Chronicle Editor
Rejoyce Sibanda
Feature
IT is concerning that people with disabilities (PWDs) in the country continue to face challenges in accessing justice and social protection measures.
They are supposed to enjoy the same rights just like people without disabilities.
Society regards PWDs as people from whom nothing reasonable can come thus are being isolated. They also face physical barriers such as being excluded from the physical environment, for example in certain buildings and infrastructure.
Society therefore disables or handicaps persons with various impairments due to negative attitudes, beliefs, myths and other barriers.
It is worth noting that there are PWDs who are doing great things in life who refuse to be defined by the odds. That is proof that a disability is not a barrier and that it does not mean inability.
Physical access and interpretation services should, however, be provided for PWDs. They should also have full access to justice and enjoyment of their rights in terms of the Constitution.
Moreover, there should be delivery rights lawyers in the design and delivery of laws, policies and services for PWDs.
According to the 2022 Population and Housing Census Functioning Preliminary report, about 1,2 million people are living with functional difficulties in the country.
The difficulties which affect 9,2 percent of the population include difficulties in seeing, hearing, walking or climbing, remembering or concentrating, self-care and communication.
In a post-Cabinet briefing in August this year, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Senator Monica Mutsvangwa said women account for 718 899 (59,6 percent) of that population.
She said Matabeleland North has the highest number at 11,4 percent while Harare has the lowest number at 5,2 percent.
Rural areas have 74 percent of persons with varying degrees of difficulty in performing activities while urban areas account for 26 percent of that population.
In a statement last month, the Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) chairperson Mrs Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe said they established that PWDs were among the most sexually exploited in communities in the country.
She said the commission observed that PWDs were most vulnerable to sexual exploitation within families as they are hidden from the public.
“Persons with disabilities face systematic barriers and challenges in accessing justice and social protection mechanisms which include: long distances to courts, lack of sign language interpreters, lack of safe shelters, discrimination by the community and service providers, being hidden away from the public by their families,” she said.
ZGC recommended that the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs provide adequate human and financial resources to the Legal Aid Directorate for increased outreach to those who cannot afford to hire legal representation.
Mr Pick Nkomwa, the director of Nkomwa Foundation Trust that aims to assist and promote the rights of PWDs said attitudinal barriers such as negative perceptions and misconceptions about PWDs result in them being discriminated against, rejected and disempowered.
He said such attitudes often consider persons with disabilities as incapable, inadequate, of low intelligence and in need of special services.
“Communication barriers, in particular, the deaf people face challenges in that not all service providers are conversant with sign language. Court interpreters are availed by the Government; however, the number is inadequate to cover all courts in our country,” said Mr Nkomwa.
He added that the insensitivity of communities has found PWDs being regarded as nothing but charity objects.
Mr Nkomwa said institutional or systemic barriers hinder effective participation of PWDs in accessing justice, voting systems, in the economic and political sectors among others.
“PWDs are further negatively affected in accessing justice and social protection measures through the high cost of legal representation and prolonged court cases that become costly if the justice seeker has to travel to attend the court sessions. Some PWDs tend to lose memory quickly which does impact negatively on justice delivery,” he said.
Reports of abuse on PWDs are not taken seriously from family level especially for persons with intellectual challenges and as a result the case will be swept under the carpet.
Mr Nkomwa said there should be continued training on the rights of PWDs and sign language interpretation targeted at service providers.
He added that there should be continuous community sensitisation on disability and the private sector engagement in upholding the PWDs rights and their implementation.
“The Government has to formulate disability inclusive development plans, allocate funds and resources and build capacities to deliver on all the rights of persons with disabilities which include accessibility, social protection, economic empowerment, inclusive education and health, accessible transport, infrastructure, housing and social amenities,” he said.
Presenting the 2023 National Budget last month, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said in moving towards Vision 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals of
“leaving no one and no place behind”, the Government is committed to attending to the needs of PWDs.
He said this includes ensuring that PWDs access education for skills and entrepreneurial development and also providing an opportunity for them to benefit from the Public Service Disability employment quota of 15 percent. — @ReeSibanda
Online Reporter