Women’s Month: Breaking barriers, amplifying voices of women with disabilities

A qualified and experienced young woman living with brittle bone disease shares the dark experience of living with a disability.

Despite her skills and determination, Lungi Mkwani, 27, is among a growing population of women with disabilities systematically excluded from the workforce. Their struggle is not about a lack of potential or skill, it’s about a lack of access, inclusion, and equity. She lives with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (brittle bones), and that’s where the struggle begins.

Although she holds qualifications in Public Relations and Call Centre Training, along with experience in business and office administration, she has had no luck  in securing the jobs she applies for.

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“Living with a disability as a woman in South Africa is challenging. Most of our cries are rarely heard,” said Mkwani.
Despite volunteering at her local police station from 2022 to 2023, she was turned down for permanent employment. “They used my disability as an excuse not to employ me,” she said. “We’re always told, ‘We encourage persons with disabilities to apply,’ but the follow-through never happens.

“Most people with disabilities are only employed through organisations or short-term learnerships, often with age restrictions. The biggest challenge is that these opportunities only last 12 months and often exclude people older than 28, and not all buildings or facilities are accessible,  some have stairs, others don’t accommodate people who are blind or deaf, or those with writing challenges,” she added.

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Lana Roy, programme lead of 360: Disability Inclusion at Afrika Tikkun, said women with disabilities are frequently disregarded due to both their gender and their disability.
“There are few opportunities for advancement, and when they do get jobs, they are rarely given leadership-oriented positions. Access and safety at work are also major issues, particularly when it comes to using public restrooms, transportation, or being taken seriously in settings where men predominate,” she explained.

“Women with disabilities are often more vulnerable to discrimination, exploitation, and even gender-based violence, not because of their impairments, but because of how society is structured and responds to their impairments.”

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Roy added that the problem also lies in how policy is applied.
“From a policy side, there needs to be stronger enforcement of inclusive hiring practices, not just compliance on paper. Companies should stop seeing inclusion as a favour and start seeing it as a responsibility, creating spaces where women with disabilities don’t feel like outsiders. And in society, we need to challenge the harmful belief that disability equals incapability; that mind-set alone blocks a lot of potential,” she explained.

Yvette Basson, senior lecturer at University of the Western Cape, Bellville, highlights the concepts of multiple-discrimination, faced by women living with disabilities.

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“In addition to experiencing gender-based discrimination, women with disabilities experience unfair discrimination based on disability. Examples of discrimination based on disability include denying reasonable accommodation, refusing to employ a person with a disability, and refusing to allow a person with a disability time off to receive medical treatment.”

For women with disabilities, the struggle is far from over, despite strides by the government and private sector to mitigate their challenges, and improve inclusion.

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