In the heart of Asia and the Pacific, a quiet revolution is taking place. Women with disabilities are stepping into the spotlight, demanding their rights and leading the charge for change.
“If there has to be change, we have to be change makers ourselves. We have to be change agents of ourselves,” declared Ipul Powaseu, the Pacific Region Focal Person for the Indigenous Persons with Disabilities Global Network, who has dedicated her life to advocating for women with disabilities.
Her journey is a testament to the power of leadership and advocacy. Under her guidance, 22 organizations of persons with disabilities have been established, advocating for women’s leadership in mainstream disability organizations. The path of advocacy for women with disabilities remains a “road less traveled.” However, through the collective efforts of governments, service providers, and communities, real change can be achieved.
Persons with disabilities constitute 16 per cent of the world’s population, with around 750 million persons with disabilities living in Asia and the Pacific. Among them, 350 million are women with disabilities. Women also make up a large proportion of the population of older persons. Women account for 54 per cent of persons aged 60 years or above in Asia and the Pacific due to their longer life expectancy. In 2022, one in seven people in the Asia-Pacific region were aged 60 or above, and this proportion is expected to nearly double to one in four by 2050. This demographic trend indicates a significant increase in the number of women with disabilities, as women are more likely to develop age-related disabilities as they get older.
“It is about making our voices not just heard, but actually counted and influential in the decisions and the development of policies and the programs that impact us” declared Clare Gibellini, Policy Officer for Women with Disabilities Australia.
She emphasized that the active participation of women with disabilities within the Australian Government raises awareness and drives systemic change, specifically by addressing their needs in daily working settings rather than just on special occasions. She passionately advocated for the recognition of the unique intersectional challenges faced by women with disabilities and called for the creation of equitable opportunities to enable their participation and leadership at all levels.
In this context, the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+30 Review this November, made a powerful impact in advancing women’s economic empowerment, boosting women leadership, developing strategies to end discrimination against women with disabilities, etc. The clarion call from participants at the Ministerial conference was evident: We need to urgently address the unique hurdles faced by women and girls with disabilities, and they must be at the heart of our actions, integrated into every aspect of initiatives moving towards creating an equitable and inclusive society.
At the regional level, the Jakarta Declaration on the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities, 2023–2032, also calls for promoting a gender-responsive life-cycle approach to developing and implementing disability-related policies and programs.
Despite the establishment of the regional and global frameworks and political commitment, women and girls with disabilities still face significant challenges, such as exclusion and discrimination. Women with disabilities face higher rates of poverty compared to both men with disabilities and women without disabilities. They also had the lowest media labor force participation rate at 20.5 per cent.
Additionally, they are more susceptible to rights violations, and they are largely underrepresented in national decision-making process and politics, holding only 0.2 per cent of the total parliamentary positions across 10 surveyed countries in Asia and the Pacific.
To address these challenges, several initiatives has been taken to promote the rights of women with disabilities. Sixteen countries in Asia and the Pacific have enacted legislation that explicitly protects the rights of women with disabilities. Two countries explicitly mention providing accommodation for women with disabilities, and one explicitly mentions employment incentives for women with disabilities. In Kazakhstan, Lyazzat Kaltayeva, a Senator in the Senate of the Parliament and a wheelchair user, has been instrumental in shaping disability-related policies. She has effectively established a strong network of women with disabilities in Central Asia and initiated research projects to identify and address the unique challenges they face.
By highlighting these initiatives and fostering effective policy actions, we can confidently advance towards an inclusive future where everyone is valued, ensuring that no one is left behind
