Our bodies, our rights
Disabled women still face huge barriers in the realisation of their rights in Scotland when it comes to sex, reproductive health, and parenting support, says a new report. A two year project run by feminist policy organisation Engender, along with disabled people’s organisations and academics, has revealed that disabled women do not receive sufficient education, support or freedom to make informed choices about their reproductive lives.
The report highlights the undermining of disabled women’s rights which is caused by poor or non-existent sex education, lack of training for practitioners, failures in reproductive, sexual and maternal health services, and pervasive abuse and violence faced by disabled women. Throughout the project, women spoke of facing negative assumptions and stereotyping, the unfounded removal of children in to care, forced terminations or sterilisation, and infantilising treatment all of which impacted on their ability to make decisions about their relationships and family life.
Read the report here, and an Easy Read version of the report here.