Twice vulnerable - how do women with disabilities overcome multiple forms of discrimination?

Yvette Basson

Picture description: women of various ages and races pictured with different disabilities

What is multiple discrimination?

In the last decade, the rights of people with disabilities have received increased attention on a global scale. The United Nations released its ‘Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ in 2006, which sparked a worldwide discussion on these rights and the continued challenges faced by people with disabilities. So far, most attention has been paid to the rights of people with disabilities in general, although some sections of the Convention relate to women and girls with disabilities. Many international legal documents deal with the rights of women and children. These laws combined with the 2006 Convention mentioned above, represent a positive step towards recognising the rights of women with disabilities – but they’re not yet making a real difference in women’s daily lives. Many societies, particularly in developing and poorer countries, still hold outdated beliefs about the role of women in society and similarly outdated beliefs about people with disabilities. Women are often held to traditional roles such as being stay-at-home mothers, not working and not having leadership roles in communities. When these two sets of attitudes are combined, we can see that women with disabilities experience two sets of obstacles to participation in society.

Why should we pay special attention to women with disabilities?

Women with disabilities are more likely to be family caregivers. This means that women with disabilities may have their voices in society limited by others, because their main sphere of influence is in the home. We need to ensure that women with disabilities are given a voice and a say in what happens in society. By hearing these voices, we can include women with disabilities in decision making and political will. Women with disabilities may experience many different kinds of discrimination, which we need to be able to recognise and address.

Women with disabilities are much more likely to experience gender based violence by caregivers, family members and intimate relations than other women. Considering the impact of gender based violence in South Africa, it is important that this be recognised and addressed in order that the incidence of gender based violence can be lessened.

It is relatively easy to think of examples of direct discrimination against a person. For example, refusing to hire someone because of their race, or dismissing someone from their job because of their sexual orientation. Examples of multiple discrimination can be difficult to identify, since the discrimination may look like direct discrimination. Multiple discrimination is essentially a form of indirect discrimination since the treatment of the person may not initially appear discriminatory but may have a discriminatory effect.

Examples of multiple discrimination against women with disabilities include not having accessible beds for gynaecological exams, not providing support services for women with disabilities who are the primary caregivers for members of their households and not allowing the mother of a child with a disability time off to care for her child. Unfortunately, it is not possible to give a complete list of examples of multiple discrimination against women with disabilities because of the unique and individual nature of disability. Multiple discrimination by association can also take place, such as the mother of a child with a disability being discriminated against because of fear of the mother’s availability as an employee.

How to address multiple discrimination against women with disabilities?

Women with disabilities are affirmed through a range of targeted programmes and events by a number of government departments, although it recognised that improved co-ordination and targeting of these efforts will significantly strengthen impact. South African women with disabilities are treated as an afterthought in many instances, and this can no longer be accepted if transformative equality for these women is to be achieved.

Multiple discrimination is prohibited in South Africa since both the Constitution and PEPUDA since both of these recognise the existence of multiple discrimination (albeit indirectly). The intersection of gender and disability result in women with disabilities experiencing multiple discrimination in South Africa. Despite the guaranteed right to equality and prohibition on unfair discrimination, the recognition of multiple discrimination is yet to be incorporated into any legislation. There is no practical guidance on how to address this multiple discrimination in practice. There should be legislation that clearly defines multiple discrimination for women with disabilities. Education on what multiple discrimination should be introduced, such as awareness campaigns and poster leaflets that explain the rights of women with disabilities. Only once multiple discrimination is identified and clearly prohibited will women with disabilities be able to experience equality in society.

Further reading:

GBV and women with disabilities: https://www.nrf.ac.za/gbv-and-women-with-physical-disabilities-in-sa/

J Borman Listen to the voices of women with disabilities https://mg.co.za/article/2019-08-25-00-listen-to-the-voices-of-women-with-disabilities/

About the author:

Dr Yvette Basson researches and publishes on the rights of persons with disabilities and women with disabilities in particular. Her email address is ywiid@uwc.ac.za.