The Double Burden: Barriers and Facilitators to Socioeconomic Inclusion for Women with Disability in Bangladesh

Authors

  • Marlee Elizabeth Quinn Graduate Student of International Public Health, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney
  • Cynthia L Hunter School of Social and Political Sciences, and Public Health, The University of Sydney
  • Sumanta Ray The Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, Savar
  • Mohammad Morshedul Quadir Rimon Access to Health and Education for all Children and Youth with Disabilities (AHEAD) Project, the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, Savar
  • Krishno Sen Rehabilitation Unit, the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, Savar
  • Robert Cumming School of Public Health, The University of Sydney

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5463/dcid.v27i2.474

Keywords:

Exclusion, disability, women, Bangladesh, physical disability

Abstract

Purpose: Recent evidence suggests that, globally, women with disability suffer multiple forms of discrimination and exclusion from mainstream society when compared with their female peers and men without disability. In Bangladesh, which is a grossly overpopulated low-income country in South Asia, women with disability have poor health outcomes within a gender-biased cultural context. This study aimed to define the current barriers and facilitators to socioeconomic inclusion for women with physical disability living in the community in Bangladesh and to highlight the impact of these barriers on health. 

Methods: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 women who had either a spinal cord injury or amputation, and who had been discharged for at least 3 months after inpatient admission. Mixed purposeful sampling (a mixture of typical case sampling and criterion sampling) was used to recruit the study participants. A thematic analysis was conducted to extract themes from the data.  The social determinants of health framework and the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) model were then used to contextualise the data.

Results: Five major themes were identified including: exclusion from formal education, exclusion from the work force, exclusion from public facilities, exclusion from marriage and increased risk of violence and exclusion from community activities and social groups. Facilitators to inclusion include: provision of accessible buildings and transport, community- based advocacy services and vocational training services.

Conclusions: The combination of physical disability and female gender presents multiple complex barriers to inclusion in the socioeconomic and cultural life of Bangladesh. Practical interventions through both up-scaling and expansion of disability-specific programming and sustained policy implementation are required to facilitate individual empowerment and better health outcomes for women with disability.

Author Biographies

Marlee Elizabeth Quinn, Graduate Student of International Public Health, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney

Marlee Quinn is a graduate student of International Public Health at Sydney Medical School and an Occupational Therapist from Monash University, Australia

Cynthia L Hunter, School of Social and Political Sciences, and Public Health, The University of Sydney

Dr. Cynthia Hunter is a medical anthropologist and senior lecturer at the Anthropology and International Public Health
Schools of Social and Political Sciences and Public Health in Australia 

Sumanta Ray, The Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, Savar

The author works with the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed in Savar, Bangladesh

Mohammad Morshedul Quadir Rimon, Access to Health and Education for all Children and Youth with Disabilities (AHEAD) Project, the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, Savar

Mr. Mohammad, works as Operations Manager with the Access to Health and Education for all Children and Youth with Disabilities (AHEAD) project of CRP

Krishno Sen, Rehabilitation Unit, the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, Savar

Author works as an Occupational Therapist & Assistant Manager, Rehabilitation Unit at CRP

Robert Cumming, School of Public Health, The University of Sydney

Prof. Cummings works on Epidemiology and Geriatric Medicine at the School of Public Health of University of Sydney (MB BS, MPH, PhD).

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Published

2016-09-07

How to Cite

1.
Quinn ME, Hunter CL, Ray S, Quadir Rimon MM, Sen K, Cumming R. The Double Burden: Barriers and Facilitators to Socioeconomic Inclusion for Women with Disability in Bangladesh. DCIDJ [Internet]. 2016 Sep. 7 [cited 2024 Oct. 1];27(2):128-49. Available from: https://dcidj.uog.edu.et/index.php/up-j-dcbrid/article/view/227

Issue

Vol. 27 No. 2 (2016): Summer 2016

Section

Brief reports

License

Copyright (c) 2016 The Author(s)

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