DSWD Calls For Boosting Of Support And Services For Women With Disabilities

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is urging every sector of society to unite together to provide the much-needed support in addressing the needs of persons with disabilities (PWDs), especially women encountering gender abuses, disaster risks and barriers in accessing the necessary reproductive health programs, including stigma and discrimination.

The call was made during the conduct of a forum on Reproductive Health Law and Action Research on Gender and Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction and Management held at the Occupational Safety and Health Center Building in North Avenue, Quezon City on Wednesday.

“A lot still needs to be done and this forum is one of those which will help step up the advocacy,” said DSWD Undersecretary Vilma B. Cabrera, who represented DSWD Secretary Corazon J. Soliman.

Cabrera, head of DSWD Operations and Group-Protective Programs, said that through the forum, she is looking forward that fruitful output/s will come out that will inspire more positive actions and support for women and other persons with disabilities.

The forum was organized and spearheaded by the National Anti-Poverty Council (NAPC) which was represented by PWD Sectoral Rep. Jocelyn Rosemarie Cris C. Garcia.

In the forum, Dr. Jesusa M. Marco and Jerome Zayas from the Social Development Research Center of De La Salle University in Manila presented the studies made by W-DARE (Women with Disability taking Action on Reproductive and sexual health).

Together, they presented some studies taken in the pilot areas which reflected some common problems encountered by women with disabilities such as accessing reproductive health programs, becoming prone to abuses and violence both in their homes and in communities.

The studies were done on women with disabilities as samples in District II of Quezon City and Leyte in cooperation with Australian Agency for International Development, United Nations Population Fund, and local government units of QC and Leyte.

Results of the studies will be turned over to the DSWD and the Department of Health (DOH) to encourage them to initiate the conduct of similar studies in the different regions of the country in order to come out with recommended programs and address the mentioned “barriers” affecting women with disabilities effectively.

Some identified barriers include: problems in attitude; knowledge and gender for service providers; physical barriers, including access to facilities, policies, equipment; economic barriers (transportation, cost of services and interpreters); lack of awareness of services, mental health, fear of domestic responsibilities, violence, prejudice and discrimination.

Cabrera said that the DSWD, as the chairperson of the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), has taken the lead in terms of providing the programs and services to ensure that women with disabilities are included in social protection, policies, programs, projects, and are always consulted in planning, implementation, and monitoring of development from the national level down to local department/unit.

“Girls and women of all ages with any form of disability are generally among the more vulnerable and marginalized sectors of society,” the DSWD official said.

She added that in a World Bank report, it was observed that every minute, more than 30 women are seriously injured or disabled during labor.

“This just proved that discrimination exists in multiple layers cutting across ages, class and race. Hence, there is a need to take into account and address the concerns in all policy making and programming domains,” she said.

Also present during the event were representatives from different government agencies and different PWD sectors in different local government units in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Ms. Marian Rivera-Dantes, ambassador of Women and Children With Disabilities, also showed up in the event and delivered inspiring thoughts to women with disabilities and their children, aside from distributing gifts to show her love for them. It was the third time that she joined them in the “12th Women with Disabilities Day” celebration.

The theme for the celebration was “Kapakanan ni Juanang May Kapansanan, Isama sa Plano ng Bayan!”

The theme was reflective of the thrust of the government for inclusive and caring form of governance and service delivery. (PNA) SCS/LSJ/RSM