Women in eThekwini, South Africa, experience high rates of gender-based violence (GBV) in comparison to other areas in the world. The level of violence, in its multifaceted forms inflicted by diverse actors and also systemic, is compounded for women with disabilities by a factor of two to four times. Although people with disabilities make up about 16% of the world, they are not often given the awareness they need by the research world, and not much has been done by political, justice, and medical systems to address gender-based violence faced by women with disabilities (World Health Organization, 2023; Van Der Heijden, Harries, and Abrahams, 2018)

The INCLUDE project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK, aims to decentre ableist understanding and responses to violence against women. Working with women with disabilities, the project's priority is motivated by a lack of knowledge about the lived experience of women with disabilities who experience GBV, and how intersecting factors like specific disability, class, and age shape experiences of GBV.

References:

Ingrid van der Heijden, Jane Harries, and Naeemah Abrahams, "Ethical Considerations for Disability-Inclusive Gender-Based Violence Research: Reflections from a South African Qualitative Case Study," Global Public Health 14, no. 5 (November 4, 2018): 737–49, https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2018.1542015.

World Health Organization. "Disability." World Health Organization. World Health Organization, March 7, 2023. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/disability-and-health.