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The woeful under-representation of India’s Disabled Women

-Ria Nisar

A disability is described as a ‘physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities’. However, experts have come to a mutually agreed decision that a singular, universally accepted definition for disability does not exist. Even though the symptoms can be medically clustered, the needs of two people who have been classified having the same illness, can differ.

 
Disability can be a birth defect. An impairment which may be present in a child when he/she is in the womb. They can be caused after birth also owing to some natural or manmade calamities like wars, chemical reactions, chronic illnesses, poverty and malnutrition.

Social ostracism of India’s differently abled sisters

Approximately 2.1% of India’s population is disabled. Among the total disabled in the country, 12.6 million are males and 9.3 million are females. The harsh reality remains that they need to cope up with three kinds of disability in this country- their illness, social stigma and discrimination. There is rampant prejudice against disabled women in the country. Society continues to see disabled people as ‘dependent’ and ‘defective’ and this limits people from seeing what persons with disabilities can do, over what they cannot. From being denied their rights in the corporate and political world, they have been denied traditional roles of marriage and child-bearing also. In the rural areas, women are economically backward and don’t have access to resources such as healthcare and sanitation and thus their lives are rife with isolation, fear and abuse with no respite from this ordeal.

We live in a society that blames persons with disabilities for the existence of their disability and fails to see its own shortcomings. Recently, a well renowned media personality and prolific dancer, Sudha Chandran, was asked to remove her prosthetic limb at an airport security check and she was grilled by the security personnel present there. This disgraceful act just amplifies the disrespect meted out to women by ignorant society members. Even so, unemployment rates are highest among women with disabilities. Companies lack the infrastructure and supplies to even train the disabled.

Threat of violence perpetrated by the ill-equipped law

Violence against disabled women has also increased perpetually. Considered helpless, malicious men take advantage of them leaving a trail of helpless women, stripped of their dignity. A significant portion of perpetrators have been found to be male caregivers followed by the male family members and strangers constitute only a miniscule of the percentage of the abusers. They are too scared to even report such matters because of embarrassment, financial constraints as well as inadequate redressal mechanisms that can guide and support them. In a report released by Human Rights Watch, they exposed numerous health care institutions and mental hospitals where disabled women were admitted by the police or heartless family members and they were subjected to horrendous treatment there. Once locked away, they are faced to live in unsanitary conditions, are victims of sexual assault and even given electroshock therapy.

Marginalization and isolation in the political sphere

In a country like India, where crafty politicians are only concerned about their image, their political manifestos do include a paragraph stating how they vow to help people with disabilities. But, time and again they have just pursued their seat on the table for which they successfully lead gullible people into their web of legal mandates and empty promises. Eloquently, they preach their deception in a hollow jar, corrupting naïve minds to further their agenda. We see policies being framed for the disable but they all exclude steps which will actually take remedy and help the plight of the disbaled. An understanding of the problems of the disabled has largely been missing in active implementation of various policies till now.

In 2016, after rigorous advocacy by activists, the umbrella of laws covering the rights of disabled people was increased from 21 from 7. There are several acts in place such as the Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS), Scheme for Implementation of Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 (SIPDA), Scheme of Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS), but all of the lack proper execution as well as public awareness. Recognition and cognizance of these schemes need to be made at the grassroots level but the Government overlooks its importance.

There is also political exclusion of women with disabilities in the country. Societal prejudices which have plagued the mindset of the citizens and minimal intervention by the Government to eradicate the same have led to the belief of viewing disabled women as undesirable and unworthy candidates. Some women in the rural parts are illiterate and not aware of their rights as well and thus don’t even enter the political realm. Toxic masculinity and patriarchal laws have rendered disabled women immobile and exhausted.

Disability is not an Inability

In a nation that reveres women as goddesses of wealth, knowledge, power and infinite energy, there are a few who have gone on to prove why. In the face of injustice, women are warriors by blood. There are many disable women shattering the glass ceiling and excelling in many spheres of life. Entering the political arena, we have Minati Barik, who is the first female wheelchair candidate to win an election in Orissa. She has been instrumental in improving the hygiene and sanitation conditions of her village, Bajapur.

We also have Arunima Sinha, world’s first female amputee to scale seven mountain peaks around the world including Mount Everest and Mount Kilimanjaro. With focus, strength and spontaneity, she hoisted the Indian National flag on each continent's highest peak. When she was pushed out of a moving train in 2011 by robbers, she sustained multiple fractures of the spinal cord and a rod was pushed into her right leg. The incident may have broken her body but not her determination. An inspiration to all, she is also the recipient of the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award.


Preethi Srinivasan who  was the captain of the under-19 Women’s Cricket Team of Tamil Nadu was rendered quadriplegic (affected by or relating to paralysis of all four limbs) after an accident. That didn’t bog her down and with indomitable spirit and the vehement support of her friends and family, she now is the co-founder of Soul free that focuses to spread awareness about spinal cord injuries and how to prevent them in order to avoid future injuries, to highlight the plight of people living with severe disabilities, especially women, in society, and to encourage a more inclusive society.


In this digital world, there are many apps formed to help disabled people. One such app is Inclov which is a matchmaking platform for people with disabilities. Inclov itself stands for inclusive love and promotes inclusiveness within the community making it accessible and safe to users with visual impairment, polio, paraplegia, cerebral palsy, prosthetic feet, cancer, diabetes, thalassemia, or skin diseases like vitiligo and albinism, etc. amongst others. Four students from Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management and Engineering in Mumbai developed an app called Augmenta11y which is an Augmented reality app that helps people with learning disabilities such as dyslexia easily read signage, paper and other material in the real world.  

Measures to reverse the apathy of the disabled women 


It’s great to read such stories. They are a source of inspiration and help inculcate character and the spirit of hope in everyone. Nevertheless, there is still a long way to go to give disabled women the acknowledgement they need because in India, disability still remains about the able bodied. The judiciary needs to implement strict laws with rigorous punishment against people who commit crimes against the disabled women. Policy makers need to ensure a better complaint program void of any sort of bias and negative influence so that disabled women feel safe to voice their grievances. Skilling persons with disabilities is one of the numerous steps that could help them to become independent and forge their own identities.

Government should also promote competitions and felicitate Paralympic champions in a grand way to motivate others. It also needs to provide disabled women with adequate knowledge about sexuality which will equip them to understand that they have been sexually assaulted.


Greater recognition needs to be given to those NGOs which are fighting for better conditions for disabled women. One such NGO is ADP (Association for Disabled People) which was founded in Bangalore and is transforming the lives of disadvantaged children and women who belong to the underprivileged society. Discrimination against persons with disabilities hinders economic development, limits democracy, and erodes societies.


"Disability isn't a barrier. Lack of support is."



#NGO #app #disability #divyang #women #support #ArunimaSinha





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