Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are fundamental to ensuring individuals’ health, well-being, and human rights worldwide. However, promoting and implementing SRHR can be challenging due to cultural barriers and stigmatisation, especially when it comes to people with disabilities. To address these challenges, the Dutch Coalition on Disability and Development (DCDD) has launched the Quick Guide: Towards Disability Inclusive SRHR.
On 20th December 2022, an online webinar was hosted by Share-Net Netherlands, Liliane Foundation, and DCDD. The event featured a panel of disability inclusion advocates, including Lieke Scheewe (DCDD), Laura Honders (Liliane Foundation), Yuri Olrichs (Rutgers), Tsehay Aytenew Melesse (ECDD Ethiopia), Jim Monkel (new Youth Ambassador on SRHR, Gender Equality and Bodily Autonomy) and Nguyen Thi Ha Thanh (Research Centre for Inclusion). The panel provided practical tips and engaged in a Q&A session to introduce organisations to the topic and guide.
Easy access to tools for inclusion
DCDD’s Quick Guide on SRHR is designed to provide guidance on disability inclusion to those who are involved in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) programmes: programme managers, proposal developers, field coordinators and monitoring staff.
“It is important to acknowledge [that people] are sexual people with or without disabilities. They should have equal rights and opportunities and to have control over and make choices about their bodies, lives, and sexuality and to engage in fulfilling relationships.”
Jim Monkel
With the ease of access to the information in mind, DCDD published the Quick Guide that gives a concise and comprehensive overview of available tools, structuring them around the steps organisations can take throughout the programme cycle. The Quick Guide on SRHR consists of four key components: key concepts, legal & policy frameworks, key resources, and the tools that are available throughout the 9-step programme cycle.
An inclusive programme cycle
The guide follows all the stages of the programme cycle, from development to implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Lieke Scheewe, DCDD’s Coordinator & Policy Advisor, mentioned the importance of including the specific priorities of people with disabilities when setting agendas during the design phase. “Women with disabilities face specific forms of gender-based violence, like forced sterilisation. These are issues that often get overlooked by the gender movement.”
Inclusion does not happen automatically, you have to deliberately plan for inclusion in your projects and programmes and tackle all the barriers that are blocking equal access to persons with disabilities. For example, health workers must be trained in communicating with individuals with various disabilities, and informational materials must be made available in accessible formats, such as sign language and easy-read.
People with disabilities in the lead
Nguyen Thi Ha Thanh, researcher for the Research Center for Inclusion with over 8 years of experience promoting inclusion and sexual and reproductive rights, remarked on the importance of providing access to SRH information, protecting children, and including deaf people in designing disability projects. Other panellist Tsehay Aytenew Melesse, who dedicated her time to making SRH services more inclusive in Ethiopia, elaborated on how her organisation reduced physical barriers in health clinics, produced accessible communication materials, and provided basic sign language training to health staff. Both speakers emphasised recognising the agency and autonomy of people with disabilities, deserving of equal opportunities.
Yuri Ohlrichs, trainer and registered Sexologist for Rutgers, suggested that organisations working on SRHR should focus on inclusivity for all, and move beyond the current focus on gender and sexual diversity. He also highlighted the importance of involving parents and caretakers in sexual health education for young people with disabilities.
Every step counts
Jim Monkel drew three take-home messages from the panel discussion on disability inclusion and SRHR. Firstly, he emphasised the importance of taking deliberate action toward being inclusive. He then pointed out the diversity of people with disabilities and the need for an ongoing conversation for the full inclusion of all. Finally, Jim stressed the significance of every little step which is being taken in the right direction, citing the Quick Guide and the panel discussion as examples.
DCDD would like to extend their thanks to Liliane Foundation, Niketan, Rutgers, Share-Net Netherlands, Royal Tropical Institute, Make Way, SeeYou Foundation, CHOICE for Youth and Sexuality, Kentalis, NLR, and Results in Health for the collaboration for the production of this Quick guide; with special thanks to Kim Brands and Laura Honders for the initial research and writing, Paulien Bruijn (Into Inclusion) for guiding the process and to Sanne Lukkien (DCDD) for the design.
Download the PowerPoint slides of the webinar.
