Barriers to gender-based violence services and support for women with disabilities in Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract

Globally, South Africa has one of the highest rates of gender based violence (GBV). While little is known about the levels of GBV against women with disabilities in the country, less is known about the accessibility or inclusivity of post-violence support and services. The paper draws on data from interviews and focus group discussions with thirty women with disabilities and nineteen disability and GBV service providers in Cape Town, South Africa. Thematic analysis revealed that women with disabilities experience unique disability-related barriers to GBV care and support. Disability-related stigma, accessibility barriers, inadequate training, limited resources and lack of funding contributed to poor GBV service provision for women with disabilities. Awareness and training, accessible information, reasonable accommodations, increased funding, and disability relevant referrals need to be integrated into existing GBV services to ensure sustainable and accessible pathways to inclusive violence prevention, support and responses in the country.

Keywords:

• Disability
• gender-based violence
• violence prevention
• accessibility
• service provision

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the South African Medical Research Council, disability services and protective workshops, the participants, and research assistant Siphokazi Gcaza. The first author acknowledges the contributions of the co-authors, who acted as her PhD supervisors for the study.

Disclosure statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This article was funded by the baseline funds of the Gender and Health Unit of the South African Medical Research Council.