The 2015 report Women in Poverty: The Key to Breaking the Cycle? notes that: "The feminization of poverty – or the growing number of women in poverty – has been ongoing for the past 4 decades. It means that the proportion of women in the world who suffer from poverty keeps growing and that it is becoming a problem that affects more women than men." It is hardly surprising that being a woman compounds the effects of disability and chronic poverty.
The 2003 report Chronic Poverty and Disability in Uganda talks about women who give birth to children with disabilities are seen as being responsible for causing disability. The report talks about these issues under the heading of feminization of disability:
(a) Disability a “curse” to the family: Among some people in three out of four districts (Mbarara, Mukono and Iganga) disability was considered to be “a curse” brought to the family through the woman (mother of the disabled child). Thus it was evident in these districts that if disabled children are borne to a family, not only does the burden of care fall on the shoulders of the woman, but she too is often blamed for bringing “kisirani” (a curse) to the family. In Mbarara and Iganga disability was believed to be “transmitted” by a mother, who was sometimes blamed for failing to perform some marital rites or simply “looking at the wrong people” during the course of pregnancy. The common remedy when a woman, therefore, produces a disabled child, is for the man to “find another wife (woman) who does not produce disabled children”.
(b) Disability diminishes a woman’s chances to marry: Disability for female children, it was observed, created additional challenges. Communities’ expectation that girl children will be married off at puberty to start their own life - working for their husbands and bringing forth babies - was noted not to hold for disabled girls. Having a disability often meant that one was unable to cultivate, prepare food for self and others, do household chores or even have personal care. This tended to “reduce the value of disabled girls” which further condemned them to exclusion and poverty. For such young women no marriage meant no livelihood and hence very marginal survival. Since access to prime resources for survival, such as land, are through a husband or male relative, being a disabled girl meant at the outset that there would be no access at all to any important resources.
(c) Disabled co-wives more resented than other women: In Iganga District it was revealed that disabled women who are married as second or third wives faced particular resentment from “first wives” who could not come to terms with a disabled person being their co-wife. Such disabled women, once they came to the household, faced intra-household exclusion and were at times discriminated against. The situation was not, however, the same for all disabled co-wives, especially those who were successful in business.The report moves on to discuss the role of PWDs in politics. Following this discussion, the report moves on to discuss stereotyping and concludes with a discussion about women with disabilities:
Issues of political exclusion took on a slightly different dimension during the research. Disabled respondents from Bwaise, Mbarara and Iganga complained that they are rarely invited to community meetings, and on a few occasions when they are invited, their views are not taken into consideration. But there was also insufficient organisation of disabled people at Village, Parish and Sub-County levels, with the consequence that no discussed agenda were ever developed in a bottom-up manner. Indeed many of the disabled people that the research team talked to bemoaned the top-heavy nature of the National Union for Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU), arguing that its much acclaimed national profile was not matched with results on the ground.
Intra-disability politics was noted to be the other factor leading to confusion and hence exclusion of particular categories of disabled from the mainstream of disability politics. Many disability unions, especially at district level, were led by physically disabled persons. Most of these were themselves people with very minor disabilities. This relegated people of other disabilities to second rate consideration in the activities and programmes developed by the unions. As a result many disabled people who are not physically disabled generally feel that there is marginalisation even withing the disability movement itself.
Given the now much acclaimed affirmative action for disabled people it was assumed that articulation of disabled people’s needs in existing governance structures through disabled people’s representatives had now taken root, and was beginning to yield positive results. The reality on the ground was rather different. In nearly all sites that the study team visited disabled councillors were unclear about the role that they were supposed to play. For many preoccupation was with what appeared like “peripheral issues” in disability, such as obtaining some mobility appliances for members (Gamba, Mukono and Ibanda, Mbarara), or having some money voted for supporting disabled persons in undertaking their livelihood (income generation) activities (Iganga). Once a vote was created in the Local Council’s budget, any disabled councillor trying to raise an issue regarding the welfare of their constituents would be quickly rebuffed with such words as: “your budget already exists - use that”. Sadly, too, even when votes have been created there is little evidence to suggest that such monies are ever realised.
The limited focus by disabled people’s councillors, has led to budgeting for resources at the local level to continue to be carried out in traditional fashion. Focus has been on the same old priorities, the only difference now being that some monies are voted for disability. In addition the monies voted for disability have not only consistently been negligible but their expenditure focus has also been peripheral. Popular expenditure items include “celebrating the day for the disabled” and awareness raising workshops for disabled people. The missed opportunity at the political level is for issues of disabled people to be mainstreamed into all aspects of planning and budgeting, regardless of whether a vote on disability exists or not.
An important aspect of exclusion for disabled people was noted to be in the justice system. While the law does not deliberately exclude disabled people, in practice many are excluded from having a fair hearing. The research team observed that in nearly all lower courts there were no sign language interpreters, which rendered such courts inaccessible to deaf persons.
Stereotyping disability: A recurrent finding in all districts that the research team went to was that disabled people were not only being lumped together as one homogeneous group that needed similar assistance, but that most were also stereotyped as helpless, unworthy and “lacking in substance”. First, the homogeneous lumping together of all disabled people envisioned physical disability, mostly of those challenged by mobility, walking with crutches or in a wheelchair, as the central definition of disability. This perception completely ignored the diversity of disability and the variety of needs experienced by people with different types of disability. Even disabled people’s organisations at both grassroots and national level tended to downplay or even be unaware of the diversities that exist among people with disabilities. Similarly some categories of disabled people experienced greater exclusion. People with different disabilities faced different levels of exclusion. This had implications not only for how disabled people organise themselves or seek services, but also for specific targeting. Categories of disabled people that faced greater exclusion among others include:
- Women with disabilities
- Children with disabilities
- People with severe mental and intellectual disabilities
- People who are disabled by epilepsy
- Elderly people with disabilities
- Youth with disabilities
- People with multiple disabilities
Women with Disabilities: Ugandan society is still very patriarchal and discriminatory. Although attitudes are changing, women’s social role is primarily defined through motherhood and homemaking. With little or no opportunity to live up to the demanding ideals of womanhood that are imposed by society, disabled women experience more discrimination than other women. As a result of exclusion, disabled women are more likely to be poor or destitute and also have a lesser chance of founding a family or benefiting from social capital and protection that are often associated with family relationships. Asked for an opinion, disabled men in Namulesa, Mukono asserted that “one sure way of entrenching poverty in your household, particularly if you are a disabled man yourself is to marry a disabled woman”. Thus the stigma of disability, its myths and fears are likely to increase women’s social isolation in society, and hence poverty.This section of the report highlights the issues for women with disabilities living in chronic poverty. It further discusses issues of PWDs in politics and the stereotyping of disability. Women - whether disabled or not - must face the stigma of giving birth to a disabled child. This quote about women with disabilities sticks in my mind: "one sure way of entrenching poverty in your household, particularly if you are a disabled man yourself is to marry a disabled woman”. This article Disabled women remain largely ignored by society, sums up the position of disabled women in Ugandan society:
But women with disabilities, especially widows, are also more vulnerable to poverty because in addition to having to look after their children single-handedly, such children have fewer opportunities for inheriting properties since they would be considered to have been borne out of wedlock.
If you are not a disabled woman, pray to God that you remain that way for the rest of your life. You will have been saved the double discrimination which disabled women face in this country.This part of the survey of disability and poverty in Uganda discussed various issues associated with women and disability. Being a woman and disabled is significant, but for a non disabled woman giving birth to a child with a disability can lead to chronic poverty. This section also noted how the opinions and contributions of PWDs are consistently undervalued and ignored. It also brought to life the consequences for PWDs of negative stereotyping discussed so many times in this blog.
Generally speaking, disabled persons in this country suffer discrimination from all sectors of society. They are also more likely than their able counterparts, to live in abject poverty and exclusion. While this is true for them all, disabled women suffer double discrimination of being women and disabled women. This double discrimination makes the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals a far cry for this segment of our society.
If a woman is sighted on wheelchair, she is looked upon with condescending pity, if those women do not use a wheel chair, it is assumed that she is not disabled, and if she uses a wheel chair and still has some mobility, it is assumed that she does not really need it in the first place.
It is shocking that in the enormous list of sub-groups of the disadvantaged population, seldom is any mention made of disabled women. Disabled women, therefore, comprise one of the most neglected, if not, almost totally ignored segment of the society. Being a woman with physical disability can be very challenging. Though many are affected by physical disabilities, there is little understanding of their feelings and concerns among the population as a whole.
The first major limiting factor responsible for their plight is lack of accurate data on the extent of disabled women in the population provided in recognised local sources or international data for one to appreciate clearly why and how disabled women are at greater disadvantage compared with disabled men; in this scenario of data gaps on the nature and the extent of disability, sex disaggregated data is even more difficult to obtain. As a result, disabled women remain invisible in the arena of planning, formulation of policies, and programmes of poverty eradication and development.
While the representation of disabled persons in our Parliament should be lauded as a major step, this is downplayed by lack of data or any serious research which seeks to capture the voices of the poor in decision making and policy implementation needed to shape the destiny of the country.
Then we have the issue of lack of transportation for disabled persons which limits their accessibility to education, health, employment and leisure activities. Disabled women remain often isolated in their homes. They are also discriminated when it comes to marriage, being unable to have sufficient exposure to potential suitors and who, after all, are always on the lookout for able-bodied and hardworking women.
They are perceived as a problem rather talented people with creative minds who can make a contribution to development. We must realise that continuing to deny women with disabilities their rights is not acceptable. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of 2016 in Article 9 requires countries to identify and eliminate barriers and obstacles to accessibility and to ensure that people with disabilities can regularly and conveniently access transportation, public faculties and services, and information and communication technologies.
Article 9 wants these persons to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, which cannot be possible where issues to do with transportation are ignored.
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