People with disabilities need specialised victim support

By Gibson Mhaka,

Bulawayo, 3 December: Today we celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disability (IDPD) which is observed on 3 December in the backdrop of  the 16 days of activism against Gender Based Violence (GBV), an international campaign to challenge violence against women and girls.

The day aims to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development, and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

The theme for 2020 is: “Building Back Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 World”.

But for a hearing and speech impaired Bulawayo woman Memory (34) who did not want her last name used for privacy reasons and who is also HIV-positive and survivor of domestic violence, the month of December is a rude reminder of the tragic events that culminated in her life when she was repeatedly raped by her HIV-positive uncle but chose to die in silence during that time in fear of being discriminated and losing her support system.

Speaking through a sign language interpreter Memory protests: “For me it seems I have nothing in common with these so-called important days or campaigns in the month of December. The month indeed brings a lot of personal emotions to me. Being someone with disabilities, I endured years of physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of my HIV-positive uncle. I didn’t get the help I needed during that time and even after his death five years ago”.

“For example, when I tried to look for help years after his death, the majority of shelters, helplines, counselling services, I was referred to didn’t have a sign language interpreter. Even at police stations I was not being attended because public officials are not trained in sign language, despite it being one of the country’s 14 official languages contained in the Constitution,” she says with tears rolling down her face.

She says she has nothing celebrate for as the IDPWD came at a time when there are too many expectations on this day, most of which are not fulfilled.

She derisively described the event as “Nothing about us without us” adding that the response from the authorities is frequently inadequate and discriminatory.

Noteworthy, this year, the IDPWD falls on the same week as the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 30 Nov-1 and 3 Dec. 2020 and is being observed throughout the week in conjunction with the 13th session of the Conference of States Parties to the CRPD.

The spread of COVID-19 has also added a further layer of misery to Memory’s already complex and dire situation. The pandemic has undoubtedly laid bare yet again the deficiencies in crisis response for people with disabilities.

Memory’s case is however, far from being an isolated one. Her situation is mirrored across the country and in other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries where women and girls with disabilities are facing challenges in accessing protection from abuse and justice on an equal basis with others.

Although there are no official statistics on the total number or percentage of women and girls with disabilities in Zimbabwe, according to the Inter-Censal Survey, the proportion of male to females with disabilities is 56 and 44 percent.

Women and girls with disabilities are also lacking access to specialised victim support services making them more vulnerable to violence and abuse than other women.

Research suggests that women and girls with disabilities are more likely to experience domestic violence, emotional abuse, and sexual assault than women without disabilities.

Women with disabilities may also feel more isolated and feel they are unable to report the abuse, or they may be dependent on the abuser for their care. Like many women who are abused, women and girls with disabilities are usually abused by someone they know, such as a partner or family member.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that more than one billion people, about 15 percent of the world’s population – experience some form of disability.

Visually-impaired Millicent Ncube (28) who stays in Cowdray Park suburb says women and girls with disabilities are not being taken seriously or not receiving adequate assistance due to lack of disability knowledge or the necessary access to resources.

“For us women with disabilities we grow up feeling that we are unbale to ask for help or advice. Even when we are abused, we are often regarded as less credible and less believed by those in authority. For example, the hearing and speech impaired in the event that they are abused and they want to file a complaint, they hardly find someone at the police station who speaks sign language.

“And also, in the event that the matter goes to court, women and girls with disabilities are often not provided with necessary accessible information and knowledge. These are some of the obstacles that prevent us as women and girls with disabilities from seeking help at all,” says Ncube.

Research has also shown that despite a few promising services by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), specialised accessible victim support services for women and girls with disabilities, tailored to their specific situations, are not available on a nationwide basis. There is a major gap concerning the accessibility to specialised victim support services by women and girls with disabilities making them more vulnerable to violence and abuse than other women.

Celebrated motivational speaker, broadcaster and disability activist, Soneni Gwizi who is also the Action on Disability and Development (ADD) ambassador says lack of specialised accessible victim support services by women and girls with disabilities was making it difficult to come up with statistics of women and girls (with disabilities) that are being abused, raped or beaten up by their partners or family members.

She says besides lacking specialised accessible victim support services, women and girls with disabilities if abused they don’t always speak up as they frequently dependent on perpetrators for assistance in their daily lives, both in their homes and in institutional settings.

“Women with disabilities are very vulnerable to abuse, sexual abuse and reporting is a great challenge. So, due to lack of accessible victim support services, it is difficult to come up with statistics of women and girls with disabilities who are being abused, raped or being beaten up by their partners or family members or anything like that. And sometimes they don’t speak up because the offenders are breadwinners, people that they stay with or people that they have confidence in,” says Gwizi.

Gwizi further says the other reasons why women and girls with disabilities do not even seek support are overprotection and inadequate sex and sexual health education, especially for women with intellectual impairments, which leads to difficulties in distinguishing between right and wrong sexual behaviour.

Gender activist and counsellor Ms Duduzile Mhlanga also acknowledges that women and girls with disabilities face unique barriers when seeking services after experiencing domestic or sexual violence.

“Some organisations that focus on actively working with women and girls with disabilities and providing accessible services, the majority of them do not have enough resources to cope with the “extra” counselling and accommodation needed to protect them against violence,” says Ms Mhlanga.

Although, the government through the ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development hails the One-Stop Centres to assist victims of GVB saying it gives access to holistic services (health, psychosocial support, legal and police services) to survivors under one roof and free of charge, Minister Sithembiso Nyoni however, acknowledges that the services of women’s support structures concerning violence against women and girls with disabilities were limited due to shortage of experts.

“We are indeed experiencing a shortage of experts at one stop centres especially for those with a hearing and speech impairment. We are however, appealing if there are any experts out there who want to work with us that they should come forward and register with my ministry. This is because our policy as a ministry is that everyone should be catered for including those living with disabilities,” says Minister Nyoni.

Even regional and international legal frameworks and institutions that provide legal protection from violence for all persons living with disabilities, they have no explicit guidelines that promote or enforce governments to provide specialised victim support structures for women and girls with disabilities who are experiencing violence.

For example, the SADC  Protocol on Health, which envisages cooperation between SADC member states in respect of certain health aspects, inter alia provides that States Parties shall promote effective measures to prevent and manage disabilities; increase access to improved technology related to assistive devices, and the creation of a barrier free environment for the equalisation of opportunities for persons with disabilities; and promote community based rehabilitation programmes does not meet the needs of women and girls with disabilities if they are exposed to violence.

It must be stressed that realising the rights of persons with disabilities is central to the promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres is also on record saying there is need to build more inclusive and accessible societies, in consultation with persons with disabilities.

He says people with disabilities — particularly, women and girls — face a greater risk of domestic violence, which has surged during the pandemic.

“As the world recovers from the pandemic, we must ensure that the aspirations and rights of persons with disabilities are included and accounted for in a -inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 world. This vision will only be achieved through active consultation with persons with disabilities and their representative organizations,” warns Guterres.

Gibson Mhaka is a senior reporter with B-Metro under the Zimpapers stable and has also undergone several trainings courtesy of Gender Links. This story is part of the GL 16 Days SRHR News Service.