Barriers women with disabilities can face
Family support can be challenging
Young women with disabilities in northern Uganda and western Kenya report that family and community perceptions towards them affect their ability to successfully gain skills, land a job or run a business. Families may perceive that educating a woman is a waste of resources (since the reproductive and caregiving role of women is prioritised). Also, women with disabilities may be considered less capable due to their impairment. This can mean families and communities aren’t inclined to support their efforts to pursue economic opportunities.
Negative perceptions undermine confidence and opportunities
Women with disabilities often internalise societal narratives that undermine their confidence. Children with disabilities grow up in families, communities and institutions where they may be treated differently and have their abilities downplayed. Experiencing these harmful narratives often leads to a distorted sense of self, causing low self-esteem and low confidence.
Navigating waged employment spaces can be incredibly difficult for women with disabilities, regardless of level of skills or education. Employers hold biases that prevent them from hiring qualified candidates with disabilities.
In Pakistan, a woman with a disability living in a major industrial town shared with us that she did not have a job five years after graduation from college: “I have a master’s in philosophy, yet finding a job has been incredibly difficult for me. Whenever I go for interviews, recruiters reject me because of my disability.”
Disability stigma affects business opportunities
Women with disabilities are highly enterprising. Many of the small and microbusinesses supported in Sightsavers’ economic empowerment programmes are owned and run by women with disabilities. There is incredible potential for these businesses to expand and create employment while lifting individuals with disabilities and their families out of poverty.
But the potential of these businesses to grow and scale is often stifled by market forces and stigma in communities and financial institutions. Limited ownership of significant assets, poor business practises and negative perception towards the risk levels of businesswomen with disabilities all limit access to business development support and financial products that are crucial for the growth of their enterprises.
Ownership of assets may be limited
Within their homes, women with disabilities often have limited control over assets that matter to financial institutions such as livestock, land and houses. Women often control household items such as dishes and furniture, which are not considered valuable by financial institutions.
