Flying as a woman with a disability and exclusion from global spaces

Commentary by Elizabeth Ombati and Jane Kihungi

Many activists and human rights defenders spend a considerable amount of time on travel. The disability mantra has always been nothing about us without us, signifying the critical importance especially for activists with disabilities to be in spaces where decisions are made that affect the lives of people with disabilities. 

Many activists have often decried global travel experiences; with many calling the processes surrounding this travel as humiliating. This is more so when it comes to the acquisition of visas. Visa restrictions for activists from the Global South is not new to many activists. Visa restrictions is one of the many ways that meaningful participation by activists and human rights defenders in global convenings is hampered.  But it is not the only one. For activists with disabilities, it is often double tragedy, especially when it comes to airplanes.

In March this year, I (Jane) was invited to take part in the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York. As a wheelchair user, such invitations often come with feelings of trepidation. As a regular air traveler, there have been occasions that my wheelchair has been broken enroute which brings with it great amounts of distress. On one occasion an airline had to buy me a new wheelchair that unfortunately did not match my initial wheelchair. It is therefore understandable that when I must travel abroad, and by virtue that I am a wheelchair user, planning for this requires much more thought.

The first barrier presented itself when Jane’s assistant was denied a visa. Now, to deny a person with a disability their right to access support is not only wrong but negates the principles that many countries claim to profess including those that relate to human dignity and protection of the marginalised. Jane was not the only one whose assistant’s visa was denied. One can only imagine the difficulties of navigating New York, as a person with a disability, without an assistant.

I (Elizabeth) have previously written about accessibility being a matter of life and death. Inaccessible spaces often result in accidents that exacerbate disability. Indeed, for people with diverse disabilities, physical inaccessibility remains one among the bigger barrier in terms of how they experience their communities meaningfully. One can only then imagine what inaccessible air spaces mean for travelers, especially those with physical disabilities. 

For Jane, a wheelchair user, air travel can be undignifying/demeaning. Narrates Jane, 

‘I was in a long-haul flight and had to use the toilet. It is practice that the airplane has a cabin wheelchair however this did not have. Yet, since my assistant’s visa had been denied, I had to rely on the support of the airline crew. The airplane did not have a cabin wheelchair. When I signaled for help, the cabin crew asked me, ‘must you use the washroom?’   The indignity of the question. 

I was expected to fly over 15 hours with no need of using a bathroom to relieve myself. When I inquired about the unavailability of a cabin wheelchair, I was told that it is not mandatory for the airline to provide one. Which raises an important question: what is a passenger supposed to do in such a situation? Why do airlines get to decide when to provide a cabin wheelchair and when not to, especially when they are informed in advance that a passenger on board cannot move without the cabin wheelchair?

It is an instance of how air travel can be undignifying/demeaning. It is a barrier, among many others, that activists with disabilities face in a world that is increasingly getting more unequal and less attentive to inclusion. 

Without intentionally thinking about a world that belongs to all, our world will become more and more unequal, and more harmful to marginalised groups including those with disabilities.  When we say nothing about us without us, we must be attentive to all barriers that will exclude certain groups of people from decision making, both nationally as well as globally.