February 24, 2021
Francis F.M.Harding
William E. Lightbourne once said: “Hold my hand and walk with me. We must break the back of social inequity; we must empower every individual with a disability; to live with dignity, in an inclusive society.”
The craving is even useful for the reality of the moment when we consider the state of affairs with disabled compatriots. For we know that they have the potentials, they have the rights, they have the ability, they have the talent and the gift to contribute to society.
In Sierra Leone, disabled people live in obscurity, treated like second-class citizens, without access to public facilities. My thought about the disabled people has been shaped based on my work as a social worker.
In this article revolving around disabled persons, I want to evoke the theory of Personal, Cultural, and Structural Analysis (PCS) model that explains how power relationships are expressed between individuals, groups, and in the wider society. The PCS model also highlights the layered effect of oppression on individuals in his book ‘Anti-Discriminatory Practice: Equality, Diversity and Social Justice’. It is said to have three interrelated level such as personal, cultural, and structural (Thompson, 2012).
The Sierra Leone Disability Act is meant to address these shortcomings. With an estimated 93,129 25 million disabled persons according to the 2015 census. In Sierra Leone about one in every eight Sierra Leoneans live with at least one form of disability. Most common of these disabilities are visual impairment, hearing impairment, physical impairment, intellectual impairment, and communication impairment. Disabilities could be caused by preventable diseases, congenital malformation, birth-related incidents, physical injury and psychological dysfunction.
These statistics are not very all inclusive as the figure could even be higher. This makes the situation very disturbing. For instance, the increasing growth in the number of disabled persons has been directed linked to the lack of medical facilities in the country. Arguably also, disabilities results from insecurity, violence, and even accidents.
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 10 aims to reduce inequality by empowering and promoting the social, economic and political inclusion of all, including persons with disabilities. Also, Goal 11 would make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. However, social protection for disabled people in Sierra Leone is still relatively weak.
For example, while government claims it is implementing measures to promote and enhance the entrepreneurial skills of Persons with Disabilities, the recently approved Discrimination Against Person with Disability Act 2011 was only assented after years of relentless advocacy by disability rights groups and activists.
Yet, the law has neither significantly improved the real ‘protection’ for person with disabilities nor has it reduced the social, political, and economic exclusion they suffer. Person with disabilities are still often discriminated against across the country. Discrimination against person with disabilities in Sierra Leone stems from the negative public perception of people with disabilities in communities across the country.
In many communities, person with disabilities are commonly viewed as accursed due to misinformed cultural beliefs. This has led to poor identification, evaluation, screening, and placement of children with disabilities. In Sierra Leone people living with disabilities are also excluded from political participation. Though the country is signature to the Convention on Disability on the anti-discriminatory law in support of people living with disabilities in the country, they are noticeably absent in politics and public offices in Sierra Leone. In fact, I believe that the Sierra Leone media still address disability issues as a charity issue rather than a public policy concern.
As a result, the political class often uses people with disabilities to garner votes to win elections and neglect them afterwards.
Generally, the effects of discrimination and exclusion that persons with disabilities faced linked to poverty, lack of economic independence, health challenges, and continued dependence on others for sustenance. Some end up on the streets begging and scavenging for food to survive. This negative impact is usually more felt by women and children who are more prone to all kinds of vulnerability.
In an interview with the Disabled Persosn National Executive Officer Sahr Yilla, he pointed out that that disabled persons rights are violated in many different ways including opposition by communities against marital relations with non-disabled persons, denial of medical services due to inability to pay bills, denial of access to opportunities such as participation in pilgrimage trips to holy lands, and denial of access to participation in school competitions.
They are also denied the opportunity to rent houses and commercial properties in some cases. Truthfully, different regimes of policies have been introduced to offer more robust protection for disabled persons in the country.
These include the First Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, Second First Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, third First Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and the fourth First Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.
However, the continued outcries of person with disabilities raise serious questions on the policies and measures that have initiated to tackle discrimination against disabled persons and to promote inclusion in the country. Equally so, the negative attitudes and beliefs members of the public hold about disabled persons is worrisome.
It is disturbing that a very significant proportion of the Sierra Leoneans population remains unprotected due to conditions and situations outside their control. This means the country has to do more in social protection for vulnerable people generally.
In some cases, discrimination might be in the form of alienation and a case in point can be associated with the pathetic story one David Margai, whose hands were hacked off by rebels when they attacked their village. When he returned to Freetown many of his friends shunned him, even his fiancé…
