#socialstigma

Disability stigma prevents social inclusion. Living with a mental disability, I understand what it's like to live with stigma continually. Around 1.3 billion people, 16% of the global population live with a disability according to the WHO. (Source: whoint). Isn’t it time that changed?

Social Stigma and Disability Social stigma and disability are one of the biggest barriers when it comes to inclusion. Disability stigma as it’s called, negatively impacts people’s quality of life for people with disabilities preventing from being included and playing a full role in society. It’s not only an abuse of people’s human rights, but it’s also a waste of human potential. (Source: cbmukorguk).

Education One way we can promote understanding is through education. We can educate ourselves and others about disabilities, the challenges they present, and the different ways in which they are experienced. This can include learning about the specific conditions that cause disability, as well as the ways in which ableism affects the lives of those who live with them.

Inclusion We can also make efforts to include people with disabilities in our communities, treating them with the same respect and dignity as anyone else. It’s difficult to say how much of a lack of awareness or understanding contributes to disability stigma, or how much of that is down to prejudice, fear and discrimination.

Strategies for Change Ultimately, it is up to each individual to take responsibility for their own attitude and behaviour towards people with disabilities. By recognising our own biases and making efforts to challenge them, we can promote greater understanding, inclusion, and acceptance for those living with physical, mental and emotional disabilities. We can bring difference in here too.

Don’t you find it a bit ironic that India is a country where women have no reproductive rights yet our nation is known worldwide for the Taj Mahal, a monument breathing the story of a queen who lost her life at the altar of her childbirth?

Today, the number of teenage girls popping the easily procured abortion pills, away from the knowing and reproachful eyes of their parents, is alarming. Buried…