“Until the right to sexual and reproductive health of women with disabilities is fully realized, in fact, it is impossible to discuss issues related to gender equality with them, because: What is a major determinant of gender identity? It is our femininity. What is a major determinant of our femininity? Being able to exercise our right to sexual and reproductive health, and this is a chain in which one link cannot exist without another," says Tamar Macharashvili who has been working to protect the rights of women with disabilities for years.
In 2013, Tamar Macharashvili founded a non-governmental organization – “Women and the Reality”, which worked to advocate the rights of women with disabilities, and in 2019, together with partner non-governmental organizations, she laid the foundation for the National Network of Women with Disabilities.
From 2013 to the present day, what and how things have developed is clear and can be seen at first glance. Some positive changes have been made in the direction of strengthening the movement of the women with disabilities with regard to their rights, but this is the minimum compared to what we really need to achieve in order to ensure that our rights are protected on an equal footing with others... For me gender equality will be established from the moment when the issues concerning women and girls with disabilities are included in all programs and action plans related to women; when there will be a place for women and girls with disabilities at the table next to female human rights defenders," she says.
"Women with disabilities in Georgia face many challenges"
For the first time, age-appropriate Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) education and needs assessment were made part of the 2014-2016 National Action Plan for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This issue was also included in the 2018 Action Plan. According to Tamar Macharashvili, it is important for women with disabilities to have access in order to be able to enjoy basic rights such as the access to the National Screening Programme, provided to all women in Georgia.
All women, according to the Sustainable Development Goals, include women and girls with disabilities among others. It is the fact that we do not have adequately adapted screening centres - we do not have adapted gynaecological examination chairs, we do not have specially trained medical staff and those who work in these centres practically have no information about the needs related specifically to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of women and girls with disabilities,” says Tamar Macharashvili.
Accordingly, it is also a problem that women with disabilities do not actually receive any service in the form of preventive health check-ups, the reason for this is the lack of awareness of women and girls with disabilities, as well as their parents, on the one hand, and insufficient effort to convince them that the service is necessary and beneficial for their health and wellbeing, on the other hand.
[I would appreciate it if] our society were more accepting of women and girls with disabilities. I would appreciate it if our society used the word “inclusion” not only as a facade. Inclusion means “equality” i.e. for me, for you, for everyone. Therefore, everything that is available to women and girls without disabilities should also be available to women and girls with disabilities. The change in society's attitude in this regard is essential for women and girls with disabilities, because when there is a demand, the State is obliged to come up with a policy,” she says.
From her point of view, information gap, i.e. lack of awareness, is the worst thing that contributes to the fact that a person cannot enjoy this or that fundamental right:
When I don't know what right I have, I can't understand it either what is there that prevents me from realizing this right. I think it should be as it is. Therefore, I would like to address those women and girls with disabilities living in Georgia, who we can reach right now, those who can see us, who can read what we write, who can hear us, that anything worth having will always be worth fighting for, and that we should never stop learning about our rights. Let's use all the means we have, be it the Internet, local self-government, friends, family, neighbours, let’s ask for support from people who we think can be more informed than us, it's not a shame.”
According to her, it is important to involve women and girls in decision-making processes as well, because in fact, women and girls with disabilities are leaders only in organizations founded by them. Even in the organizations for persons with disabilities, they are not involved in decision-making processes:
Stereotypes are the biggest challenge
Ekaterine Tshvariashvili, leader of the youth wing of the National Network of Women with Disabilities and procurement and administration manager of the Coalition for Independent Living, adds that women with disabilities face many special challenges. According to her, stereotypes are the biggest challenge, “the ones which we find difficult to overcome and would like to overcome.”
According to her, an example of stereotypes is that “women and girls with disabilities should stay at home, there is no need for them to go out of the house, they should help at home, if, of course, their disabilities allow them to participate in household chores, and it is not necessary for them to study, take care of their development, go out and live a normal life like women without disabilities do.”
I have been disabled since my childhood. Fortunately, my family would support me and I was usually involved in all activities, just as my sisters were. But unfortunately, there are many cases when families are not supportive and children with disabilities are not involved in activities and do not get education they need. It is an achievement if they manage to complete secondary education. There are many cases when women with disabilities over 20 years of age have not finished secondary school because schools were not adapted to their needs at that time. Consequently, if they do not get a complete secondary education, then they cannot continue their studies at universities, and it is difficult for them to find a job and be economically independent, and that is the point where a whole series of problems start,” says Ekaterine Tshvariashvili.
She believes that in addition to the allowances persons with disabilities receive from the State, they should also have the opportunity to realize their own skills, just like women without disabilities, and to be able to earn their living.
"I have to tell women with disabilities to be more open. The reality is that we live in an environment that is not adapted to our needs; there have been some positive changes, but our rights are not fully protected; therefore they should be brave enough to come out, stop saying no to their dreams and desires,” she says, adding that places where services are provided, for example, a gynaecologist’s office, should be adapted to make sure that confidentiality is protected when visiting a doctor, because today in Georgia, a deaf or blind persons must be accompanied by someone who the doctors talk to, instead of the patient, which is wrong in her opinion.
Nutsi Odisharia, Social Policy Officer of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Georgia Country Office:
“The UNFPA actively works to ensure the sexual and reproductive health and rights for persons with disabilities, especially for women and girls with disabilities are upheld. We generally work at three levels: legislation and policy, medical and social services and target groups.
On the one hand - if we do not empower and support women with disabilities, there will be no demand for equal services and dignified care; on the other hand, access to the services and their quality will be limited, if the legal framework and policy documents fail to create a commitment to provide services to all, without discrimination, in an environment where confidentiality is protected, and based on the principle of reasonable accommodation. Finally, legal requirements, anti-discrimination approaches, research-based and scientifically proven international practices should be reflected in service guidelines and protocols.
The realization of reproductive health rights is central to the achievement of gender equality, which in turn is well reflected in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Now it is important to spare no effort in order to achieve the goals in a timely manner and based on the principle of “leaving no one behind.”
In 2020-2022, the programme “Transformation of Social Protection System for Persons with Disabilities” was jointly implemented by the UN agencies and with the support of the Sustainable Development Goals Fund; since 2022, a joint UN program – “From Policy and Principles to Practice in Disability Inclusive Development", has been implemented with the financial support of - the United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) MPTF.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) works closely with the governmental and non-governmental sector, international and local experts, as well as with UN agencies participating in the Joint Programme to analyse and evaluate laws and programmes related to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, to develop recommendations for ensuring their compliance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
UNFPA supports the updating of relevant strategies and action plans and integration of issues related to violence against women with disabilities and their reproductive health and rights and relevant measures in these strategies and action plans. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) contributes to the refinement and development of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and to the development of guidelines related to violence detection and management, as well as to strengthening participatory advocacy platforms engaged in the protection of the rights of women and youth with disabilities, as well as to strengthening the advocacy capabilities of women with disabilities participating in managing issues of sexual and reproductive health of women and youth with disabilities and violence against women.
