Why women, girls with disabilities bore brunt of Covid crisis

Tracy Wanjiru was involved in a nasty road accident that left her with permanent disability.

The early 2020 crash affected part of the spinal cord that supplies power to the legs and now she cannot walk without crutches. She also had to be on medication for some time.

When Covid-19 infection was confirmed in the country in March 2020, Tracy did not at first give much thought to the effect it would have on her condition.

In an interview with Nation.Africa, she said she only realised the impact of the pandemic after hospitals were hit by a shortage of medical supplies. Some of the medicines she was using were no longer available as the global pandemic had disrupted logistics.

“It became very difficult to access some of the medicines I needed. I had to sometimes go without the medicine ad that affected my healing process,” said Tracy.

Treatment

The 23-year-old applied bio-engineering student at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology said she initially faced difficulties in attending clinics because of the lockdown that had been imposed by the government to curb the spread of the virus.

The situation, however, changed after her doctor gave her a letter, which she would give to police officers manning roadblocks to allow her to pass.

Tracy rose into the limelight in March when she applied for the nomination of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) presidential ticket, challenging Deputy President William Ruto.

Her Covid-19 agony is just but a tip of the iceberg of tales from women living with disabilities. A regional analysis of Covid-19 in East and Southern Africa shows women and girls living with disabilities have been the most affected.

Dr Maxime Houinato, the UN Women regional director for East and Southern Africa, said the analysis shows that during the pandemic, women and girls with disabilities have been absent and sidelined in Covid-19 response and recovery policies, plans, protection and prevention measures.

“The analysis showed that women and girls living with disabilities have been more vulnerable. Their vulnerability comes from discrimination and environmental, policy and institutional barriers created by individuals and perpetuated across all levels of society,” said Dr Houinato.

The analysis was conducted by the United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) in collaboration with UN Women.

Inclusion

The analysis aimed at understanding the realities for women and girls with disabilities and promising practices for their inclusion. Dr Houinato observed that it is time to act and involve them in critical decision-making organs.

“We need to act to improve their representation in decision-making and improve the inclusivity of the platforms where issues of response to Covid-19 are addressed,” he said.

He added that to break the cycle of violence against women and girls, there is need to secure the spaces and platforms that would let them lead to ensure a more inclusive and equitable society.

Lizzie Kiama, the managing trustee of Disability Trust, Kenya, cited limited data as one of the key barriers to effective service delivery for women and girls living with disabilities.

“Data is important in informing and guiding UN entities, national governments, civil societies and the private sector on policymaking and enforcement, programming and service delivery to ensure investments are really those who need it most,” said Ms Kiama.

Economic empowerment

She added that economic empowerment of those with disabilities needs to be part of policy designs by governments in response to Covid-19 to support women in such conditions to generate self-reliant activities, reduce dependence and create opportunities.

The bodies are rooting for action to improve inclusivity, including bringing on board women and girls with disability onto platforms where pandemic response is planned and implemented.

Nadia Vuwimana, president of the Association of Women with Disabilities in Burundi, regretted that some people took advantage of vulnerability of women and girls with disabilities to abuse them at the height of the coronavirus crisis.

“There are some people who took advantage of the pandemic to abuse and exploit them and women and girls with disabilities became victims of violence,” she noted.

The chairperson of Zimbabwe’s Network of African Women with Disabilities, Roseweter Mudarika recommended that women and girls living with disabilities be included at the decision-making table every time there is an emergency.

“They also need to be trained and equipped with appropriate gadgets so that they can participate on equal terms with everybody else,” she said.

A survey by UNFPA, titled The Impact of Covid-19 on Women and Girls with Disabilities and conducted last year, showed that barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health information, goods, and services and exercising bodily autonomy for women and girls with disabilities have increased during the pandemic.

The survey also found that they faced increased risk factors for gender-based violence and compounded barriers to accessing related support services, police, and justice mechanisms.

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