The Advocacy for Women with Disability Initiative (AWWDI) on the 25th day, 2022 hosted several dignitaries including the Honorable Minister of Women Affairs (represented), representatives from the UNFPA, The Disability Commission, The Ministry of Health, The Nigerian Police Force, Disability Rights Fund, The National Association of the Blind, reps from different NGOs and a host of others.
The Conference which was themed“Violence Against Women with Disabilities is Violence Against all Women” moderated by Grace Jerry, Executive Director for Inclusive Friends Associations was geared towards having conversation and making advocacy on the rights of women with disabilities with emphasis on Gender Based Violence , as well as, providing solutions to the challenges encountered by these categories of persons.
Respective speakers and dignitaries first took the podium to deliver goodwill messages. The keynote address was delivered by Her Excellency, The Honorable Minister of Women Affairs, who was ably represented by Mrs. Christianah.
In her keynote speech, the Minister understudied the problems faced by Women with disabilities as enumerated by the World Health Organisation, and much more so, those peculiar to the Nigeria ecosystem.
Amongst these challenges was the low involvement of women in the legislation drafting process. She stressed on the need for women with disabilities to actively get involved in program drafting and policy beginning from the grassroots.
The same position was upheld by Mr. Theophilus Odaudu of the Disability Rights Fund.
Madam Olanike Akinbola from the National Commission for Persons with Disability (NCPWD) also gave her two cents addressing issues such as sexual harassment and unfair treatments towards Women with Disabilities (WWDs).
She noted that issues as these should be reported to the Police as it now has a special unit that specially attends to complaints and act swiftly in matters concerning PWDs.
In addition, Mrs. Tosin Akibu, representing the Country Representative of the UN & ECOWAS interrogated the collection of data, noting that there is currently a gap in tracking previous violation due to the absence of national database.
She also added on the issue of inclusion that little or no cognizance is paid by service providers and developers in the development and provision of services suited for WWDs.
In essence, most services and products are not disability friendly. This of course would include infrastructural designs of offices, the private and public sectors alike. Hers was an exposition on the issues as she paved the way for deliberations on the solutions.
From the stables of the Nigerian Police Force, Deputy Superintendent of Police Abdullahi Dauda assured the attendees of the Force’ willingness in swinging into action when such issues as sexual violence is perpetrated against WWDs, noting that each State Command has a Gender-based desk as well as, an online platform that receives complaints and acts urgently.
In her speech, the Convener and Executive Director of AWWDI, Mrs. Patience Ogolo-Dickson thanked the participants for showing up, emphasizing that it shows how concerned they were and how proves fruitful the advocacy around the subject.
She highlighted the objectives of the conference to include raising awareness, spotlighting WWDs in a positive direction and highlighting specific issues such as GBV and Disability based Violence.
While her speech captured an overview of the aforementioned objectives, she stressed on the inadequate justice system in Nigeria, particularly in addressing the infringements cases of WWDs.
According to her, “accessing justice is difficult because disability rights are not pronounced and held in high esteem in Nigeria”.
However, she challenged this myth by stating that rights are non-discriminatory of a person. As such, the judiciary should evolve to apply the law the way it is, and not with stereotype beliefs.
Madam Olanike Akinbola, Head of Women and Gender unit of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) ushered in the session by making a presentation on Gender, Disability and Violence.
Madam Akinbola stated that in dealing with gender-based violence, the intersection between gender and disability has become an issue of serious concern and the risk of facing gender-based violence increases by many times for women with disabilities.
She attributed root causes of the problem to powerlessness, inaccessibility to services, economic factors and cultural factors; she rounded her presentation by making a call to all relevant stakeholders to work together in different capacities to put an end to the lingering problems.
There was the panel discussion from various stakeholders including: Centre for Non- Violence and Gender Advocacy, UNFPA, Nigeria Police Force, Albino Foundation (TAF), Susan Unique Oasis Foundation, Deaf Women Association Nigeria (DWAN), Nigeria Association of the Blind (NAP) and Equity Advocates (CSO).
