Women and girls with disabilities have the same sexual and reproductive health and rights needs as other people. Yet they often face barriers to accessing information and services. In addition, there are a number of pervasive stereotypes that exist in most cultures in the world about the sexuality of women with disabilities. They are predominantly negative and either serve to deny their sexuality or create fear about it. Their voices are often shut out and they are not empowered to speak out about their needs because of stigma and discrimination. Persons with disability are commonly assumed to be unable to learn about sexuality, have relationships, to be a sexual partner or an effective parent. During COVID-19 lockdowns, women with disabilities faced real hardship as we estimate that they are two to four times more likely to experience physical and sexual violence than women without a disability.

In this episode, Carine Weiss talks to Gertrude Fefoame from Ghana about her passion and work advocating for the rights of women and girls with disabilities. We talk about sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls with disabilities, as well as violence, what kind of barriers they are facing when accessing health care services and what kind of stereotypes they are facing around sexuality.

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