Issues Facing Women With Disabilities

Gender is one of the most important categories of social organisation, yet people with disabilities are often treated as asexual, genderless human beings. However women with disabilities and men with disabilities have different life experiences due to biological, psychological, economic, social, political and cultural attributes associated with being female and male. Patterns of disadvantage are often associated with the differences in the social position of women and men. These gendered differences are reflected in the life experiences of women with disabilities and men with disabilities. Women with disabilities face multiple discriminations and are often more disadvantaged than men with disabilities in similar circumstances. Women with disabilities are often denied equal enjoyment of their human rights, in particular by virtue of the lesser status ascribed to them by tradition and custom, or as a result of overt or covert discrimination. Women with disabilities face particular disadvantages in the areas of education, work and employment, family and reproductive rights, health, violence and abuse.

This section contains an extensive range of information and resource materials on a wide range of issues facing women with disabilities around the world. For an overview of the status of women with disabilities in Australia, go to: Gender and Disability: An Overview of the Status of Women With Disabilities in Australia

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