Category Archives: disabled feminism

May20

The UK CEDAW Shadow Report – Women’s Equality in the UK: A health check

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Sisters of Frida has been part of the UK CEDAW Working Group for some time now and Armineh Soorenian was largely responsible for collating a contribution for us about disabled women in the shadow report.

The UK CEDAW Shadow Report – Women’s Equality in the UK: A health check (http://thewomensresourcecentre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Women%E2%80%99s-Equality-in-the-UK-A-health-check.pdf)  – has been produced by the CEDAW Working Group, a coalition of 42 women’s and human rights organisations from across the UK in preparation for the examination of the UK Government by the UN CEDAW Committee in July 2013.

Zara Todd and Eleanor Lisney represented SoF at the launch last week. Here are some of the reports about the successful launch -

http://thewomensresource.tumblr.com/post/50411742451/successful-launch-of-the-uk-cedaw-shadow-report

Mentions in the press:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/may/13/government-cuts-reversing-gender-equality-gain

http://disabilitynewsservice.com/2013/05/fridas-sisters-ensure-un-will-examine-disabled-womens-issues/

Zara and Eleanor

Zara and Eleanor (photo by Pete Riches)

Part of the CEDAW Working Group - Eleanor with Charlotte Gage

Part of the CEDAW Working Group – Eleanor with Charlotte Gage  (photo by Pete Riches)

Mar17

Update on Anne Pridmore’s fight for the Independent Living Fund

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Channel 4 news Katie Razzall had the piece  all ready for broadcast that eventful evening on the 13th March where Anne was at court with the other 5 people on behalf of thousands of others -  challenging the Government’s decision to scrap the Independent Living Fund from 2015 and devolve it to local authorities instead. However, in an ironic twist, news broke that a new Pope was chosen and all news coverage focused on that instead.

It was published online instead

Anne told Channel 4 News: “It’s like the sword of Damocles hanging over my shoulder because it’s always on your mind: what’s going to happen? Many of us feel the same way. If the local authority won’t take over the funding to pay for the bit the ILF have been paying, I see the only option is being put into an old people’s home. I’ve lived in this house for 47 years and didn’t expect to have to campaign to stay in my own home at my age.”

Mrs Pridmore has met representatives from her local council to ask what their plans are.

“I pressed them but they were very cagey, and talked about other ways of providing care which doesn’t involve “hands on” care. I believe they are probably referring to things like people having to use incontinence pads. They are not doing that yet in my local authority but I know that people who have to use these in other areas.”

Lawyers for the six told us they are challenging the Government decision on two grounds.

They say the Government is breaching the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, to which it is a signatory and which includes promises to promote independent living.

They also argue the consultation process carried out before the scheme was axed was “unlawful” because it didn’t provide adequate information on the differences between the fund and the local authority assessment and provision. They also say there hasn’t been proper assessment of the impact of the change on disabled people’s ability to live and work indepdently.

Read the rest on the Channel 4 website.
Read also her story on the DPAC website.

Feb24

What Is “Intersectional” Anyway?

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Many thanks to Emma @pseudodeviant for letting us repost this blog.

Emma with SoF 2012 at MWR

I imagine that if you are reading this you identify either as a feminist, a disabled person* or as an ally of feminists and/or disabled people and you might have heard the term “intersectional” or “intersectionality” used when talking about peoples rights. It might sound a bit academic, but the principle is fairly simple and extremely important so I’m going to attempt to explain it in this post.

In a nutshell: 
People are oppressed for a variety of different reasons such as disability, gender, culture, sexuality & race. There is a lot of overlap between these oppressions; we call the areas of overlap intersections. Someone who campaigns for disabled peoples’ rights in an intersectional way is aware that there are lots of disabled people who are not heterosexual, cisgendered, white men and that they will probably be living with more than one kind of oppression. Many people, myself included, believe that it is very important to remember intersecting oppressions to make sure that our campaigning is as inclusive of everybody’s needs as possible.

5 interlocking circles: sexuality, disability, gender, race, nationality


A very simple venn diagram showing some intersecting circles of oppression including gender, disability, sexuality, nationality & race.

In a bit more detail:

If you are a disabled person or an ally to disabled people I assume you will be no stranger to the idea that our society is, at it’s core, disablist. The majority of people in positions of power are non-disabled and this is in a large part because disabled people are still routinely silenced, dismissed, ignored or refused access to the necessary tools to be able to communicate meaningfully. They are frequently excluded from politics, from decision making and from society as a whole because of damaging and deep seated idea’s about what disability is or means. It results in a large gap in pay, employment prospects, education, access to health care and access to independent living between disabled and non-disabled people. The power gap between disabled and non-disabled people is frequently abused and results in disability related hate-crime, abuse & harassment whilst the successful prosecution of such crimes remains woefully low.
If you are a feminist or an ally to feminists then I assume you will be no stranger to the concept that our society is still very sexist. The majority of people in positions of power are male and they decide what media we consume, what policies we follow and how our laws are applied. Sexist stereotypes brand men as strong, powerful, aggressive, logical and confident and women as weak, passive, caring, guided by emotion and small and they have damaging effects on men & women alike who do not fit those very constraining moulds. There is a large gap in pay, caring expectations, attainment and employment & educational choices between women and men. The power gap between men and women is frequently abused and results in statistics like 1 in 4 women being domestically abused in their lifetime, 1 in 5 women being sexually assaulted or stalked whilst the chances of getting these crimes taken to court is still low.

I would hope that it doesn’t come as a shock when I now say that as well as people being discriminated against because of their gender/gender identity (or perceived gender) or because they are disabled (or perceived to be disabled) are also discriminated against in remarkably similar ways because of their race (or perceived race), age (or perceived age), sexuality (or perceived sexuality) and beliefs (or perceived beliefs).

We can also see that where there is an overlap of identities (or an intersection of identities) people face extra discrimination. I will take the example of disabled women quickly to illustrate this point. Disabled men get paid on average 11% less than similarly qualified non-disabled men doing the same job. Disabled women get paid 22% less than disabled men when doing the same job**. They effectively take one pay cut because of disability, then another because of gender. Disabled women are more than twice as likely to experience domestic/intimate abuse than non-disabled women.

When human/civil rights campaigners talk about taking an intersectional approach they are talking about remembering that there are other forms of oppression active and that these need to be taken into account. It is important to remember that when talking about women’s rights that many of those women will also be one or more of the following; disabled, working-class, black or minority ethnic (BME), lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, intersex, queer (LGBTIQ) and/or hold cultural & religious beliefs that differ to the ‘norm’. When women’s rights campaigning ignores those areas it is complicit in further marginalising these women on the basis of their other characteristics.

Intersectionality is not about who wins the “most oppressed” award, nor is it about derailing or silencing conversations. The joy of intersectionality is that it raises questions for everyone and widens the scope of conversation, debate and dialogue. It is a tool which can be used to improve campaigns, make for a far more inclusive environment and to remind people not to assume that everyone has an equal and shared background. I don’t know about you but I personally don’t want to see advances in feminism that set LGBTIQ people back in their fight for equality and nor do I want to see advances in disability rights that ignore the reality of sexism that the people it represents experience.

I’m going to stop there. Hopefully that has given a basic introduction to the concept and hopefully it will have made some sense.

* In this post when I talk about disability I am talking about people who have an impairment and are disabled by a society that oppresses them as a result. My definition of disability includes long term sickness/illness and conditions like HIV.

** See Longhi,S. and Platt, L. 2008, Pay and equalities areas. Research report 9. Equality and Human Rights Commission. Also covers pay gaps with regards to other protected characteristics.

 

 

Jan16

International Networking Site for Disabled Youth Launch

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We would like to congratulate one of our Sisters of Frida, Zara Todd,  for the launch of a website for young disabled people from across the world with the aim of connecting them.

International Network for Disabled Youth, known as “INDYspace” (www.indyspace.org), an online network dedicated to connecting young disabled people aged 16-30 from around the world, has been officially launched.

The website, funded by Oxfam Australia through their Oxfam International Youth Partnerships (OIYP) programme, is the first of its kind in bringing young disabled people together on a global level. It enables users to sign up and share their experiences through the posting of blogs, pictures and videos, as well as providing information on a range of relevant topics including disability rights, independent living, travel and transport, and inclusion and accessibility, acting as both a network and an information base to which users can contribute. It is hoped that in the long-term, the site can provide informative, user-run webinars and interactive online video conferences. There is a strong dedication to making the site both ascetic and accessible to its users, with recommendations given by a web accessibility consultant currently being implemented.

The founders of the website, Erin Gough from New Zealand and Zara Todd from the United Kingdom, who first met at an Oxfam international youth conference two years ago, embody the site mission of enabling young disabled people to work together across borders, constructing the site from opposite sides of the globe.

Zara and Erin

When asked why the pair created the website, Zara Todd commented “We saw that there was a gap , online and literally within the international sector for young disabled people to connect to one another. We wanted a way for young disabled people to all become stronger, to enable them to find solutions together to the barriers that they face as young disabled people, regardless of what country they’re in.” Erin Gough added that the site was “made by young disabled people, for young disabled people” and that she hoped users would take the opportunity to both use and share the site, as “the more of a global force we are, the more global change will be created”.

Jan3

Press note by Women with Disabilities India Network

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we posted this  in solidarity with our disabled sisters in India and everywhere else!

Press note by Women with Disabilities India Network

(dated 30/12/2012)

Last night a young girl of 23 years died after being brutally raped in New Delhi. Her struggle lasted from 16 to 29th December 2012. Travelling with her friend who hailed a bus they were  brutally attacked by a group of six men, while the man was thrown off the bus, the woman was gang raped. The brutality perpetuated on the victim has outraged the nation.

We the ‘Women with Disabilities India Network’ join other women and concerned citizens in condemning the act.

 

We can understand the trauma faced by the young woman because we are targets of such violence each day in both public and private sphere.Such rapes are not isolated incidents, but are rather experienced in a continuum of violence. They happen within the homes, in buses and trains and in State run institutions for instance against women with mental illness and young girls with intellectual disability where rape is an everyday affair.    Rape by household members often remains unreported to avoid further stigmatization.

We believe that rape as a weapon of violence must be stopped and impunity enjoyed by perpetrators brought to an end. Impunity for the rape of women has become a national concern, because it compounds the effects of such violence. It intensifies the subordination and powerlessness of the targets of rape and sends a message to society that male violence against women is both acceptable and inevitable.

We urge that the cases of such heinous crimes be taken up and speedy action taken so that justice can be done.

 

We do not believe that death penalty is the answer as it reflects attention away from the violence perpetuated against us. This is especially the case when much of the violence perpetrators are mostly men from within families.  We aim for dignity and justice and safe homes, society and country. We believe that The normalcy and ethical acceptability of this violence must be challenged by the normative and ablest  attitudes

 

We must adopt laws and policies recognizing that all actions that violate women’s bodies are illegal.  Women must themselves be key decision makers in efforts to identify priority concerns and legal responses.

 

There is a need for further popular, police, and judicial training that builds specific cultural awareness   about disability issues  and legal knowledge on the issue.

Without such efforts, further elaboration of domestic and international, legal standards will fail women.

 

There has to be an appropriate strict punishment for all rapists, ensuring that they do not indulge in such activities again Concerns of deaf women in relation to rape came out very blatantly in our meeting in Delhi on 1st October 2012.
Since most disabled women are raped by men they trust the most who may be their family member’s or care givers (in institutes), there must be a mechanism set across the country where they can report such matters without the scare of any negative consequences. Also psychological and vocational support must be provided to such women.

Additional vulnerability of WWD is not recognized anywhere. I think that it must be recognized and addressed at all levels whether it be in the women commission, women groups and NGO programmes or any programmes and schemes instituted by the government.

Prepared by

Anita Ghai
Associate Professor
Fellow, Teen Murti (2009-2011)
IAWS president (2008-2011)
EC member IAWS (2011-2014)

Jeeja Ghosh
Head Advocacy and Disability Studies IICP,

Kolkata

Shivani Gupta

Founder and Chief Consultant

AccessAbility

New Delhi

Anjlee Agarwal
Executive Director & Access Consultant
Samarthyam
New Delhi

Smitha
DLU South
Chennai

Asha Hans
Former Prof & Director Women’s Studies
Utkal University
& EVP SMRC
Bhubaneswar
Odisha

Nov22

Michelle Daley interviewed on disability and ethnicity on Vox Africa

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We are very proud that one of the Sisters of Frida, Michelle Daley, was interviewed on STM (SHoot the Messenger) Vox Africa.

She spoke on being a disabled black woman in her community.

Michelle Daley

Michelle Daley (click on image for video)

We apologise for the lack of a transcript. If anybody can help with that please let us know.

Apr22

Disability: the Cinderella of feminism?

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Many thanks to Jane Osmond for this repost from Women’s Views in News. We have also reposted Philippa here before.

Today, I wrote an article about the appalling situation Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson found herself in recently when she had to throw her wheelchair onto a rail station platform and crawl after it.

I contacted Philippa of the feminist blog site the F-Word for her comments on this situation from her point of view as a disabled person: see WVoN post here.

During the conversation, we touched on disability as a feminist issue, something I had already come across in a blog post written by s.e.smith. Smith talks about ‘intersectionality - the idea that overlapping and interconnecting systems of oppression are involved pretty much anywhere you feel like looking’:

‘The short version of the reason that disability is a feminist issue is that some people with disabilities are women. I know, shocking! But I’m here to tell you that it’s true.’

This is something Philippa concurs with:

‘I think it is basically the fact that if it affects women it is a feminist issue.  Fundamentally, just like I think racism is a feminist issue because it affects women, feminism should be always advocating for people who are disadvantaged in one way or another.  It is about social justice really.’

Obvious, right?

Well, maybe not.

As Philippa says, although there are pockets of feminist spaces that try hard to be inclusive, there are also those that are not.  And this usually takes the form of a woman’s disability being seen as secondary:

‘Something that I have come across when I have tried to talk about disability in a feminist context is that disability can be seen as a “diversion” from proper feminist issues.

‘For example, if a disabled woman is attacked, talking about the disability aspect of the attack should not be seen as a diversion – it is a key part of what is happening.’

And, it seems, the biggest problem is also obvious – access. As someone with a minor knee disability I am hyper-sensitive to non-accessible places – lots of steps, long walks from public transport to venues and, as I get older, heavy doors that are difficult to open.

This also resonated with Philippa who said:

‘The other aspect is that in practical terms lots of feminist groups meet in upstairs rooms and pubs and, while I fully appreciated that they use those spaces because they may be free, and accessible spaces often cost, I also think this is increasingly unacceptable.

‘I think a feminist group that does not take accessibility into account is not only NOT representing lots of women, it is physically not letting lots of women in.’

This is a theme that is echoed in the blogosphere.  With this quote a Corkfeminista blogger with a disabled son, hits the nail firmly on the head:

‘I’d love to join everyone for an evening of story-sharing at the Metropole Hotel [to celebrate International Women's Day] but I can’t, and why I can’t is part of my story…the story of disability as the Cinderella of feminism.’

Thinking that electronic communications could help address this for those who find it difficult to leave the house, I asked Philippa if, in her experience, e-comms were an adequate substitute for attending events in person:

‘Disabled people are doing some amazing campaign work online. What has been going on with Twitter in the disability community has been amazing: for example, it is really including people who might not be able to sit up in bed but can tweet.

‘The creativity I have seen in the online activism is brilliant. Also, a lot of the feminist conferences will have a hash tag, live tweeting and video-links which is good.’

However, Philippa does not feel that e-comms can replace the actual attendance at an event:

‘I don’t think “you can’t come but you can watch” is an acceptable compromise.’

And, for the Corkfeminista blogger, the pressures of disability caring means that there is ‘precious little time for online presence.’:

’80% of unpaid disability carers in Ireland who are women frequently remain isolated and unheard and the 20% who are men suffer the same fate for engaging in what State and society alike still consider to be low-status women’s work.’

So what can feminist groups do to address this?

Philippa suggests the following would be a place to start:

  1. When planning an event, build in the questions surrounding access right from the beginning
  2. Don’t assume you know what the issues are, ask disabled people themselves
  3. Include information about access in the press release for the event
  4.  If you are planning a march, perhaps offer a shorter version or a different meeting place.

An example of a well-planned conference is Intersect in Bristol on 19th May.

Beginning with an open debate entitled ‘How do we create a more inclusive feminism?’, the conference has been set up in response to feedback from groups who feel excluded from mainstream feminism.

And, in keeping with the theme of the conference, there is a dedicated accessibility page which outlines the following about the venue:

‘Hamilton House is fully wheelchair-accessible, with a ramp to the front door and internal lift. We are aiming to provide British Sign Language interpreters throughout the conference.

‘The conference will be live-streamed so that people who can’t attend may still watch and anyone watching online (or anyone at the conference who does not wish to speak publicly) may tweet questions to the speakers during the Q&A sessions.’

Further:

‘INTERSECT will be a safe space. This means it will be an event where everyone can feel welcome and respected.

‘No form of discrimination will be tolerated and may result in your removal from the conference.

‘Do not use aggressive, disrespectful, oppressive or exclusionary language.

‘If you disagree with someone’s ideas, do not attack them personally.

‘Be mindful of people’s personal and emotional boundaries.

‘Be aware of the privileges you possess and listen to people with other perspectives.’

Today I have written about only two issues in relation to disability and feminism, but there are many more.

As Philippa points out – how much more difficult it must be to escape domestic violence if the abuser is also a carer and could withhold meds, and communicating with an outside agency is difficult due to deafness, for example.

Then there are refuges not being accessible, the impossibility of fighting back against rape if you are unable to move without pain, difficulties attending healthcare appointments, the list goes on and on.

But in essence – how much more difficult just to be HEARD when you have a disability that makes accessing mainstream events and communications difficult.

Surely, as feminists, we owe it to our disabled sisters to make sure that not only are their voices heard, but that their physical presence is encouraged?  Only then can we call ourselves a truly intersectional movement.