SRHRplusD Festival Concept
Background
Women and girls with disabilities in Kenya face double discrimination, first as women and secondly as women with disabilities. This is due to the myriad challenges faced by women with disabilities such as myths and cultural practices that are discriminatory and harmful. According to reports by the World Health Organization, persons with disabilities represent approximately 15% of the world’s population with 80% living in low and middle income countries, and that 20% of the global female population consists of women with disabilities. Documented studies have also shown that, due to several causes, including the higher prevalence of disability among women than men, the increased incidence in gender based violence among women in addition to other factors, women and girls with disabilities are more vulnerable due to the fact that they experience disproportionate levels of exclusion.
Problem Statement
Accessing quality sexual reproductive health services has also been challenging for women and girls with disabilities despite healthcare centers and medical professionals' potential to offer these services. These challenges include negative attitude and unconscious biases of medical personnel, inadequately trained medics to attend to their unique needs, physically inaccessible facilities and lack of measures to make service friendly and adaptable to various forms of disability. Furthermore, information and education on sex education, menstrual health, family planning, and other related sexual and reproductive health services is poorly disseminated - in formats that are inaccessible or unavailable to young women with various disabilities. Due to societal attitudes towards the sexuality of women with disabilities, their sexual and reproductive health needs are often not prioritized at the family level; and given the link between disability and poverty, it becomes a major challenge for those who are economically dependent on others. In addition, in our patriarchal society, decision-making does not prioritize matters of sexual health and rights of women with disabilities, further disempowering them - economically and socially.
Project Proposal
Reproductive justice is critical for all women but especially for women with disabilities in Kenya, who are often seen as asexual. Bodily autonomy is an important aspect of reproductive justice. Our bodies are the spaces where we build our identities which we all use in expressing ourselves. “Bodies are where we put our theories of social justice into practice. It therefore follows that the categories in which bodies are placed, willingly or unwillingly, need to be subject to careful critique. In a society driven by narrow, visual representations of standards of beauty (for example in media, advertising and popular culture), women with disabilities have been largely invisible. Value is placed on bodies that most satisfy the socially constructed aesthetic, and because disabled bodies are culturally considered an aberration, they fall short and are therefore dismissed”.
Project Objective
Building on our past experiences using creative arts to empower women with disabilities on their bodies and sexuality, the government commitments and our #SRHRplusD hashtag and Call to Action emanating from our 2019 preICPD25 on the SRHR of women and girls with disabilities. We want to build momentum for conversations on sexual reproductive health rights that incorporate disability rights through our inaugural #SRHRplusD Festival.
The festival will create visibility on the experiences of women and girls with disabilities, supports and enriches policy conversations on gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health with key stakeholders.
SRHRplusD Festival Activities
The #SRHRplusD Festival will provide freedom of expression using different art forms that support body autonomy. It is a 5 day community event that will open conversations from a holistic point of view, where women and girls with disabilities can express themselves through dance, community mental health sessions, coordinated graffiti art, spoken word, fashion and an exhibition market for products made by women with disabilities.
When:
November 29th to Dec 3rd 2022
Where:
This Ability Trust Hub, along Mbo-mboini road, off Dagoretti in Thogoto, Kikuyu
Who:
Women and girls with disabilities, creatives, artists, fashion designers, activists, journalists, cso partners, government, donors