Including Women with Disabilities offers a comprehensive and original exploration of disability as experienced by women in Mizoram, one of India’s north-eastern states. Drawing on in-depth fieldwork, the book examines the multiple and overlapping problems faced by women with disabilities – ranging from low educational attainment and restricted economic opportunities to social stigma and limited access to vocational training. It highlights the lack of awareness of legal rights and government schemes, and points to the crucial role of faith and community as sources of strength and resilience. By connecting personal narratives with social structures, the study shows how gender, disability and economic marginalization interact, and offers evidence-based strategies for inclusive development and policy reform.
Women with disabilities often live without adequate recognition or support, confronting discrimination that extends well beyond their individual circumstances. This book focuses on their lived experiences in Mizoram’s two largest districts, Aizawl and Lunglei, and analyses the interplay of social, economic and cultural factors that perpetuate exclusion. It documents the shortage of training opportunities, the constraints of low awareness of protective laws, and the persistent stereotypes that hinder equality. At the same time, it explores the coping strategies developed by women and their families, showing how religion and community solidarity provide resilience. Concluding with well-grounded policy recommendations, Including Women with Disabilities is an indispensable resource for scholars, policymakers, social workers and activists concerned with disability rights, gender justice and inclusive development.
Here is an excerpt from the book:
The various problems encountered in the daily lives of women with disabilities and the coping strategies adopted are presented in this chapter. The sociological analysis of their problems also included the coping strategies adopted by these women amidst their disabilities. The various problems pointed out in this chapter are divided into 7 sections which are: 1. Mobility limitations 2. Issues associated with assistive devices 3. Issue of access 4. Issues in education 5. Inheritance issue 6. Problems in terms of vocational training centres 7. Coping strategies and faith issues. The penultimate section has elaborated three case studies which finally terminates with an overview of the chapter.
Mobility limitation:
An attempt was made to know the mobility limitation issue encountered by women with disabilities in both districts. The mobility issue of the respondents was found out after the respondents were asked whether they have problems in mobility in their everyday life. Women with no mobility issues in body functions were on a higher side and only fewer women were found who seemed to have mobility issues. These women with mobility issues are those with chronic neurological conditions, cerebral palsy, and Parkinson’s disease. These women have also represented smaller sections of the population in the list provided by the Social Welfare and Tribal Affairs Department. Women with other types of disabilities did not have any problems in moving about freely in their own house and no mobility issue was witnessed among them. However, in terms of limitations, the respondents were asked whether the limitations imposed by their disability are high and the majority of the women said that the limitations imposed by their disability are very high. Only fewer women have said that the limitations imposed are very low. The mobility limitations here imply their involvement in society, church, community gatherings, and self-care. So, even though most women do not have mobility issues in their body functions, they still face high limitations in mobility overall. Most of these women have also expressed that they are not confident in using public transport at all while only a few women are very confident in using them. So, even though most of these women have no problems with mobility, they have certain limitations and restrictions in terms of their daily lives which also affect their confidence in using the public transport system.
Issues associated with assistive devices:
In the next section, an attempt was made to know about the issues associated with assistive devices. Assistive devices are important in assisting these women to carry out their jobs and mobility with ease. Our query is related to five parameters which include whether they use assistive devices or not, how often they use the assistive devices, from where they receive the assistive devices, the cost of it was met by whom, and the problems faced in using assistive devices. Most of the women did not use any assistive devices in either district. In Lunglei, some fewer women used assistive devices which come in the form of wheelchairs and spectacles. In Aizawl, those who used assistive devices such as crutches, cochlear implants, hearing aids, spectacles, and wheelchairs are outnumbered by those who did not use them. Assistive devices other than these five mentioned are not found among women. The ones who receive the devices from the government have expressed their lack of quality and they found it rather difficult to use them regularly due to the pain and discomfort associated with the regular use. It was also found that awareness is little with regard to the free distribution of devices from the government and many women who need the devices do not know ways to acquire them free of cost from the government. Most women have expressed that their non-use of the devices is due to the non-availability of the devices that could accommodate them. Besides, among the assistive device users, the non-user-friendly nature of the devices caused problems with their regular uses. Lack of money is another reason attributed to the small uses of the devices among these women and even among the assistive device users, some women expressed that lack of money prevents them from purchasing higher standard devices. In both districts, knowledge in terms of assistive devices is very low among the women as the majority of the women do not have any knowledge in terms of the positive impact of these devices in their everyday lives.
Issues of access:
The issues faced by women with disabilities in terms of access are analysed under this heading and the parameters used are the levels of problems faced in terms of issues, the various buildings which are the most difficult to access, the need for disability-friendly buildings and the need for a separate toilet which is easy to access by these women. District-wise, it is found that most of the women have problems in terms of access and the level of the problem as indicated by the women is very high. These women from both districts have maintained that private buildings and houses are the most difficult to access. This is due to the architectural design of the houses in Mizoram and also since the state is located on a hilly slope, the locations of houses cannot be all easily accessible. The abundance of steps and slopes has also made it difficult to rehabilitate these women in terms of access to buildings and places. Churches are also difficult to access by them followed by educational institutions. The women have cried in grief about the immediate need for disability-friendly buildings most women from both districts have all agreed on building disability-friendly infrastructures in the state. It may take longer to upgrade all or most of the buildings to be disability-friendly but the setting up of separate toilets can be set up in a shorter duration as most of the women from the two districts of Mizoram wished for the setting up of separate toilets for them in public buildings including churches, malls, and government offices in order to rehabilitate them.
Issues in education:
In this section, the issues in the field of education are analysed, and various problems which burden girls and women with disabilities are singled out. Our query in this section is related to five parameters which are as follows: 1. Level of education opportunities 2. Lack of inclusivity in education 3. The lack of educational facilities 4. Lack of specially trained teachers and 5. The level of the need for a separate inclusive curriculum. The issues raised in this section show that the educational opportunities for women with disabilities are very low and most women and girls with disabilities have expressed that they have only little chances to acquire education in Mizoram. The low level of educational opportunities is found due to a lack of inclusivity in the field of education as mentioned by most women from both districts. In Lunglei, all the women have raised their concerns about the low level of inclusivity and educational opportunities in the district. There are no women from both districts who seem to disagree with the statement that there is no lack of inclusivity in education. Again, all the women from Lunglei agreed that the level of educational facilities is very high in their district while most women from Aizawl have also agreed that there is a very high lack of educational facilities in the district. The lack of specially trained teachers is also very high in both districts. The need for a separate inclusive curriculum is also very highly needed as the women from both districts raised their concerns in this regard. Since the level of education and related fields is found to be underdeveloped, this shows that the goal of inclusive development cannot be progressive and calls for the need to improve the area of education for these women in Mizoram. This finding relates with the study of both Hammad & Singal (2015) and Sarkar (2023) who have stated that the absence of inclusive curriculum, facilities, resources and services for women and girls with disabilities in higher educational institutions led to their low enrolment rate in higher education. Santovec’s (2011) study that describes the contributions of stigma and stereotypes of women with disabilities is also another reason for the low educational qualifications and issues faced in the field of education by the women respondents.
Problems in terms of vocational training centres:
In this section, the rehabilitation problems faced by the women in terms of vocational training centres are highlighted and are related to four parameters which are the level of the need for vocational training centres, lack of employment opportunities, the need for reservation of seats and financial burden faced by the families of these women. Under all headings, efforts are taken to find out the exact level of problems faced in the field of vocational training centres. All the women from Lunglei have said that there is a very high need for vocational training centres in the district as there are no training centres available for them. In Aizawl, most of the women have also expressed their very high need for training centres. It was found that the lack of training centres had a direct impact on their employment opportunities as the women experienced cases of low employment opportunities which calls for the need for reservation of seats in employment sectors. All women from Lunglei and most women from Aizawl have the opinion to reserve more seats as a way to increase their employment chances and bring in one form of development in their lives. There are no women from both districts who claim that there is no need for reservation of seats for them. The lack of vocational training centres led to a financial burden on the women in the two districts as all women from Lunglei and most women from Aizawl have faced financial burdens due to the absence of independence in employment. The finding in terms of low vocational training of the women respondents is similar with the finding of Mitra and Sambamoorthi (2006) which states that low education leads to lower scope for vocational training for women with disabilities, which further cause financial issues among them.
Inheritance issues:
In terms of inclusion in family inheritance, it was found that most of the women were not included in the list of inheritance. On the other hand, it was also found that only a small fraction of the women was included in the list of their family inheritance. This is due to the practice of age-old Mizo customary laws in which daughters are not given any family inheritance and also partly due to the mistrust of the women in handling family fortune and money due to their disabilities.
Coping strategies and faith issues:
After the various problems were located and analysed, the next step was to find out the coping strategies adopted by the women from both districts. Most of the women from Aizawl did not receive any vocational training including skill training and computer diplomas. However, since most of the women from Lunglei are still in their primary schools, they are taught some basic skills and can be recorded as receiving vocational training. This training received by them helps them cope with their disability as it helps them in carrying out various tasks to pass their time such as sweeping floors and weaving clothes. Since most of the women from both districts did not receive any vocational training from outside sources, their families were the main coping mechanism for them. Most of the women from both districts largely depend on their families all the time to carry out their everyday activities. Hence, families play the most vital role in coping with the disabilities of these women. Besides, most of the women have said that the support from the family helps them cope with disability and offers a safe haven for them followed by the support from general teachers and their professional training which also serves as an important coping strategy for them. The family members play a vital role in the women’s lives and they have expressed that their families always felt fine in helping and supporting them with only a small fraction of the women from Aizawl who never felt fine in helping these women overcome their burden. Overall, the importance of family in helping these women cope with disability is observed. Besides their families, these women have also used their faith in the Almighty God as a way to cope with their disability. These women and their caregivers have said that they have never questioned the plan and way of God’s works and view their disabilities as a blessing, not a burden.
Combining detailed fieldwork with policy insights, Including Women with Disabilities offers a vital roadmap for promoting empowerment, social inclusion, and equitable development for marginalized women in Mizoram and beyond.
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