Michelle Chifamba,

Forty-one-year-old Belinda Kujanda a mother of two children, says despite her physical challenges as a woman with disability she is still a woman with sexual feelings. Kujanda says many women like her, with disability are experiencing discrimination in health institutions while they are trying to access reproductive or maternal health services.

“I am a woman entitled to the same services given to any woman who is still reproductive. Yet when we visit health institutions despite enduring the physical challenges we are discriminated against,” Kujanda says.

“When you go to a health institution and you require sexual reproductive services such as family planning services, or you want to be treated of a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI), the nurses look at you with disregard, mocking you as if you do not deserve to be engaged in sexual activities. In some cases, when you are pregnant with your second or third child nurses even force you to stop giving birth, judging from your physical form but if I am healthy and able to carry a pregnancy to term what can prevent me,” she added.

In Zimbabwe women with disability say they are experiencing numerous physical and communication barriers that are hindering their access to essential services leading to increased maternal health burdens and mortality.

During a break-away session on Gender and Corruption at a National Anti-Corruption Indaba organized by Transparency International Zimbabwe, held in Harare this July, youth disability advocates said women with disability in Zimbabwe are suffering in silence without recognition of their sexual, reproductive and maternal health rights.

Advocates for the rights of women with disabilities said physically and visually disabled women suffer high risks of health complications during pregnancy because they face challenges in accessing health care support before, during and after their pregnancies resulting in some women dying from pregnancy related complications.

Fungai Muchoko, volunteer at Deaf Women Included said women with disabilities particularly from low-income and rural communities face numerous challenges while trying maternal and reproductive health services in health institutions.

Muchoko said, the specifics of women with disabilities need to be addressed to ensure that they can access equal maternal and reproductive health rights being enjoyed by able-bodied women.

“Health institutions lack adequate equipment to provide proper reproductive care, pregnancy information for women with disability.  Women with disability can get pregnant like any woman, but they encounter challenges as they navigate through pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood. Health institutions in low-income communities do not have adequate information and trained personnel to manage pregnancies of women with disabilities as well as physical accessibility in health institutions. Improving the situation of women with disabilities requires a multi-faceted approach at both community and national level,” Muchoko said.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, an international law stipulated that governments should guarantee access to sexual reproductive health to people with disabilities.

The UNCRPD states that women with disabilities continue to face challenges in accessing sexual reproductive health services such as institutionalized discrimination and stereotyping. Violations of sexual reproductive and maternal health rights of the women with disabilities persist in developing countries. Governments and development partners continue to fail to offer affordable and accessible sexual and reproductive health facilities and they need to improve.

Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) Africa Trust, disability rights advocates say women with disabilities need access sexual and reproductive services because disability increases their vulnerability to sexual abuse.

“Governments should formulate policies that increase access to sexual and reproductive health women with disabilities.  Adolescents with disabilities should be given the opportunity to learn about sexual and reproductive health. However, teachers, parents and counsellors fear to discuss sexual and reproductive health with them because they perceive them non-sexual,” said Yolanda Munyengwa, volunteer at SRHR Africa Trust

“Development of literature in Braille and other formats is still a challenge in Zimbabwe. Deaf women are usually not given proper information owing to challenges in conversing in sign language. Medical staff are usually not trained in sign language and often find it difficult to communicate with deaf women when they visit health centres.  Negative attitudes of health care providers also make it difficult for women with disabilities to access sexual and reproductive health services. In some instances, health staff use abusive and insulting language when dealing with women with disabilities who were pregnant,” Munyengwa added.

Article 25 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD), where Zimbabwe is party states that, ‘States are mandated to provide persons with disabilities with the same range, quality and standard of free or affordable healthcare programs including in the area of sexual reproductive health.’

Section 56 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe also provisions the principle of equality and provided for the right to health and spells out the rights of persons with disabilities.

Persons with Disability Advocate and Founder of Signs of Hope Trust Samantha Sibanda, says she has been working towards and inclusive approach in terms of eliminating the barriers that affect people with disabilities from accessing their basic rights.

“Access to information has been the greatest challenge affecting people with disabilities in Zimbabwe. Relevant authorities do not realize that disability is not a homogenous thing. People are disabled in various ways that include vision impairment, deaf or dumb, to mention a few. They have special needs and we found out that in most cases the government cannot meet some of those needs,” Sibanda said.