Kenya Network of Women and Girls with Disabilities

There is a disturbing video of a Kenyan MP asking a person with a disability (someone of short stature) to run across a podium, to make a point as to why people with a disability cannot be employed in the police force. The MP asks the disabled man to make a ‘salute gesture’ and goes ahead to laugh at the whole scenario, while saying that ‘people should stop joking about hiring disabled people in the police force.’ At the Podium where everyone laughs at the deeply concerning scene of blatant ableism, sits the Cabinet Secretary in charge of the security docket. There is also another man with a disability on the podium. This has drawn widespread and sharp criticism, as it should. As women with disabilities, we are also adding our voices to condemn it.  Ableism as violence At the onset, we are naming this type of violence. It is called ableism. Ableism is a form of discrimination against people with disabilities rooted in the belief that nondisabled people or typical abilities—such as ...