DISCRIMINATION OF POLIO SURVIVORS IN INDIA The 2nd European Polio - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

DISCRIMINATION OF POLIO SURVIVORS IN INDIA

The 2nd European Polio Conference, Amsterdam June, 2014 Presented by The Catholic Health Association of India

Introduction

 India celebrated its three year anniversary of being a

polio free nation

 Polio is often thought of as synonymous with paralysis

and disability.

 One of the leading causes of physical disability in India  Persons with disabilities are one of the most oppressed,

marginalised and stigmatized groups

 In the Indian context; cultural and religious beliefs are

so deeply imbedded that they have an effect on the attitudes of the society at large

Understanding Stigma and Discrimination

 Concept of stigma dates back to the time of Greeks

where it was conceptualised as bodily signs which are unusual or different (Goffmann,1963)

 Stigma is looked at a broader sense where it goes

beyond a physical mark and involves attributes that leads to widespread social disapproval

 Stigma not only occurs in social interactions but also

resides within the social context

 Polio is one of the conditions that is

perceived to be stigmatized

 Labelling process leads to enacted

stigma and felt stigma

 Persons affected with polio

stigmatised due to the accompanying disabilities caused by the disease

Enacted Stigma: Discriminatory experiences from societal reactions Felt Stigma: Discriminatory experiences from imagined social reactions

Stigma and the Indian context

 Influence of religious beliefs creates further stigmatisation  Considered as a ‘flaw’ or lacking something  Concept of karma: repaying for previous sins committed  Looked upon as eternal childhood which further emphasizes

dependency and reinforces the charity/pity model

 Rights of polio survivors thus grossly neglected

Multiple discrimination Trap

 Disability a social construct when combined with other

social constructs such as gender, caste, ethnicity leads to multiple discrimination

 Further leads to denied access of education,

employment and maintaining social relationships

 Fosters low self esteem, increases vulnerability, low

literacy level and furthers experiences of neglect within their own families

 Creation of physical and attitudinal barriers and

thereby denying access to basic rights.

Stigma of polio survivors: Study

 A study adopting a mixed approach  Polio Survivor Definition : Persons affected by polio who

have a lifelong disability

 Conducted among 30 polio survivors located in the rural

areas of Mahaboobnagar district of Telangana state in India

 The quantitative aspect was done using the Participation

scale developed by ILEP to get a quantitative measure

• f perceived participation restrictions.

 The qualitative aspect involved in-depth interviews

among 10 participants.

 A set of 18 structured questions were asked which

dealt with participation in various aspects :

 Work  Social interaction  Recreational activities  Social relationships  Decision making  Participation within the household

Stigma of polio survivors: Study

 The scale involved two parts.  Initially the participants were asked if they faced

issues in participation in different aspects.

 Followed by rating of issues where scores were

• assigned. The larger the issue, a higher score was

assigned and vice versa.

Stigma of polio survivors: Study

Findings: Demographic details

 Half of the participants belonged to the age

bracket of 20 – 40 years while the remaining between 40-60 years.

 Half of the respondents were male participants

while the remaining half comprised of females

 All the participants belonged to economically

backward families.

Findings: Participation

 40% of the participants stated to face severe

restriction across all spheres of their life

 More than half of them were women polio survivors  Related to the multiple discrimination aspect wherein

gender and disability play a role in stigma and discrimination.

 Around 33% were stated to face moderate

restriction while 23% faced mild restriction in terms

• f participation

 Higher restriction faced in participation of

recreational activities

 Other areas include : within the workspace, social

interaction in public places and limitations in doing household work

 Least score was given to the area where

participants were asked about their confidence in learning new things

Findings: Participation

 Restrictions not only due to their physical limitations but

also due to the inaccessibility of the environment.

 Highlights that public places are built keeping the

majority able bodied persons in mind thus not catering to the requirements of those having limitations

 Polio survivors still faced difficulties in the area of social

relationships particularly marriage

 Younger generation faced lesser restriction across

different spheres as compared to their older counterparts

Findings: Participation

Conclusion

 Important to not ignore those persons who have

been afflicted with the disease and are living with a disability

 There is a need to include programmes which ensure

rehabilitation and mainstream the polio survivors into the society

 Though India is a signatory of the United Nations

Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, majority of the efforts remain on paper

 Some of the major aspects that require focus:

Increase in co-ordination between the various

departments and ministries

Inclusion of disability agenda across various sectors

• f health, education, labour, recreation etc

Increase in awareness among the public about the

rights of persons with disabilities

Conclusion

Sensitisation and capacity building of health care

workers towards persons with disabilities

Multi stakeholder participation which involves

persons with disabilities, caregivers, bureaucrats, technocrats, corporates, government organisations and media in the disability rights movement

Conclusion

Thank You!