WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES CALL FOR INCLUSION AND DIGNITY DURING WOMEN’S MONTH

By Morapedi Sibeko.

•⁠ ⁠Women with disabilities face systemic exclusion, harmful stereotypes, and GBVF, underscoring the urgent need for inclusive leadership, justice, and equal opportunities.
•⁠ ⁠Healthcare and reproductive rights remain compromised, with women with disabilities often denied access, informed consent, and adequate pregnancy support.
•⁠ ⁠The Department of Social Development is advancing disability-inclusive policies, reinforcing South Africa’s commitment to ensuring dignity, equality, and empowerment for women with disabilities.

Women’s Month offers South Africa an opportunity to reflect on the resilience and struggles of women across all spheres of life. This year’s theme, “Building Resilient Economies for All”, profound significance for women with disabilities, who often face the compounded burden of gender inequality, social exclusion, and limited access to justice and economic opportunities. Their experiences remind us that building an inclusive economy requires protecting rights, promoting dignity, and strengthening resilience for all.
Yet the reality remains that women with disabilities are frequently underrepresented in decision-making, leadership, and policy spaces. This lack of inclusion perpetuates invisibility and disempowerment, leaving many vulnerable to marginalisation, isolation, and exploitation. For disability activist and motivational speaker Veronica Baloyi, these exclusions are deeply personal. “Women’s Month is an eye opener,” she says. “We are celebrating women who hide their struggles in silence, while Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) continues to thrive in silence as well. Our children suffer too, as they are bullied for having a parent with a disability.”
Baloyi, who uses a wheelchair and is a mother of two daughters, carries her own experience of GBVF. “I am a survivor of GBVF, and my disability is a result of that violence,” she explains. Her story highlights how violence not only robs women of their dignity but often leaves long-term scars that affect every aspect of life. Despite this, she insists that giving up was never an option. “There are still millions of moments of life ahead of me to endure,” she adds, underscoring her resilience.
The persistence of harmful stereotypes adds further weight to these challenges. Women with disabilities are too often portrayed as asexual, incapable of intimacy, or unfit for roles such as partners and mothers. “People assume we are not sexually active, they think we are like potatoes,” Baloyi reflects. “At medical facilities, staff sometimes judge and make negative remarks. Society even questions who could have made us pregnant, as if we are not loveable or worthy of relationships.” For her, the best response has been to reclaim her self-worth. “I strive to be beautiful like any other woman. I am not disabled, I am a woman with a disability who can still do what other women can.”
These stereotypes also create barriers to accessing much needed services, like reproductive health. Dr. Khan from the Department of Social Development, drawing on insights from the chapter South Africa’s People: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights to Sexual and Reproductive Justice, highlighted that access to comprehensive services remains uneven. Many women with disabilities are excluded from sexual health services due to assumptions about their sexuality”.
Healthcare providers may not always have specialized training in disability awareness, and this has an impact on reproductive health. This can lead to misconception that women with disabilities have no sexual needs or desire for family life, denying their humanity and rights.
Dr Khan further notes that informed consent remains a significant gap. For decades, women with disabilities were pressured into sterilisation because of assumptions about their ability to parent or decisions made on their behalf by guardians. Limited access to clear and accessible information often left them without the ability to make informed choices about their own bodies. She adds that pregnancy and parenting support remain inadequate, as many women with disabilities struggle to find tailored care, and assistance to raise their children.
For Baloyi, these systemic shortcomings are compounded by underrepresentation in leadership. “Women with disabilities are not adequately represented. We are still fighting for recognition. Too often, people assume we cannot make independent decisions and take us for granted.” Her words point to the urgent need for greater inclusion in decision-making spaces, where women with disabilities can help shape the very policies that affect their lives.
The Department of Social Development recognises these realities and continues to drive inclusive policies. To confront these injustices, South Africa ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2007, committing to promote and protect the rights of people with disabilities, with a special focus on women and girls.
In line with this commitment, the Department of Social Development has developed a new policy, “Policy on Social Development Services to Persons with Disabilities”, which is yet to be approved by Cabinet.
This policy is grounded in the principles of the CRPD and builds on the foundation laid by the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ensuring that women with disabilities are fully included in development, safeguarded from discrimination, and empowered to access opportunities equally.
As we mark Women’s Month, the department reaffirms that the empowerment of women with disabilities is about shaping a stronger future for the nation. Their inclusion is central to
building resilient economies and communities. Women like Veronica Baloyi demonstrate this truth, despite the hardships, they continue to rise, inspire, and contribute. Her message is clear: “Giving up is not an option.”
South Africa’s vision of an inclusive society depends on ensuring that women with disabilities are visible, valued, and active participants in every sphere of life. Their voices must be heard not in isolation, but as integral to the collective progress of all women.