Media urged to help uplift women living with disabilities

Speaking during a workshop held in Bulawayo on Thursday, Mrs Longshaw urged journalists to assist in the upliftment of women living with disabilities by creating awareness about disability rights and violations through objective reporting.

The workshop was held under the theme “Improved media coverage on women and children with disabilities, regarding disability rights and access to HIV and Aids information on intervention and United Nations (UN) standard rules on Equalisation of opportunities for persons with disabilities”.

Mrs Longshaw said women living with disabilities were at risk of becoming infected with HIV through sexual abuse or exclusion from HIV and Aids campaigns.

“Media has an important role to play in the promotion of a balanced and non-stereotyped portrayal of women with disabilities and HIV and Aids. We want to create a relationship between women living with disabilities,” said Mrs Longshaw.

“More than 1 600 000 people in the country are living with disabilities and more than half of them are women. Negative attitudes towards women with disabilities and living with HIV prevent them from accessing mainstream health services as well as information, education and communication programmes about HIV and Aids.”

Mrs Longshaw said the media was also important in the promotion of sexual reproductive health and rights of women with disabilities and HIV.

“Positive reporting by the media would help raise awareness on needs and concerns of women and girls with disabilities and living with HIV.

“We are concerned about how society can change their views on people living with disabilities. There is already stigma and discrimination of the disabled and when there is a case of HIV it completely destroys self-esteem among the affected women.

“We are trying to make people living with disabilities and HIV accept, understand their situations and open up so that they can have access to useful information and live positively, but the biggest problem is that they fear rejection by the society,” said Mrs Longshaw.

She said it was also important for the media to come up with specific programmes, which disclose the attributes and capabilities of people living with disabilities and use proper language to address them.

“As DHAT we are working with other organisations to disseminate adequate information to people living with disabilities and women living with HIV.

“This will help alleviate the challenges that they are facing when they seek medical attention or other important services.

“It is therefore important for the media to support this initiative by coming up with programmes that would promote proper language among professionals from different departments,” said Mrs Longshaw.

She also urged organisations, which assist people living with disabilities to come up with specific issues that address HIV, for the country to achieve inclusiveness in all the sectors.

DHAT is offering training and technical advice to about 200 men and women living with disabilities in Bulawayo and Harare.

The organisation, however, is facing challenges of financial resources as it seeks to include more people from the rural areas in its programmes.