Together We Will Achieve Disability Rights

Together We Will Achieve Disability Rights

Join with Activists Who Are Breaking Down the Barriers

Join NOW

"Who lives in a nursing home? She is over 60 with disabilities. Who is paid to provide long-term care? She works for minimum wages with no benefits. Who performs this work unpaid? She is young — she cares for her mother, her father, an older family member. Or she is old herself and cares for a spouse, a sibling, a child, perhaps still for a parent. One of these women will be you."

— Stephanie Thomas, a National Organizer with ADAPT, uses a wheelchair.

Your abusive husband takes your wheelchair so you can't leave home today. You've tried before to go to the battered woman's shelter, but inadequate funding means it's inaccessible.

You are deaf and you've been assaulted. When you go to the hospital, no one can communicate in sign language. You leave with little support.

You are living with a mental disability and ask your gynecologist for birth control. Your doctor looks shocked that you are sexually active and recommends a hysterectomy because, "You shouldn't ever have a baby."

Your divorce lawyer advises you to accept your husband's unfair settlement offer. If he fights for the children you will probably lose, the lawyer warns, because most judges will not award custody to a blind parent.

Although your aptitude test score is high enough, your high school says you can't take college prep courses and instead must attend special education classes because of your learning disability.

You live in a nursing home because your state does not have personal-assistant programs. Your lack of privacy and freedom means that, among other things, you cannot have intimate relations.

"The Americans with Disabilities Act is a crucial victory for the Deaf community and has been essential to my success in a hearing college. But passing the law is not enough. We need to educate the hearing world about its responsibilities and people with disabilities about their own rights."

— Mel Whalen is a young feminist and Deaf activist at Smith College

WE'RE WORKING FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

NOW takes action to bring women with disabilities into full participation in our society.

In 1999, NOW is working for Social Security reform that does not discriminate against women with disabilities.

We advocated and continued to press for inclusion of women with disabilities in hate crimes legislation and in the 1994 and 1999 Violence Against Women Acts.

NOW championed the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act so women with disabilities can have access to employment, public accommodations and transportation, government services and effective communication.

NOW's 1987 "Campaign to Free Sharon Kowalski" fought the able-ism, homophobia and sexism that denied Sharon the best possible medical care and freedom of association.

NOW educates our members about disability rights and provides accessible events with barrier-free facilities, assistance for the blind and sign interpreters.

The National NOW Times and NOW's brochures are available on audio tape. Conference publications are available in large type and brochures are available in Braille.

We strive to integrate the experiences, insights and talents of women with disabilities at every level of NOW. We need you, too.

"As we work to overcome everyday obstacles, women with disabilities become effective advocates. Simply to survive we must develop creative strategies. The feminist movement benefits from building bridges with disabled women. We bring valuable, non-traditional skills to organize for disability rights, women's rights and human rights."

— Kathy Martinez, Director, International Division, World Institute on Disability, is blind.

YOU CAN CREATE CHANGE

...and build a world that is accessible to all.

All women — women with disabilities, women of color, lesbians, poor women, old women, young women — share the dream of full equality, economic and personal independence, educational and employment options, justice in the courts, unrestricted access to information, reproductive freedom, full participation in our society.

Women with disabilities face multiple forms of discrimination, making it even harder to achieve their goals. They are disproportionately affected by unequal wages, unemployment, poverty, sexual and physical abuse, and lack of insurance and benefits.

To solve these problems, we must push for universal health care, Medicaid and Medicare funding and accessible medical services. The Americans with Disabilities Act needs enforcement and funding to work.

We must educate doctors, teachers, judges, police officers and others who may be ill prepared to serve women with disabilities. We should demand more research on disabilities that strike women in greater numbers and health conditions that women with disabilities develop; and we need to press for industry-independent studies on complications related to breast implants. We must also raise awareness about invisible disabilities, such as chemical sensitivities and cognitive, developmental, mental or learning disabilities.

If you care about these issues, it's time to become active in the movement to secure equal rights. Become a NOW member. Contact your local chapter and join or start a disability rights task force. You can make a difference. Do it NOW.

"We can't get on the bus. We can't get into restaurants. We can't use most sidewalks. We are denied employment and custody of our children. We are put away in nursing homes and other institutions. Most people with disabilities are women; our issues are women's issues."

— Josie Byzek, a Civil Rights Specialist with the Pennsylvania Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities, has arthritis and is a survivor of depression.

"I joined NOW to be part of a group that advocates for reproductive rights, gender and racial equality, and sexual orientation freedom. Being accepted as a blind person was never questioned."

— Barbara Mattson is a member of NOW's Disability Rights Committee and founder of Print Handicapped Services.