Livelihood Struggles And Challenges Of Disabled Women During Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 global outbreak is a significant event of the 21^st century as it has a worldwide impact on every aspect of life. While the pandemic threatens all members of society, persons with disabilities are disproportionately impacted due to attitudinal, environmental and institutional barriers that are reproduced in the COVID-19 response. Persons with disabilities face specific barriers in carrying out their daily lives in the community due to COVID-19. Many persons with disabilities who rely on others for daily living (through formal support by service providers or informal support by relatives/friends) find themselves without support due to movement restrictions and physical distancing measures which leave them at high risk without access to food, essential goods and medicine, and prevented from carrying out basic daily activities such as bathing, cooking, or eating. Research shows that women and girls with disabilities primarily due to their disability status were cut off from other needed health services, lost access to employment and education, lost access to disability-related support services, and faced significant barriers to affording and accessing food, clean water, housing, sanitation items, and other basic needs. Thus the present paper attempts to highlight the struggles and challenges of disabled women during pandemic based on secondary literature. The paper will also discuss some personal experiences of the livelihoods of disabled women in Jammu city.