Mumbai: The issues of inclusivity of differently abled women and sensitivity towards them are being discussed at a two-day seminar organised by the Department of Special Education, SNDT Juhu, in collaboration with the National Commission of Women (NCW). Over 200 participants from across the country, including special educators and NGO members, have signed in for the conference.
The event was inaugurated on Thursday by National Commission for Women Chairperson Rekha Sharma and SNDT Vice Chancellor Ujwala Chakradeo. During her address, Ms Sharma said that society treats specially-abled women with sympathy and not empathy. “Equal access, opportunity and resources should be extended so that all women become self-dependent and empowered. Marriage is also a concern for specially-abled women and everything revolves around this concept. They should be supported in their family and by the government to overcome such obstacles,” Ms Sharma said.
Speaking about emotional and economical freedom of differently-abled women, former Chairperson of the Rehabilitation Council of India, Sudesh Mukhopadhyay said, “In our country, more boys are born disabled compared to girls but more girls become disabled by the age of five. This is because the girl child, even though she is healthy, is neglected by her parents who do not give proper treatment in early years.”
According to Prof Mukhopadhyay, disability itself has many divisions, including physical and mental. “Everyone needs to be sensitised so that topics like economic empowerment, poverty and self-esteem of these women can be tackled. There is also a great need to protect them from being subjected to multiple aggravated forms of discrimination as well sexual exploitation and abuse in situation of risks,” Prof Mukhopadhyay said.
