One person who had a below-the-knee amputation said: "One cannot share
every thought with one's mother. You also need support of friends to share
certain issues. Being disabled, it is difficult to share the thought of sexual
need and desire even with my friends."
Another young female, who had undergone bilateral below-the-knee amputation,
shared that her husband left her when she became pregnant. When she went to the
hospital for her delivery the healthcare personnel said, "You don't have
legs, we cannot take the risk of delivering your baby."
"Although I did not have much trouble in the whole process of delivering the baby, the words like 'no' or 'limbless' were the only trouble I felt indirectly from every other person", she said.
Phyu Nwe Win,
Magazine Editor Colorful Girls Myanmar, says that in her country, persons with
disabilities especially young women and girls, have high unmet sexual and
reproductive health needs. This is mainly due to false perception that they
lack sexual desire and therefore are unlikely to have such needs. This inhibits
them from even talking about sexual and reproductive health related issues.
They are stigmatised and excluded from comprehensive sexuality education
programmes due to lack of perceived need. Even when included in educational
activities, they face barriers as materials specific to their needs are
unavailable. Myths and misinformation around sexual and reproductive health are
rampant and result in adverse outcomes for women with disabilities - like
forced marriages, domestic and sexual violence, and lack of power to negotiate
for safe sex that leads to unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted
infections, said Phyu.
These are some
of the heart wrenching ground realities faced by persons with disabilities. But
there are some sparks of hope too. As shared by An Nguyen, Vietnam is one such
country that offers a good practice example. An Nguyen is currently doing her
PhD from Monash University in Australia and has a physical disability due to
polio.
Vietnam is fairly progressive in terms of sexual and reproductive health services.
Most people can easily access contraception and reproductive health is
discussed openly. Government policies actively promote reproductive rights. The
recently implemented Disability Law has brought about a number of positive
changes for persons with disabilities.
An's study on "Accessing Reproductive Health Care Services For Women With
Physical Disabilities In Ho Chi Minh City" found that most women with
disabilities have had a positive experience when accessing healthcare services.
Participants reported that healthcare providers are sensitive and knowledgeable
about their needs and physical infrastructures have improved. Infrastructure
improvements included provision of ramps, lifts, and wheelchairs at health
clinics. Government healthcare cards for people with disabilities entitled them
to reduced fees or even free services, depending on the extent of their
disability. All this has helped the persons with disabilities to take good care
of their health.
However, some minor irritants still remain - like in some hospitals toilets are
inaccessible for wheelchair users; parking is far away from the main entry gate
and parking of three-wheel motorbikes is not allowed.
"Access of women with disabilities to reproductive healthcare could be
further improved by improving the capacity and knowledge of local governments
to better operationalise the laws. Also, there is scope for further improvement
in policies. Even though the law on disability recognizes the rights of persons
with disabilities, the national guidelines on reproductive healthcare services
currently do not have specific guidelines for them", says An.
In Pakistan, Tanzila's drama production company, Creative Alley, is using
innovative ways to highlight the issues of persons with disabilities at policy
level and also to sensitise the general public. Her "Theatre of the
Taboo" is a training module that uses theatre as a problem-solving
technique on issues related to sexual and reproductive health and rights.
"Our theatre makes the audience become the actors in the play. We let them
address their own biases and this has proved to be an enjoyable technique. We
also try to bring all communities together and not just the persons with
disabilities, as this is likely to alienate them", says Tanzila.
She has also founded "GirlyThings", a mobile App that provides home
delivery (to women and girls with and without disabilities) of products related
to women's health and menstrual hygiene, including sanitary pads. It empowers
women to take care of their menstrual health and hygiene by themselves by
providing instant access to feminine healthcare-related information and
products, which women might otherwise be unable to buy directly from the shop,
either because of their physical disability and/ or they might be hesitant to
buy from the shelf because of the inherent taboos and stereotypes around such
products.
Tanzila insists that the best way to empower persons with disabilities is by
mainstreaming them and treating them as our equal and not as beneficiaries of
our charity. We all need to adopt the lens of inclusivity and make sure that we
do not have a disabling attitude towards anybody, regardless of the impairment
of their body, or their background, or any other identity that they have.
Shobha Shukla - CNS (Citizen News Service)
(Shobha Shukla is the award-winning founding Managing Editor of CNS (Citizen News Service) and is a feminist, health and development justice advocate. She is a former senior Physics faculty of Loreto Convent College and current Coordinator of Asia Pacific Media Network to end TB & tobacco and prevent NCDs (APCAT Media). Follow her on Twitter @shobha1shukla or read her writings here www.bit.ly/ShobhaShukla)
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