02 Disabled Women's Movement 83-93
Description
This article is from the Essays on the topic of Women and Disability.
02 Disabled Women's Movement 83-93
by Pat Israel and Fran Odette
It's time that the women's movement realizes that able-ism
is practised routinely by feminists who claim to be inclusive.
Over the past ten years, women with disabilities have organized
and strategized to ensure that our "equality" rights were
highlighted and addressed within the realm of both the women's
movement and the disability rights movement. Since that time, the
organizing that took place resembled a small social
movement, in which strength was in numbers and new ideas. This
movement grew and flourished, demonstrating the creativity and
initiative needed to have our voices heard. The movement got its
early beginnings in 1983, when we began to write about our own
lives, in our own words. From this came one of the first
Canadian publications on disabled women's issues entitled Voices
From the Shadows: Women with Disabilities Speak Out by Gwyneth
Matthews. In 1985, two major events took place. An issue on
"Women and Disability"was published by Resources for Feminist
Research. For the first time a mainstream women's journal
acknowledged and provided women with disabilities a forum in
which to have their voices heard. This marked the beginning of an
era in which women with disabilities demanded the right to take
their place in the women's movement.
In June 1985, women with disabilities from across Canada
gathered at a national meeting to form DisAbled Women's Network
Canada (DAWN Canada). This was an historic event since it was the
first time that we had received funding to actually organize and
come together to deal with our issues separately. Prior to this,
disabled women's issues were ignored by both the
disability rights movement and the women's rights movement. Many
feminists did not seem to regard women with disabilities as women
at all, while the disability rights movement failed to
acknowledge that many of our issues were different from the
issues affecting men with disabilities.
At our meeting it was amazing to listen to other women with
disabilities talk about their lives and know that we were not
alone. It was great to finally meet other feminists with
disabilities who were ready to work together to bring about
change in the lives of women with disabilities. By the end of the
meeting, decisions were made and priorities were set. We decided
to tackle violence against women with disabilities, access to the
women's movement and services, the provision of role models for
young girls with disabilities, as well as issues related to self-
image and parenting. We resolved to conduct outreach to all women
with disabilities, to provide information about our concerns, and
finally, to be "a voice for disabled women in Canada." From that
meeting, women went back to their communities and began to
develop local and provincial DAWN
groups. To date, there are 19 DAWN groups across Canada.
Violence against disabled women was the top priority. DAWN
Canada was the first feminist, disability organization to tackle
and bring forth the issues impacting women with disabilities who
were victims/survivors of violence. From this, we began
highlighting our additional concerns related to self-image,
parenting, employment, and new reproductive technologies.
Reports were produced and widely distributed, marking the
beginning of Canadian research conducted on the issues affecting
women with disabilities. Our "expertise" on disabled women's
issues became widely known. As a result, we were oh en consulted
by government, women's groups, and disability-rights groups.
Disabled women's issues were finally being put on the "agenda."
The women within DAWN were not afraid to uncover the realities of
our lives. We proudly use the word "feminist" in our
literature, and have strived to be inclusive of all women with
disabilities. This was apparent at DAWN Canada's conference in
May 1990, which addressed the many factors that impacted upon our
lives, especially in the realm of self-esteem. This
conference brought women together from across Canada. Emotions
ran high as for many of us it was the first time that we had had
the opportunity to be together as a collective, to begin sharing
our ideas, thoughts, and experiences. It was electrifying! This
conference also offered the chance for both non-disabled women
and women with disabilities to gather and share aspects of our
lives. This event illustrates the reality that while our lived
experiences may be different, there are threads common to all
women that bring us together. Many women left feeling energized
and revived to take on the work necessary to ensure that our
concerns as women with disabilities, would be heard by both the
women's movement and the disability rights movement.
Over the years we have seen both the women's movement and the
disability rights movement slowly take on our issues and become
responsive to us. In November 1991, the Canadian Research
Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW) had its 14th
Annual Conference which was entitled The More We Get
Together.... The theme was women and disability. It provided a
unique opportunity for feminist academics to begin exploring our
issues, and to become more accountable in addressing our
concerns regarding disability. New ideas and theories emerged
which attempted to make the links between gender and disability.
These links were not evident in previous feminist literature.
However, the progress we have made up until now is only the
beginning. We recognize that both non-disabled feminists and
feminists with disabilities cannot stop here. The "social
movement" of women with disabilities challenges the women's
movement and the disability rights movement to begin
acknowledging differing definitions of equality. Women who have
been traditionally "marginalized" still need to be more welcomed
by and more included within the women's movement.
Over the years, the disabled women's movement has had a
resounding "ripple effect." Now women's conferences are becoming
accessible and disabled persons' conferences often have
workshops specifically addressing our concerns. Government
officials at varying levels are recognizing the need to include
women with disabilities in the beginning stages of policy
development that will affect all women.
For example, the Office for Disability Issues through the
Ministry of Citizenship in Ontario now has specific funding
available for groups to work on addressing the issues of
violence against women with disabilities within their community.
In addition, the Ontario Women's Directorate has demonstrated
their commitment to be inclusive by inviting DAWN
representatives to consultations which include other women's
groups from across the province.
However, as we move into 1993, we find that this may not be
enough for many of us to feel that we are truly part of the
movement of women. This perspective has been supported in a study
by Fran Odette, in which 25 Canadian women with
disabilities were interviewed regarding their experiences with
both the women's movement and the disability rights movement.
Many women expressed frustration and isolation in their attempts
to organize within these two movements. The notion that
"difference is equated with inequality" captured many of the
women's feelings of exclusion. Thus, one's "physical difference"
can be and has been seen as a tool to be used against us in
numerous ways. Although conferences are "accessible," access only
goes so far. Often, we are obliged to use washrooms with little
or no privacy or to travel miles to find the closest accessible
one. Most workshops are held in locations that we can get to, but
there may be one workshop that piques our interest which is on a
split level, with no elevator access. Inclusion means more than
making minimal provisions for those of us living on the
"fringes."
Many feminist journals are inaccessible simply because of the
academic jargon used to explain and describe our lives as women.
While there continues to be a lack of feminist work done on
disabled women's issues, many of us cannot access mainstream
feminist literature as it is often not available in alternative
formats such as braille, audio cassette, or large print.
It's time that the women's movement realizes that able-ism is
practiced routinely by feminists who claim to be inclusive. This
is seen in women's services that are not physically accessible or
which assume that accessibility is a wheelchair ramp and nothing
else. For example, for women who are deaf, deafened, or hard-of-
hearing, accessibility may mean using a sign language or oral
interpreter, a F.M. system, a TTY, or a phone with a volume
control. For a woman who is non-verbal, she may use other forms
of communication such as a blissymbolics board. Able-ism is also
reflected in the kind of language that non-disabled feminists use
when referring to feminists with disabilities. For example, "you
are so courageous" or "it's so nice that you were able to get out
and come to this conference."
Able-ism also rears its ugly head when we see that non-disabled
women rarely attend the workshops held on disabled women's
issues. Recently, at a conference of 300 women addressing the
issue of violence, approximately seven women attended the
workshop held on disabled women's issues; two in the morning and
five in the afternoon. To the numerous women with disabilities
who spend many hours preparing these seminars, the low numbers of
non-disabled women participating in our workshops may be seen as
sending a message about the importance of this issue within the
larger context of women's issues.
We still have a long way to go in getting many non-disabled
feminists to recognize that we are women first and belong beside
them in the struggle to fight all women's oppressions. This is
not to deny our differences, as diversity is critical for this
movement to survive and be true to all women. The experiences
that women with disabilities bring to the women's movement are
invaluable. We welcome all non disabled feminists to join with us
to ensure "equality" for all women.
Pat Israel is a disabled feminist who lives in Toronto with her
partner and four furry cats. She was a founding member of DAWN
Canada and DAWN Toronto and is currently working on the Health
and Disabled Women Project. Pat is also on the Transitional
Council of Midwives.
Fran Odette is a disabled feminist activist who has been
actively working in the area of equality rights for persons with
disabilities for a number of years. Fran works with the women's
community around issues of access to services for women with
disabilities, particularly with regards to services for
survivors of violence.
References
Mathews, Gwyneth Ferguson. Voices from the Shadows: Women with
Disabilities Speak Out. Canada: Women's Educational Press, 1983.
Odette, Francine. Women with Disabilities: The Third "Sex"-- The
Experience of Exclusion in the Movement Toward Equality.
Independent Enquiry Project in partial requirement for Masters of
Social Work Degree, Carleton University, Ottawa: Faculty of
Social Work, 1993.
Stewart, Houston, Beth Percival, and Elizabeth R. Epperly, eta.
The More We Get Together... Canadian Research Institute for the
Advancement of Women. Charlotte town: Gynergy Books, 1992.
INSTEAD OF ... USE ...
(omitted here; unscannable)
Making Your Event Accessible
1. Does the location you have chosen have a level front entrance
or a ramp, wheelchair accessible parking close to the front
entrance, elevators that have low buttons and Braille markings,
and adapted washroom stalls?
2. Have you booked the required number of interpreters, arranged
for amplifying units complete with the required number of
headsets, arranged for real-time recording, reserved captioned
films? 3. Have you made sure the background noise can be
reduced, if not eliminated, that every part of the event is
smoke-free, asked participants to refrain from using strong
scents?
4. Have you chosen rooms large enough for wheelchair users,
reserved seats in the front row for deaf, deafened, and hard-of-
hearing women? 5. Have you hired attendants for the event,
designated a table for the attendants, given the attendants
details of the participants' needs? 6. Have all your publicity
materials been printed in language that is easy to read and
understand?
7. Have you produced all your materials in large print, on
cassette tape, and in Braille?
8. Have you included "access symbols" on printed materials to
show what kind of access you provide?
Excerpted from Access Checklist, published by the DisAbled
Women's Network and available through DAWN Ontario, 180 Dundas
Street weal Suite 210, Toronto, Ontario M5G IZ8 (416) 598-2438.
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