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{
    "id": 1193997,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1193997/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 344,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Crystal Asige",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "In light of this Motion, I have a few suggestions that have actually been spoken about just this morning, at a meeting that I attended with the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (KEWOPA) and convened by Women Challenged to Challenge. We discussed this very type of issues. We ask that this Motion also considers to call for the Ministry of Health (MoH) to develop curriculum for training on mental health and maternity care for disabled women. We also call for MoH to have dedicated disability trained nurses in these facilities. We have something called empathetic training as well as mental health that I believe all nurses in these facilities should go through. In my opinion, it is absolutely abhorrent, that a nurse should come to a woman who has given birth to a child with a disability or a woman with a disability who is pregnant and the first question they ask them is “Who did this to you?” or “Poor you, I pity you. In your condition? A child?” Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I do not believe that it is anyone’s business what I do with my reproductive health. Unless that nurse or medical practitioner has identified issues of abuse, whether covert or overt, they should not be asking women with disabilities these questions. That is absolutely disrespectful. This is the kind of training that we are calling for the MoH to also facilitate in these facilities. We also need disaggregated data on the types of disabilities that will be handled in these facilities and how to manage pregnant women who have disabilities. In my advocacy and activism work, I always say that when you have met one Person with Disability (PWD), you have only met one PWD. This means that we are new ones. We are not homogenous. As a visually impaired woman, I have needs that an autistic woman will have the opposite types of needs. So, when it comes to mental health and pregnancy with women with disabilities, this data needs to be disaggregated. Otherwise, we are not serving PWDs completely. We also need to establish PWD desks in these facilities. They will provide needs assessments to pregnant women with disabilities just like in the Senate. I applaud the Clerks’ office for having a PWD desk because they understand that a PWD need is different from a non-disabled person’s needs. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we need disability mainstreaming to sensitize communities and end this stigma that I talked about, around reproductive health for PWDs. We have been tortured for decades. As women with disabilities, some of the behaviours and attitudes that we experience when we are seeking health and mental health services in pregnancy are actually close to criminal. For example, forced sterilization happens in this country. Women are given suppressants so that they do not give birth or have periods. The people doing these egregious acts, act under the guise of; “We are helping you; we are doing it for your best interest” because of course, a woman with a disability cannot take care of another human being. Right? That is wrong. It is our right. It is an absolute violation of our dignity, integrity, psychology and the autonomy of our bodies. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I would like all these issues to be looked into seriously by Sen. Kibwana, whom I am pleased that she has brought this Motion to the House. Also, so that we can continue discussing this other perspective of women with"
}