should considerhow to make using such facilities easier but also how to ensure that women canattend to personal hygiene privately and safely. Similarly, many disabled womencontinue to be responsible for household duties such as fetching water, cookingand caring for children. Practitioners and service providers must be carefulnot to overlook the capacities of these women and should endeavour to make theirwork lighter.

Developmentand disability practitioners also need to realise that:

• Disabledpeople’s organisations do not speak for all disabled people: if participationis a real goal, providers will have to actively seek out the views of disabledwomen and girls.
• Prioritiesand concerns for particular groups within the general umbrella of ‘disability’will differ. For instance, many disabled girls (and boys) are unable to attendschool, simply because toilets are not accessible to them.
• Whereinterventions increase the independence of a disabled person, it often releasesthe person supporting them, often a female child, who might have been taken outof school to care for them.
• Gendercomponents of any programmes, including training on gender issues shouldinclude specific strategies to include disabled women.