Women with Disabilities: Doubly Disadvantaged
| Speech to the World Blind Women's Forum Melbourne Town Hall Friday 17 November 2000 Susan Halliday Sex Discrimination Commissioner and Acting Disability Discrimination Commissioner |
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1. I wish to begin by quoting a wonderful woman who had enormous impact on me. Her honesty about her own struggle was admirable and taught me much about life. Women with disabilities suffer from the double-burden of being a woman in our persistently sexist society and being labelled as disabled in this persistently disability -phobic society.
2. Her name was Elizabeth and this is what she said:
"One day a friend and I were going to the theatre, and it was raining. As he got my wheelchair out of his car, I apologised for the effort, for the rain, for the time it was taking, for breathing - and he said "Elizabeth, if you apologise once more I'll never go out with you again". My hardly-listened-to inner self must have taken over at that point and told me he meant it and to shut up - and he did, and I did, and that was the first time I modulated myself, accommodated, adjusted and stopped the tyranny of that wretched hum. He and I are still friends, and over the years I learned to develop a relationship with myself that was more kind, more accepting, more appreciative. I slowly stopped making rude remarks about myself, stopped apologising, began instead to realise that if I wanted people to like me, it was just possible that they wanted me to like them; if I enjoyed spending time with somebody, it was just possible that they weren't pretending but that they actually enjoyed spending the time with me. Revelation!! Revolution!! But a revelation and revolution that had to be repeated over and over again till the new music in my heart was louder than the negative hum I had carried inside me nearly all my life."
3. This quote was from a speech given by Elizabeth - Elizabeth Hastings, the former Federal Disability Discrimination Commissioner.
4. Elizabeth Hastings did wonderful work as one of the original members of the Human Rights Commission from 1981 to 1986. She was particularly well known for her work around International Year of Disabled Persons 1981.
5. In 1993 Elizabeth was appointed Disability Discrimination Commissioner to administer the new federal Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and remained in that position until 1997.
6. Working tirelessly, Elizabeth was keen to ensure that people with disabilities were always seen as people first. Responsible for challenging entrenched mindsets that portrayed people with disabilities as 'different' or 'recipients of charity', she did much to progress government, business and community views about people with all different types of disabilities.
7. Elizabeth was a very sincere, determined person with a great sense of humour. She regularly faced challenges that many of us will never face. Having devoted much of her life to improving the lives of others with disabilities, Elizabeth sadly lost her fight with cancer in October 1998.
8. As Elizabeth was, I remain mindful of how the manner in which language, definition, attitudes and assumptions continue to operate against the recognition of all women. The stereotypes and ways in which we're labelled and categorised can have an enormous impact on our lives, and on our self-esteem.
9. Elizabeth provided inspiration with her examples of how, despite years of facing the prejudice and ignorance of others, of being boxed into the marginal categories of 'woman' and 'disabled', and being problematised and compartmentalized, she was able to find self-respect and self-acceptance and an acknowledgement of her varied talents and capabilities.
10. The battle to achieve self-respect and self-acceptance for women, whether they have disabilities or not, is an ongoing one for all those who care about the basic human and individual right of all people to live their lives to their fullest capacity, unencumbered by the unjust and discriminatory limitations imposed by others.
11. As Sex Discrimination Commissioner and Acting Disability Discrimination Commissioner, one of my main tasks is to promote understanding of peoples' rights and responsibilities when it comes to human rights.
12. In 1998-99, 512 of the total number of 1780 complaints received by HREOC related to disability discrimination.
13. In 1998, about 22% of both women and men over the age of 15 had a disability.
14. 8% of women and 6% of men were identified as having a severe or profound disability.
15. To be exposed to the real-life experiences of others is one of the most important ways to learn and progress. To respect and value difference, we must understand and appreciate it. And this is not possible until we explore it. Imagine how dreadfully boring life would be if we were all clones of one another!
16. Yet 'cloning' or the desire to clone - to create a comfort zone by restrictive stereotyping - is rampant to this day, and succeeds in perpetuating the lack of understanding and mistreatment of women with disabilities.
17. Ignorance and arrogance have worked simultaneously to keep people with disabilities out of various markets, client and customer groups and other aspects of community.
18. I'm affronted that people with disabilities are also seen as separate - not part of the 'norm'. That stigma results in discrimination being imposed on individuals by society. Social attitudes make disability a handicap.
19. Research undertaken with people with disabilities has assumed the irrelevance of gender as well as other social dimensions such as class, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
20. The combination of being a woman and being disabled can inspire a vast range of prejudices and ignorance, including concerns about traits and behaviours like: passivity, weakness, or aggression; emotional, hyper-sensitivity or insensitivity; lacking assertiveness or being over assertive, laziness; calculating and deceitful behaviours; impressionability, ineducability, temperamentalism; immorality, amorality, being difficult, demanding, dependent; unpredictable, talkative, inconsistent, untrustworthy, indulgent; unstable, over-sexed or undersexed; (and we'd ask ourselves, with a level of cynicism, which 'wise' man set the standard for what was a 'normal' level of sexual activity for women!!) irrational, lacking in sound judgement etc. etc. etc.
21. The repetitive intersections of these kinds of characteristics, (many of which are still implicitly or explicitly influential in contemporary perceptions about women, and about people with disabilities in our society), suggests an association which is more than coincidental or accidental.
22. Although men and women with disabilities are subject to work discrimination because of their disabilities, women with disabilities are at a further disadvantage because of the combined discrimination based on gender stereotypes and assumed roles.
23. The research that has informed disability policies and practices has typically ignored gender as an important variable and hence gender differences in employment have been invisible.
24. As a result, disability policies aimed to ensure employment of people with disabilities have not recognized the specific employment barriers experienced by women with disabilities, and practices within the field have not been designed to meet the needs of women with disabilities.
25. It is my view that women with disabilities are one of the most vulnerable and marginalized groups in today's society. Women with disabilities are the poorest of the poor around the world.
26. 'Half Way to Equal', the Lavarch Report of the Inquiry Into Equal Opportunity, Equal Status for Women in Australia, reported that women with disabilities experience double disadvantage because they are subject to constraints that arise from society's expectations of women's abilities, in addition to social attitudes towards people with disabilities.
27. Though all people with disabilities are at risk of being denied their gender, this can have an especially detrimental effect on women with disabilities, many of whom claim they often feel they have to put their disability first and their womanhood second.
28. There are all too many issues that affect women with disabilities exclusively or affect them to a greater degree than men with disabilities, including: Forced sterilisation of women and girls; Ethical issues concerning the use of prenatal testing; Financial hardship and poverty; Denial of sexuality, reproductive and parenting rights; Personal/domestic violence; and lack of access to refuges.
29. Women with disabilities experience a high incidence of abuse-physical, emotional and sexual, often hidden away, this sadly happens within the family environment far too often.
30. At least one in five women affected by domestic violence is a woman with a disability (Frohmader, 1999)
31. Generally, women tend to earn less money than men; they are under represented at management level and still bear most of the responsibility for housework and child rearing. The strain of these inequities is even more severely experienced by women with disabilities.
32. As stated in HREOC's report 'Pregnant and Productive: It is a right not a privilege to work while pregnant', women with a disability who are pregnant or have the potential to become pregnant can have distinct experiences and perspectives at the workplace.
33. One community attitude that prevails is that women with certain types of disabilities are not, or should not, be involved in a reproductive life.
34. These attitudes can result in hostile responses to a pregnant worker with a disability, or a failure to accommodate their specific needs.
35. Some examples of particular problems that women with disabilities may face were provided in the NSW government submission to the national pregnancy inquiry. Women with pre-existing back injuries, for example, who may ordinarily be able to comply with requirements to stand for long periods or lift objects, may face difficulties at work when their condition is exacerbated by pregnancy. The NSW Anti-Discrimination Board has dealt with a number of cases concerning such situations. Women whose disabilities have necessitated some degree of adjustment of work duties may encounter difficulties with their employers when their pregnancy requires [or is assumed to require] further adjustment of duties. Women with intellectual disabilities in general often face considerable pressure to terminate their pregnancy. Women in this group who continue with their pregnancy may need more time off work to deal with the requirements of the pregnancy or child-rearing.
36. The Workplace Pregnancy Guidelines we are currently drafting will provide some guidance to employers and workplace, participants, regarding appropriate management of the pregnancies of women with disabilities.
37. This area, among many others relevant to women with disabilities, is constantly overlooked in the provision of general equal employment opportunities in the workplace.
38. There is a belief that equal opportunity exists, or has occurred, once a person with a disability has been employed.
39. For example, as with most employees, employees with disabilities generally expect training and an opportunity to be promoted.
40. Training can be relevant for a person's current position, extended duties and to qualify for any promotion. The Disability Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination in relation to training and promotional opportunities, though evidence suggests that women with disabilities are often overlooked in terms of training and promotion.
41. To alleviate such discrimination, equal opportunity may require, for example, training material to be put into an alternative format such as braille or cassette.
42. Further, if a person is unable to work full time there may be an assumption that the person could not perform managerial tasks. In this situation, job sharing of managerial responsibilities should be considered.
43. In one case involving a vision impaired employee, her mode of interacting with colleagues involved peering, standing very close to people to try to discern their expressions and speaking loudly. These are traits exhibited by many people who are vision impaired. Because this was not understood, the characteristics were taken to be personality traits and her colleagues respond negatively to her. [Amanda McNeill v Commonwealth of Australia no. H94/79 -1995 decision]
44. In another case, the disability issues were not appreciated and reasonable adjustments not made. The efforts made by the employee to have her needs addressed were interpreted negatively as her being pushy and self focussed. [Nerilie Humphries and Terry Humphries v Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs nos. H97/35 and H97/135 - 1997 decision]
45. If in both cases there had been better understanding of the disability issues, there may not have been a personality conflict.
46. It is essential that workplaces conduct training for all staff on equal opportunity and anti-discrimination issues relevant to the broad range of people that may be or are in the workplace or amidst the client group; a broad range of every day people.
47. The pertinent issues affecting all women, and as pointed out often particularly affecting women with disabilities, such as abuse, health, domestic violence, feminism, self-image, sexuality, and sexual harassment are being overlooked.
48. This increases the vulnerability of women with disabilities as they are not seen to have the same issues other women and they often lack vital information about their rights.
49. Women are under represented in decision-making, such as parliament, local government or company boards of directors.
50. However, some women are beginning to be heard, be counted and are in a position of sharing power with men. Society, at last is becoming aware of the importance of women's different roles and contributions to society. Women themselves are demanding to be heard and treated as equals.
51. But what about women with disabilities?
52. Too often, women with disabilities are left by society to inhabit the space vacated by women making progress.
53. Anecdotal evidence also shows that men with disabilities are more likely to be in positions of power, while women with disabilities are more likely to be in supportive positions.
54. Women with disabilities represent one of the most marginalised and disempowered groups in society, yet to this day, social policy attempts to mainstream them as if they were clones. This is a major issue; it may be easy to ignore difference but ignoring it neither values or manages the real issues at hand - it simply demeans and marginalizes, denying opportunities to those with potential, denying community participation and basic human rights.
55. The issue of self-image, which I touched on earlier in my discussion of Elizabeth Hasting's quote, is also a particularly pertinent one.
56. Women with disabilities living in this society are not exempt from the influence of messages that attempt to dictate what is desirable and what is not in a 'real woman'. For young girls with disabilities, the invisibility of their lives becomes reinforced by the fact that much of the popular advertising implies the belief that the 'normal' body is that which is desirable. And who defines desirable??
57. These messages are often internalized, and have an impact on how all different types of women see themselves.
58. Comfort and health may be sacrificed as women attempt to move closer to the realm of what is deemed 'normal' or desirable.
59. Another relevant and telling quote form Elizabeth Hastings: "It was hard to hang on to my sense of my own self when other people's picture of me was so strong. In fact, for a lot of the time I believed the picture painted by the outside world rather than myself, and this made me very unhappy. I imagine a lot of you have felt the same way at times: inside yourself you know something true about who you are, but those outside do not seem to see that part of you, and you begin to wonder who's right."
Conclusion
60. The federal Disability Discrimination Act 1992 provides protection for Australians against discrimination based on disability or presumed disability. It encourages people to be involved via the lodgement of Disability Discrimination Action plans in implementing the spirit and intent of the Act, and to share in the overall benefits to the community and the economy that flow from participation by the widest range of people.
61. Recognition of 'disability' as a part of the human condition provides definite strategic advantages
62. It requires a moral effort to place ourselves in the position of someone of the opposite gender, or of a different racial background, or someone who has a different political opinion or sexual preference to ourselves; but a disability is something that can happen to all of us, and as we live longer, it is increasingly likely.
63. Disability is an ordinary attribute of being human, and human societies must stop unnecessarily and unlawfully excluding people who have disabilities from their ordinary activities.
64. The issues for women with disabilities are acute and multitudinous and we must continue to lobby to keep these issues on the agenda.
65. Women who have disabilities do not wish to be altered - despite what community do-gooders might think. They do not wish to be altered, 'cured' or transformed. They want to be out there, living their lives, stretching their potential and doing what they strive to do.
66. All people wish their equipment would work reliably, and that transport, education, shopping, professional and other services, work, entertainment, banking, insurance and information were accessible without discrimination.
67. I wish you well with your conference and ask you to contemplate how it is we can work together to continue to strive for the elimination of attitudes and practices that unfairly box people with disabilities, of either gender, into stereotypical and homogenous groups, whose interests and concerns are only dealt with as an annoying adjunct to 'normal' life, or are not considered at all.
68. In our struggle to achieve the elimination of disability and gender discrimination against the disabled, and to acknowledge the particular needs of women with disabilities, inspiration can again be drawn from the words of Elizabeth Hastings, who once said "One important thing would be to develop your capacity to be a visionary, to develop and hold on to a forming idea or vision."
69. Let part of that vision, in relation to our legislation and our understanding of the presence of disability in our society, encompass an acknowledgment that disability discrimination legislation does not present the rights of a special group, but the rights that all of us have if we happen to have a disability now or acquire one in the future, or someone we are associated with has a disability or acquires one in the future.
70. Women with disabilities do not wish to 'be included' as such; they wish it to be acknowledged that they are already belong.
71. The Disability Discrimination Act is predicated upon the fundamental assumption that disability is a part of ordinary life in our human community, that people who have disabilities are neither different or separate from our community, but rather an integral part of the whole.
