- National Council for Persons with Disabilities said that it is regrettable that the vulnerable groups are subjected to sexual discrimination and injustices.
- According to the 2019 census, 2.2 per cent of Kenyans have a disability.
Image: FILE
The National Council for Persons with Disabilities has asked Kilifi county to formulate laws and policies related to the rights of vulnerable persons.
The council members said the government should ensure equal access to sexual reproductive services for Young People with Disabilities (YPWD) not only in Kilifi county, but across the Coast region.
This comes after a report was recorded that adolescents with disabilities mostly face discrimination in terms of severe social, economic and civic disparities more than their peers who are not disabled.
NCPWD member Mathias Tsuma said it is regrettable that the vulnerable groups are subjected to sexual discrimination and injustices such as confinement, forced sterilisation and rape.
“The society tends to think that people with disability should be non-sexual. In many cases, sexuality education is withheld among this group of people because it is assumed the person will not need it,” he said.
He said that Kilifi county has about 20,064 people living with different disabilities.
Dream Achievers Youth Organisation programme officer Enos Opiyo said it is essential for PWDs to be provided with the right to access and exercise their sexual reproductive health.
“Our findings clearly indicate that there is need to come up with strategies and programmes to raise Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH)—related awareness. We need to also help YPWD to develop the appropriate skills and attitudes needed for a healthy reproductive life,” he said.
The organisation unveiled a ‘We Lead’ programme which aims to inform and empower disabled women on access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights information and services in Kilifi county.
“Young adolescent women with disabilities have been overlooked by both the community and governments, leaving them feeling marginalised yet they have the same needs for SRH rights and services as persons without disabilities,” he said.
Opiyo said that the programme will champion for the rights of the special groups because the constitution also provides for the right to the highest attainable standard of health, including reproductive health.
“The overall objective of this programme is to ensure that, by the end of 2025, we will be having resilient young women with disabilities, living with HIV and affected by displacement are the duty-bearers and health-service providers," he said.
Opiyo further said those special groups would be "taking steps towards implementing laws, policies and practices that respect and protect these young women’s SRHR.”
PWDs face numerous barriers in accessing sexual and reproductive health services with their rights often unmet. The challenges range from individual, environmental, attitudinal and institutional.
According to the World Health Organization, there is an estimation of 15 per cent of the world’s population that has a disability, with the highest prevalence of disabilities in lower-income countries.
According to the 2019 census, 2.2 per cent of Kenyans have a disability.
PWDs are more likely to be unemployed, uneducated, living in poverty and experience inequalities in accessing healthcare.
Despite their vulnerabilities being known, attitudes in the society and stereotypes have affected programming, resource allocation and planning of sexual reproductive health and rights interventions, leading to negative reproductive health outcome for PWDs.
(edited by Amol Awuor)