Disabled women grapple with gender based violence

“Marriage was a like a lifetime achievement for me and I felt my boyfriend was doing me a favour in marrying me,” Mwape said.

Mwape was born and raised in Ndola, approximately 290km to Lusaka, Zambia. She was born 39years ago and was affected by polio at the age of 2 that left her with a physical challenge ever since.

After a few years in her marriage, the husband she had come to know and respect changed into a complete monster. This she believes began when their marriage took long to produce a child.

“My husband believes my disability has everything to do with this fertility problem hence began to beat me up and psychologically traumatising me”. The fact that Mwape had to use a wheel chair for support could not deter her husband from physically attacking her.

“At one point my husband pushed my wheelchair and l fell off the ground and he was so indifferent and brutal as he knew I was unable to pick myself up,” Mwape explained. The disability activist said she had to soldier on hoping for the better. However, this became a nightmare and a daily occurrence even after she conceived her son.

Her agony and terror could only be ended by no one by herself. How was she to take that life changing step? She knew what she was going through and she knew no one could understand her plight.

When Mwape was being traumatised at first she thought her husband was justified to do that she later came to a realisation that no one deserved to be treated like that and after 9 years of marriage she decided to leave her matrimonial home. She left with only the clothes she was putting on and sympathy from a few friends and of course the Almighty as even shelters which give assistance for such cases could not even accommodate her.

“What was worse was that there were no adequate support structures that will enable a disabled woman like me to overcome trauma such as accessible shelter. I went through this process alone with no professional help, but just a few friends who sympathised with my situation”, Mwape said. .

Today, Mwape is a household name in Zambia and she is a different woman altogether. She heads a viable disability organisation in her country and for her only the sky could be the limit.

The trauma and terror she went through in the hands of her husband marked the beginning of her journey to empower disabled girls and enlighten the Zambian community of the need to mainstream disability in all that it does.

She has acquired qualification in journalism, Information and Communication Technologies and social work as well.

She believes marriage is a blessing from God and disabled women and girls should not tolerate any abusive relationships or believe someone is doing them a favour. “That has become the scapegoat for abuse and perpetrators for a long time have been getting away with it,” Mwape urged.

“Disabled women should look at marriage as a gift from God. They should not tolerate abuse of any kind therefore support structures should be put in place in respective countries to assist victims in addressing gender based violence.

Disability has remained a peripheral issue and poorly understood in most countries especially in our African set up. The needs and demands of this group are in most cases not taken seriously such that abuse cases are rarely reported and easily withdrawn.

Hamida Ismail-Mauto of Disability and HIV/AIDS indicated that most disabled women receive all forms of abuse in the hands of their caregivers. She further hinted that the consequences of discrimination against and inadequate provision for the disabled are particularly serious for girls and women with disabilities.

“Women and girls with disabilities are often subject to social, cultural and economic disadvantages which impede their access to sexual reproductive health, education and development.

In many cases, women and girls with disabilities do not experience sexual violence from strangers, but from people they know and trust. A high percentage of abuse among girls and women with disabilities is often due to sexual violence, DHAT can reveal.

The rights of disabled women and girls should be fully recognized. Due to their vulnerability control of their own bodies disabled women and girls need to be educated to protect themselves against physical and sexual violence which in most cases lead to pregnancy and HIV/AIDS infections,” Ismail-Mauto said.

“As a disability rights activist would want to effect positive change to enable disabled women to enjoy equal opportunities and recognition in their society . My vision is to see Zambia and the rest of Africa respects the human rights of persons with disabilities and recognise the disability agenda,” Mwape said.

Mwape believes for women like her to have equal opportunities in accessing socio, economic, political and cultural rights, there is need to raise their voices, audible enough for the duty bearers to effect that sought after change.