Disability and abuse
IN this article, I continue to unpack the provisions of the National Disability Policy, which was launched by President Mnangagwa on June 9, 2021.
THE Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, led by Honourable Minister Professor Paul Mavima oversees the implementation of the National Disability Policy, thus moving the provisions of the policy from paper to the real world to make a positive difference in the lives of persons with disabilities and their families.
The focus of this article is on Section 3.6 (Exploitation, Violence and Abuse) of the National Disability Policy (2021), which is set out as follows:
3.6 Exploitation, violence and abuse 3.6.1 Both within and outside homes, persons with disabilities must be protected from all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse in gender responsive ways.
3.6.2 Traditional healers, religious prophets and contemporary health staff and allied professionals and any other persons that exploit and abuse persons with disabilities under the guise of “curing” disability must be prosecuted.
3.6.3 Guidelines for monitoring the practices of traditional healers, religious prophets and contemporary health staff and allied professionals that result in exploitation, violence and abuse of persons with disabilities must be developed.
3.6.4 Age appropriate, gender and disability sensitive awareness raising campaigns on all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse must be undertaken and promoted.
3.6.5 Raise awareness in relation to differentiating between consensual acts of sexual expression and sexual abuse among persons with disabilities, bearing in mind that adults with disabilities have a right to engage in sexual relations with people of their choice.
3.6.6 Build the capacity of the justice delivery system to enhance the understanding that persons with disabilities have and are entitled to the same sexual rights as everyone else and should be afforded dignity and respect when handling and trying their cases.
3.6.7 Justice delivery officials and all relevant stakeholders must be trained to address barriers that hinder persons with disabilities from accessing justice, including communications and the built environment.
3.6.8 Impart knowledge to justice delivery officials about methods of providing procedural accommodation for persons with disabilities.
3.6.9 All disability and justice training programs must be registered with the Department of Disability Affairs, Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, before they are conducted.
3.6.10 Persons with disabilities, their families and caregivers must be provided with information and education on how to avoid, recognise and report instances of exploitation, violence and abuse.
3.6.11 In order to prevent the occurrence or concealment of “in-house” exploitation, violence and abuse, all facilities and programmes that are designed to serve persons with disabilities must be monitored by independent authorities.
3.6.12 Facilities and programmes for persons with disabilities must be sensitive to intersecting social life attributes that include age, gender, religion, culture and disability in framing the experiences of exploitation, violence and abuse of affected persons.
3.6.13 While respecting individuals’ privacy and confidentiality records of accurate disaggregated data (disability, gender, age, religion etc.) on exploitation, violence and abuse which relates to persons with disabilities must be kept within the justice delivery system.
3.6.14 Data mentioned in 3.6.13, must be submitted in November of each year, to the Department of Disability Affairs, Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, and it should be used to (among other things) inform policy and practice.
3.6.15 Various stakeholders must establish partnerships in order to ensure the provision of accessible and inclusive shelters and victim assistance services in both rural and urban areas and in all the 10 provinces of Zimbabwe.
3.6.16 Inclusive recovery shelters must be registered with the Department of Disability Affairs, Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, to ensure quality control as well as to provide a point of collaboration and consultation with persons with disabilities.
3.6.17 Inclusive shelters must comprise psychological and physical aspects, peer support and counselling, as well as rehabilitation and social re-integration in environments that take cognisance of the health, welfare, self-respect, dignity and autonomy of persons with disabilities.
3.6.18 Recovery and reintegration must take place in an environment that fosters the health, welfare, self-respect, dignity and autonomy of the person and takes into account gender and age-specific needs.
3.6.19 Exploiting and abusing persons with disabilities, for personal benefit under the guise of research or providing support is an offence.
3.6.20 Hate speech and mockery of persons with disabilities on the basis of disability is an offence.
3.6.21 Instances of exploitation, violence and abuse against persons with disabilities, including children and women must be identified, investigated and, where appropriate, prosecuted.
3.6.22 A “Disability and Older Persons’ Office” must be established at every police station and Court of law.
3.6.23 Every police station and Court of law must have officers that are appropriately trained to respond to cases that involve persons with disabilities.
3.6.24 Data on cases that involve persons with disabilities must be submitted in November of each year, to the Department of Disability Affairs, Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, and it should be used to (among other things) inform policy and practice.
So what does it all mean?
Persons with disabilities are generally regarded as easy targets by perpetrators of violence and abuse. For example, deaf women cannot scream for help and blind women cannot see the perpetrator. There is, therefore, need to put mechanisms in place that seek to protect persons with disabilities from exploitation, violence and abuse. There is also need to raise awareness among persons with all kinds of disabilities and their families so that they are able to identify incidences of abuse and take the necessary measures. For example, some persons with mental disabilities may be sexually abused without them even knowing that they are being abused. And even when they talk about their experiences, they may not even know that what they are talking about is sexual abuse.
On the other hand, we also need, to acknowledge that no human being is asexual, thus it is wrong to think that persons with disabilities are asexual beings who are innocent of sexual thoughts, feelings and experiences.
Because once we do that, we begin to regard every intimate relationship that involves a person with disability as abuse that warrants prosecution. That is why Section 3.6.5 above, directs awareness raising with regards to differentiating between consensual acts of sexual expression and sexual abuse among persons with disabilities, bearing in mind that adults with disabilities have a right to engage in sexual relations with people of their choice.
In addition, Section 3.6.6 addresses the need for capacity building of the justice delivery system to enhance the understanding that persons with disabilities have and are entitled to the same sexual rights as everyone else and should be afforded dignity and respect when handling and trying their cases.
Research has indicated that some traditional healers and some religious prophets are perpetrators of abuse of persons with disabilities under the guise of “curing” disability. In addition, incidences of some ambulance staff who rape girls and women with Down syndrome whilst they are on their way to hospital have also been reported.
We all need to join hands to fight against violence, exploitation and abuse of persons with disabilities both within families and outside of families, thus upholding the spirit of the moral theory of “Ubuntu” which represents the African traditional life of expressing compassion, reciprocity, dignity, harmony and humanity in the interests of building justice within communities as well as mutual caring.