To browse Academia. This paper is derived from study on sexual and reproductive rights of women with disabilities in Zimbabwe. The paper explores the sexual and reproductive rights SRR and practices vis a vis women with disabilities in Zimbabwe. This is done with the view of drawing insights and policy recommendations on sexual and reproductive rights for women with disabilities in Zimbabwe. While the availability of acceptable and supportive public policy and legislation indicates the beginning of a commendable process of services delivery to all stakeholders, this alone is not sufficient unless supported by effective systems and processes for effective delivery.
The study recommends change of mind-set for both the cultural environment and law with regards what is acceptable and legal sex; domestication and enforcement of international and regional disability laws; redesign of national laws to clearly address SRRs for WWDs; communication and advocacy of disability laws to the people. Zimbabwe is an optimal case to apply this study in, due to its contradictory legislation and high amounts of human rights violations.
This study is therefore based in feminist disability studies with the aim to fill the research gap in acknowledging the consequences compulsory able-bodiedness can have on disabled citizens if found in governmental policy.
The theoretical framework is operationalized into themes and criterias which are then applied to analyse the conducted interviews. This thesis shows that there is a discrepancy between government policy and the practical experiences of the respondents.
The respondents experienced a lack of accessibility to reproductive healthcare, to the law, and to sex education β which are all rights ensured by government policy. Identified consequences included: discouragement in seeking health treatment, discouragement in reporting crimes, and receiving false sex education information from secondhand sources.
