COFACE: 8 March 2016, International Women’s Day
The mere fact of being a woman can condemn us to be mistreated in private, public, in Europe and all over the world. Being a woman, and being disabled, condemns us even more to be subject to violence.
We are in the 21st century and…
There are countries, so-called modern, conducting a policy of forced sterilization of children and women with disabilities.
There are hundreds of disabled women refugees left behind with no access to humanitarian aid.
There are women, with or without a disability, victims of kidnapping, slavery and torture.
There are dozens and dozens of reports that tell us how women, and especially women with disability, are often exposed to sexual violence, domestic abuse, physical and psychological assault.
This is a world where once a year, on March 8th, we celebrate the women’s day!
What an irony!
We are in the 21st century and…
In this world turned upside down, women are the first victims of the current crisis. Paid less, more easily dismissed, poorer, less healthy, with the duty to care for their relatives, etc., it is as if we were denying them their humanity. Why?
Are the barriers that prevent women, with disabilities or not, to enjoy their rights so deeply rooted in our societies?
Are equality and access to rights for women a utopia?
On 8th March 2016, the “International Women’s Day” allows us to raise a deafening silence on their condition. It is a renewed opportunity to express our indignation about their situation, with or without disability, mothers or not, but still oppressed, forced into marriage, abused, mutilated, raped, sold, imprisoned, beaten, shot… anywhere in the world, and any change is for the worse.
This day also allows us to stand together with all those women who dare to speak up, sometimes at their life’s risk, against the violence suffered at our borders and at our doors. Women who say they won’t have any future as long as these issues have not really been tackled, since it is the future of all women that is at stake here, beyond their individual situation.
But I wish that the indignation we will show can turn into permanent educational actions… and in 365 “women’s days” per year. This is the least we can do to recover from more than 2000 years of indignity against us.
Chantal Bruno, President of COFACE-Disability
