Women living with disabilities face various challenges within the community. Although they are able to work, they aspire to be included in decision-making bodies and to be considered during recruitment. In this issue, we highlight the specific challenges they face in the health sector.
In Burundi, medical infrastructure and medical kits, such as beds installed in maternity wards or in hospital rooms, make access to health care more complicated for women living with disabilities.
The Burundian Association for the Promotion of the Rights of Disabled Women-Urumuri (ABPDFH) presented on Friday, July 12, 2024, at Bujumbura City Hall, a document dealing with the barriers and difficulties that prevent people living with disabilities from fully enjoying their rights or actively participating in the development of society.
This association interviewed 86 women living with visual or psychosocial disabilities, residing in the municipality of Bujumbura and its surroundings. Three-quarters of the women interviewed raised various problems, including contempt and discrimination, inaccessibility to health care due to unsuitable infrastructure and inappropriate medical equipment, particularly for women with physical disabilities. These challenges may include limited access to health services tailored to their specific needs, barriers to communication with health professionals, and the bias or stigma they face when seeking medical care.
Discrimination, a behavior to be prohibited
Testimonies collected in the field show that women with disabilities experience discriminatory and stigmatizing behaviors from health care providers. “When I went to the hospital for my pregnancy consultation, the medical staff humiliated me and considered my pregnancy a shame,” says Ms. Douce, who lives with a disability. Ms. Inès, another woman met in the field, says that at the time of delivery, some nurses seem embarrassed, expressing fear or incomprehension about the disability. As a result, these women are neglected and can encounter serious problems.
However, lack of training and awareness among health care providers about the specific needs of people with disabilities results in inadequate or inappropriate care and lack of consideration. Women living with albinism face similar challenges to people with disabilities. They report that health care providers are reluctant to touch their skin, which affects the quality of care.
Inadequate facilities
In Burundi, medical infrastructure, medical kits such as beds installed in maternity wards or in hospital rooms as well as sanitary facilities, are not adapted to the needs of people living with disabilities, particularly those who use wheelchairs.
Adélaide Nyigina, National Coordinator of ABPDF recommends that health care actors collaborate with associations of women with disabilities to improve access to health services, set up training for health personnel and ensure that programs and services aimed at preventing gender-based sexual violence are accessible to women and girls with disabilities.
Despite their disabilities, these women are capable of working and should not be treated in a discriminatory manner, as Ms. Nyigina points out. Whether married or widowed, they are responsible for their children. They want the government and other decision-makers to review the texts and policies on the development of society to take into account the specificities of women with disabilities, because they are also capable of contributing fully.
This national coordinator of ABPDF encourages other women with disabilities to raise their spirits, to be active, to join associations and to appeal to the local administration whenever they observe discriminatory behavior within their community.
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