MARTIN MAWAYA
GWERU-Zimbabwe joins the rest of the world in celebrating women’s achievements and contribution to the economic, political and social development of the country.
This is despite a plethora of challenges most women especially those who are disabled are facing in a society full of stigma and discrimination.
Their challenges range from poor service delivery, online cyber bullying, unequal distribution of resources which in most cases lead to gender based violence.
Regrettably, the social exclusion of people with disabilities is caused by attitudinal barriers, environmental barriers and institutional barriers, with the most sad part being the denial of right to Sexual Reproductive Health Services (SRHS) for women with disabilities.
In an interview with The Midweek Watch, Beat Non-Communicable Diseases Zimbabwe director Jacob Ngwenya says Women with Disabilities (WWD) are failing to access sexual reproductive health services as they are assumed to be not sexually active.
He said WWD are more vulnerable and face the brunt of sexual abuse, discrimination, exploitation as well as being at high risk of contracting HIV and Aids due to exclusion and limited access to SRHS related information and services.
“Discrimination discourages people from accessing health-care services, including HIV prevention methods, learning their HIV status, enrolling in care and adhering to treatment.
“Women with disabilities face discrimination when accessing sexual and reproductive health services as the society and some healthcare service providers falsely presume that people with disabilities are asexual as if disability renders them sexually inactive.
“Some people with disabilities will not receive treatment on time as the possibility of them contracting sexually related diseases is excluded,” he said.
He added that most health service providers feel pity whenever a disabled woman visits a hospital or a clinic to get contraceptives like condoms.
He called on government to strengthen the implementation of policies and regulations that prohibits all forms of discrimination at health-care centers.
Ngwenya added that retrogressive legislations must be reviewed as a matter of urgency so that citizens enjoy the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
“As vulnerable groups that include people with disabilities, people living with chronic diseases call upon the nation to treat people with respect and not to discriminate others based on race, age, sexual orientation and gender identity.
“Review and repeal punitive laws that have negative health impact. Guarantee that access to justice is made available to everyone, including the most marginalized,” said Ngwenya.
Precious Mutumwa a member with the Quadriplegic and Paraplegic Association of Zimbabwe (QUAPAZ) added that “people with disabilities find it difficult to visit health care centers for treatment or maternity registration because most of the time there is no privacy and confidentiality, particularly for the visually impaired people”.
She said awareness and educating health practitioners and society is important so that people with disabilities are treated equally like human beings who are also sexually active.
According to the ZIMSTAT 2022 census report 9,2% of the population which translates to over 1,2 million people are disabled.
