Strengthening the voice of women with disabilities within the feminist movement in Zimbabwe can evidently help develop their capacity to set their own advocacy agendas from an informed perspective.
Agness Chindimba, founder director of Deaf Women Included, a non-profit fighting the exclusion of deaf and hard of hearing women from important political and social processes, says the country needs to progressively move on to build an inclusive feminist movement that accepts the diversity of women taking different intersections.
“Strengthening collaborations within the feminist movement between women with disabilities and those considered non-disabled is a new practice in Zimbabwe,” says Chindimba, an inclusive education expert and sign language trainer.
The feminist spaces have not and are still not always inclusive and accommodative of women with disabilities – not only because of a lack of understanding among the wider feminist movement “but also because of a lack of strong leaders among women with disabilities”.
“We believe we are strengthening the development of a strong space for women with disabilities to take up leadership within the wider feminist movement in Zimbabwe as well as within political areas to challenge the status quo,” says the Mandela Washington Fellow (2016.)
According to Chindimba, women with disabilities are now collaborating more on research, training and research on issues that affect them and building and enhancing social media advocacy initiatives.
Women with disabilities are now supporting each other as they seek to grow their work and move out of the shadows because this marginalization has impoverished and excluded us from decision-making spaces has for a long time.
“Examples of such collaborations are between her Deaf Women Included and Alive Albinism Initiative led by Gwendoline Mushonga and Blind Women Trust led by Jules Daudi,” points out the indefatigable Chindimba who has speech and hearing impairments herself.
There has also been change in the relations and interactions between women with disabilities from urban areas and those from the rural areas because women from different backgrounds can share and learn from each other and enrich the conservations on a wider scale on issues from the psychological, physical, mental health and social – from the visible to the invisible. Women with and those without disabilities have and are creating platforms to share experiences to collaborate and grow together “without looking at disabilities or abilities but just as women (who) face multiple discrimination inter-sectioning with environmental barriers”.
“Women without disabilities now have a better understanding of disability through such dialogues,” Chindimba says, confident that their work is providing a sliver of optimism that portends well for the future.
And Rita Nyamupinga, a former legislator attested to this breath of fresh air in the disability movement.
|Only yesterday I was at a paediatrician with my granddaughter and there was another lady with a four-year-old boy who was autistic, had difficult in speech and also was visually impaired,” she says, recounting how she and the child just clicked.
“For me, it was an eye-opener,” she confessed.
But it has not always been easy though, with “most women without disabilities still holding onto the “them” and “us” in respective of women with disabilities.
“This ‘othering’ of women with disabilities separates us from each other – making us weaker and making it difficult to have unity as some already see themselves as better than the others. Women without visible disabilities believe issues of women with disabilities should take their case to be “dealt with in the disability movement yet the disability movement has entrenched patriarchy, Chindimba says.
“Women with disabilities want to belong to the women’s movement as we see ourselves as women first before the disability!” she says, advocating for more education and awareness –raining across the lines to reduce conflicts, suspicions and hidden agendas.
“In some instances,” the Mwalimu Nyerere scholar says, “women without disabilities have also been alleged to want to use names of women with disabilities to get funding from donors for their own benefit . . .” she adds.
“When working within a broad women’s movement it is important to claim space for women and girls with disabilities through intentional and focused investment,” she emphasises.
“Unity in the rights movement will ensure no woman is left behind in the progressive development-oriented issues.”
