If women and girls with disabilities are empowered to be independent, it will contribute greatly to efforts to combat gender-based violence. That is according to Voices of Women and Children with Disabilities in Ghana (VOWACGhana).
The Founder and Acting Chief Executive Director of VOWACGhana, Madam Beatrice Akua Mahmood, holds the view that if women and girls with disabilities are educated on their rights and also empowered economically, they will be able to stand up for their rights and report when they are abused.
Most women with disabilities in the country are not economically engaged, just like their male counterparts; making them dependent on their families and benevolent individuals.
VOWACGhana observes that the situation is making women with disabilities fall victim to abuses such as economic, emotional, verbal, psychological, social, physical and sexual abuses.
Madam Akua Mahmood explains that, some of the perpetrators of violence against women with disabilities are their family members, caregivers, healthcare providers and neighbours.
She says, because the victims are not empowered economically and with information about their rights; and where to report such abuses, they mostly suffer in silence.
According to Madam Beatrice Mahmood, the victims are unable to speak up for the fear of losing the support of the abusers.
She, therefore, calls on the government and civil society organisations to make conscious effort to arm women with disabilities with the needed knowledge and skills to make them independent and self-assertive, and that will help reduce incidents of gender-based violence.
Madam Beatrice Akua Mahmood was speaking in an interview with DisabilityNewsGH on the sidelines of VOWACGhana’s launch of 16 days of activism against gender-based violence on Thursday, November 24, 2022, in Accra.
She also calls for women with disabilities to be given leadership roles to enable them contribute to the development of society.
An Assistant Social Development Officer at Social Welfare, Madam Juliana Afia Mahmood who educated the audience on the various types of abuses, urges women with disabilities to be bold to speak up anytime they are abused.
She mentions agencies such as the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, Social Welfare, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), as well as traditional leaders as the channels to report to.
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is an annual international campaign that starts on November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and runs until December 10, Human Rights Day.
The period is used to organise strategies by individuals and organisations around the world to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.
VOWACGhana has adopted a local theme: ‘Amplifying our voices to end gender-based violence against women and girls with disabilities in Ghana’.
VOWACGhana is a not for profit and non-Partisan organisation that advocates for the rights and inclusion of women and children with disabilities and caregivers of children with disabilities in Ghana.