International Women's Day 2016 - March 8th

Madezha: Gender equality is as important for people with disabilities as it is for other people. And the importance lies in the fact that if there is no real equality between women and men, there will be no equal opportunities nor equal possibilities to make decisions or to access positions of power.

Lars: In contrast to what many people would imagine, gender equality is indeed a central question for all people with disabilities, and not just for women. Addressing and overcoming gender gaps is probably the most powerful tool to strive for the realisation of rights for all members of society. Women with disabilities often face a multitude of barriers in society preventing them from achieving their full potential and from playing an equal role compared to men with disabilities. And most of the barriers are not specific to the situation of women with disabilities; they are rather an expression of injustice (e.g. prejudices, wrong conceptions about the potential of people, lack of knowledge about existing devices to facilitate the inclusion of people with disabilities and many more). So when challenging and removing those barriers through our advocacy work, we contribute to a fairer society for all.       

Maegan: For persons with disabilities, there are challenges tied to the discrimination based on disability but the discrimination tied to gender roles adds another layer of barriers. When we advocate for the protection of rights of women affected by domestic violence, it opens the doors for us to advocate for the rights of women with disabilities that are at the most risk to be abused.

Abner: Of course it is important that there is equality between men and women in all aspects of life. When I say equality, what I believe is that there should be equality in terms of opportunity and that people are supported to be able to benefit from those opportunities. I have seen many times in the Philippines among the gender advocates, not only women with disabilities but mainstream gender advocates, where it appears to me that gender equality can lead to a competition and make statements that women are better than men. This is not what gender equality is. It is about having the same opportunity regardless of your gender. What I am witnessing here in the Philippines is that all people with disabilities are discriminated against, be that women or men with disabilities. Women with disabilities are becoming stronger in advocating for gender equality but only from the women’s side. So we need inclusion for all people with disabilities, and gender equality must be highlighted in the fight of inclusion. 

Irene: Some of the key areas I am working on include; access to health focusing on promoting equal access to sexual and reproductive health services by women and girls with disabilities and people without disabilities; advocating and leading processes for the review of laws and policies to make them more favorable for persons with disabilities especially in the area ofprotection of the rights to health and equal access to social services for women and girls with disabilities in Nigeria;empowering/building the capacity of women with disabilities to become leaders, be more visible, challenge stereotypes, take ownership of their issues and take up leadership positions in social groups, religious groups, government, etc. thus creating a space for women with disabilities to be more involved in decision making at all levels; advocacy for equal and inclusive accessto education, school enrollment, retention and completion for women and girls on an equal ratio with men and boys; increasing access to justicefor persons with disabilities whose rights have been violated especially women and girls with disabilities who have experienced Gender Based Violence.

Poverty has been identified as a key issue for gender inequality. As long as a lot of women, especially women with disabilities are poor and totally dependent on men and also some (good paying) jobs are reserved for men due to gender stereotypes, gender inequality will continue to thrive. To address this, I engage in providing linkages between women/girls with disabilities and financial institutions that support small scale enterprises for access to start-up capital for their businesses or other Income Generating Activities.

Madezha: For many years now I have been involved in the process ofempowerment of women with disabilities.  Unless we reduce the significant effects of exclusion at the level of our self- perception, our self- concept and our self-worth, we will hardly be able to seize the opportunities should they arise. Women with disabilities are as capable as men in a similar situation. However, as it happens at the general level between women and men, in the world of people with disabilities, it is also women, who have fewer chances of education, work training and political participation.

Abner: I am not really focusing on gender equality work but of course I am always trying to be mindful when we do things in our work, we try to make a balance. Whenever possible we also challenge gender advocates to be more sensitive not only about women with disabilities but also men with disabilities. Particularly in the area of families, for example in the Philippines’, the laws favour women because there is no due process to give also an opportunity for men to provide his worth within the family and if a man has a disability this can be a further challenge.  

Maegan: It is crucial for the voices of women with disabilities to be heard in the disability equality and gender equality movement! The disability equality and gender equality movements are accepted asseparate movements but by them being separate, it excludes women with disabilities who identify with both movements. Each individual has multiple identities; it is almost impossible to single out one identity when multiple identities makes a person. There must be a deliberate intention to include cross-disabilities and gender intersectionalities. 

Madezha: Until very recently, only men were in management positions in the organizations of people with disabilities. Nowadays, this situation is changing. Not only are there organizations of women with disabilities exclusively but as well in the mixed gender organizations of people with disabilities there are women in the positions of leadership. It means that we have taken a few steps forward, but there is still a need to change many women's authoritarian leadership style learned from men. 

Lars: The voices of women with disabilities need to come out much louder in the broader strive for gender equality. Women with disabilities can contribute their stories to the movement which will help a great deal inunderstanding underlying reasons for marginalisation and exclusionfrom society. Equally important, women with disabilities can inspire other members of society/whether men or women/because they often had to overcome even more challenges than men with disabilities to fight for their rights.

Maegan: As a Deaf woman, I can raiseawareness about the intersectionalities of gender and disability through my work as the Disability Inclusive Development Learning Coordinator for CBM. I will be working with CBM’s Senior Advisor for Disability and Gender Equality to explore best practices on the inclusion of disability inclusive development and gender equality. 

Irene: Firstly, I can contribute my advocacy efforts to the government and society at large through various methods involvingcommunity dialogues, interpersonal discussions/education, media campaigns. Secondly, I can also get involved in empowering women for leadership and self-reliance through leadership trainings, role modeling and involvement as active participants and/or co-facilitators in my programs. Thirdly, I can contribute my mobilization skills in coordinating and uniting women with disabilities all over the country and even regionally to speak with one voice and achieve favorable results in their advocacy efforts for gender equality.

Madezha: In principle, living by myself and interacting with my family on a daily basis and with people outside, acting respectfully and requiring others to be respectful of the equality between women and men, with or without disabilities. I also take every opportunity presented to me to report on the rights approach in relation to people with disabilities.

Lars: Far too often, the critical matter of gender equality is understood or rather interpreted as being mainly of interest to women/women with disabilities. While strengthening the women's rights movement is critical to achieving gender equality, men have to be part of that change agenda,in order to succeed. At the end of the day, it is about creating a critical/and very often difficult dialogue to challenge existing structures, attitudes and stereotypes that often lead to marginalisation and multiple discrimination of women with disabilities. So to start with, men have to be open and supportive to having that critical dialogue, acknowledging that their role and power will be often questioned and challenged. During the open dialogue, it is also an important role for men with disabilities to follow the advice by womenon when they should not be part of the discussion: For example, when women with disabilities want to address sensitive issues such as their sexual life and wish to have space to discuss amongst women, that space has to be there.

Madezha: Men with disabilities can hardly contribute to gender equality if they do not know and do not associate themselves with the gender perspective. It is a challenge to move towards this goal and it could be undertaken by women with disabilities thus achieving a higher level of empowerment. 

Abner: I think men can raise awareness about the values and the virtue of the person rather than the traditional way that we view men and women. Men can challenge the notions that leads to competition that only aggravates the tension between men and women. For me I truly believe it is not about competition, as people have different capacities and skills, so it should never be an either/ or – that women are better than men, or that men are better than women. How gender equality is currently framed in this way, needs to be challenged. We should be measured by our skills and our capacities and talents not our gender alone.

Maegan: Men with disabilities can use their privileges and identities as men with disabilities to work alongside women with disabilities to bring attention to and provide a platform (that may have intentionally or unintentionally excluded women) for women with disabilities to have a voice.

The European Union (EU) is the biggest donor of development aid and the first regional body to sign and ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD). Its commitment to Gender Equality was developed with the establishment of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment EU Plan of Action 2010 – 2015, which was known in the EU as the Gender Action Plan (GAP).

GAP had the objective of strengthening EU commitment on Gender Equality “as a human right, a question of social justice and a core value of the EU development policy. Bearing in mind that gender equality is not only a goal in itself but also central in achieving all MDGs…” At the same time that the GAP was developed, the European Disability Strategy 2010 – 2020 was established as a tool to implement the UN CRPD. This strategy included eight main objectives: Accessibility, Participation, Equality, Employment, Education and Training, Social Protection, Health and External Actions. Discrimination based on gender and disability was mentioned under Equality objective: “The Commission will also pay attention to the cumulative impact of discrimination that people with disabilities may experience on other grounds, such as nationality, age, race or ethnicity, sex, religion or belief, or sexual orientation.”

Despite the time frame of both frameworks, disability was not mentioned in the GAP, and this was taken into account in the Evaluation of EU Support to Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Partner Countries, published in April 2015. As a lesson learnt, the EU considered that “cross-cutting issues such as gender equality, disability, HIV/AIDS, governance and environment should be taken into account under all four areas of intervention.” Disability was, therefore, highlighted as one of the key components to achieve, including data disaggregation by gender on education and literacy, health and mortality, disability, employment and income.

The adoption of the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction in 2015 raised gender equality as essential objective to achieve sustainable development for all.

At the same time, the EU went through the process of the review of the implementation on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In the Concluding Observations, the UN CRPD Committee Members recommended the EU to “mainstream women and girls with disabilities’ perspective in its forthcoming Gender Equality Strategy, policies and programmes, as well as a gender perspective in its disability strategies.” The EU was also asked to lead on the implementation of Sendai Framework and 2030 Agenda, as it was one of the main promoters of the inclusion of the rights of persons with disabilities during the negotiations of both frameworks.

In September 2015, the European Commission (EC) published the Joint Staff Document on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: Transforming the Lives of Girls and Women through EU External Relations 2016 – 2020, which is known as GAP II as it was established as a continuation of the first GAP. This time, disability was mentioned as a factor which leads to multiple discrimination, as well as the need of women and girls with disabilities to take control over decisions that affect them and over resources at all levels. However, the specific priorities, objectives, activities or indicators included in the GAP II do not include any reference to women and girls with disabilities. Despite the commitment expressed by the EU, there is a lack of concrete actions for the implementation of the UN CRPD.

Policies and programmes focused on general population will not benefit the whole population. However, inclusive policies and projects will benefit the whole population, including women, men, girls and boys with disabilities. The EU will be a key actor for the implementation of the 2030 agenda. CBM will keep reminding the EU that no one should left behind, regardless of gender, disability or other factors. This will make the difference in poverty eradication, as poverty and discrimination are deeply interconnected.

As highlighted in previous blogs by CBM’s UN representative Elizabeth Lockwood, along with the 11 explicit references disability in the SDGs,persons with disabilities are implicitly included throughout the SDGs. For example, Goal 4 states ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’.  If we imagine forward to the year 2030,  and the successful implementation of the SDGs, our world should have become more equal for all people regardless of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status. 

In order for that to happen, we have to first navigate through the complex web of translating the SDGs into effective outcomes for all people. International development has an important role to play in this respect. Development efforts must, at the very least, bring a focus to the multi-faceted discrimination that people face. It is already widely acknowledged that women, men, girls and boys with disabilities face discrimination in education, employment and basic services and it also acknowledged that women with disabilities face multiple discrimination on the basis of having a disability and being a woman or girl. Yet more often that not, women and girls with disabilities are not visible within development programmes focused on disability inclusion or gender equality. The SDGs can provide an opportunity to change this.

The SDGs and particularly Goal 5, which focuses on Gender Equality and the empowerment of women and girls, has a key role in creating opportunities for women and girls with disabilities to fulfill their full potential. Goal 5 includes a number targets and the following bullet points highlight how these targets are also equally relevant to women and girls with disabilities. 

• End discrimination against all women and girls everywhere : This is particularly relevant to women and girls with disabilities. In comparison to men with disabilities and women without disabilities, women and girls with disabilities have lower education completion rates, are less likely to be employed and are more at risk of living in poverty [1]. National policies and frameworks that are developed as a result of the SDGs must include women and girls with disabilities if discrimination against all women and girls is to be achieved.
• Eliminate all forms of violence and harmful practices against all women : Women with disabilities are at heightened risk of violence, exploitation and abuse compared to women without disabilities [2]. Measures taken to implement this target must be inclusive of women with disabilities.
• Recognize and value unpaid care work : This is an important point for both women and men with disabilities who require personal assistance/care assistance and needs to be adequately resourced by governments. Women who make up the majority of the caring/personal assistance workforce providing this support should be paid fairly for their work.
• Reform legislative and policy blocks that prevent women having equal rights to economic resources : Linked with the above statement about women with disabilities at risk of living in poverty, some of the factors that contribute to this include; laws and policies that prevent women with disabilities having control over their resources. For example, outdated legal capacity laws and prejudicial attitudes which deny women with disabilities the opportunities to have their own bank accounts or prevents them from getting access to micro-credit for livelihood opportunities. Measures taken to reform laws to enable equal rights to resources must also include women with disabilities.
• Enhance the use of enabling technology : Technology and assistive devices are key enablers for women and men with disabilities. Access to assistive aids and devices can make a difference in the lives of women and men with disabilities, technology also has a key role to play in creating inclusion
• Ensure participation and leadership in decision-making : Women with disabilities typically have not been in leadership positions within, the government and public sector, the private sector, disability or gender movements and
• Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights : Women and girls with disabilities face negative attitudes by society related to the intersection of disability and gender and these impact on the enjoyment of sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the right to a found a family.

For an inclusive and equitable world, effective development outcomes will need to include strategies where disability inclusive development and gender equality work together. To do this it means as a first step reaching over the walls that separate people based on different identities and viewing different perspectives through different lenses. For example, applying a gender lens to disability inclusive development work can increase awareness about how development programmes and projects can impact women, men, girls and boys with disabilities differently. It can also mean that steps can be taken to ensure programmes and projects can accommodate these differences and it can also identify where specific supports/focus might be required. For example, women with disabilities may require a women’s only group. Applying a disability inclusive lens to gender equality approaches, can increase awareness about the specific requirements of women and men, girls and boys with disabilities so that they are not excluded from programmes and projects in key areas such as violence prevention, health, economic empowerment and leadership.