THE Centre for Citizens with Disabilities has decried the current practice where more than 99.5 per cent of Ministries, Departments and Agencies at both the Federal and States levels that are responsible for the rehabilitation of women with disabilities are not accessible to them.
Executive Director of the Centre, David Anyaele, who spoke Abuja Xtra in Abuja, put the population of Nigerian women living with disabilities at 10 million, saying these women have suffered various forms stigmatisation, isolation, and exclusion by state and non-state actors due to negative attitude of the society towards people with disabilities.
He said, “CCD is worried that access to healthcare services women with disabilities in Nigeria is becoming slimmer every day due lack of accessible healthcare infrastructures as more than 99.5% of healthcare centres in Nigeria are not accessible to Nigerian women with disabilities”.
Anyaele, said it was most disturbing that over 99.5 per cent of MDAs at both federal and state including Ministries of Women Affairs and Social Development with mandate to deal with issues of women with disabilities have failed to live up to cater for these group of people.
He noted that only five states (Plateau, Ekiti, Bauchi, Ondo and Lagos) have passed a legislation that protects women with disabilities from discrimination and harmful practices in Nigeria.
He said: “Nigerian women with disabilities are the most marginalized of the marginalized social groups due to limited legal frameworks to protect them from discrimination and harmful practices as section 42 of the 199 Nigeria Constitution as amended is silent on the discrimination on the grounds of disabilities”.
He called on the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and members of the National Assembly to support Nigeria women with disabilities through conclusion of harmonisation and accelerating all legislative processes on the Nigeria disability bill that has been passed by both Chambers of the National Assembly to facilitates transmission to the President for assent.
He also appealed to other State Governments in the county that are yet to pass a disability laws to copy from States that have passed disability laws so as to protect their women (citizens) with disabilities from all forms of disability based violence.
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