Rwanda © Wendy Huyghe / HI
All women and girls, with or without disabilities, are vulnerable to violence. This may be physical (domestic violence, sexual violence, rape, and forced marriage), psychological (verbal violence, insults, and denial of opportunity and services), or economical (denial of inheritance and deprivation of resources).
Studies show that the risk of violence for women with disabilities is two times higher than for women without disabilities. And for girls with disabilities, the risk is even higher—at four times the rate. Therefore, women and girls with disabilities face additional violence such as psychological abuse, confinement, forced sterilization, or medical treatment without consent.
The root causes of this violence are found in gender inequalities, unequal power relations, and a lack of respect for human rights. Other factors, such as poverty, excessive alcohol consumption, lack of access to services, crisis situations, etc., may contribute to increased violence.
In response to this situation, HI is taking action. Three of our specialists are raising their voice: Magali Videau, Protection Specialist, Sophie Pécourt, Coordinator of the Making It Work "Gender and Disability" project and Corinne Gillet, Disability, Gender and Age Mission Officer.
In order to effectively combat this violence we must act on the root causes. We do this through activities that aim to transform attitudes and social norms. We carry out awareness-raising at community level on gender equality, and on the non-trivialization of violence through theatre workshops, videos, and discussion groups.
We also provide psychological and psychosocial support to violence survivors. We support economic resilience by developing income-generating activities, as we know that women and girls living in extreme economic insecurity are more likely to be affected by domestic violence, or to resort to prostitution in order to survive. Our teams refer people to medical care providers, as sexual violence can lead to injuries, sexually transmitted diseases, and unwanted pregnancies.
At a more macro level, HI advocates that girls and women with disabilities be fully included in psychological, medical and legal policies and spaces.
HI operates in both development and emergency settings—either through projects specifically dedicated to fighting gender-based violence, with particular attention to, and specific measures for people with disabilities, or by integrating this component into other projects working on mental health or education for instance...
Rwanda © Wendy Huyghe / HI
© Sophie Pécourt / HI
