“I will never go back”: a thematic content analysis of Zimbabwean disabled women's sexual and reproductive rights

• Main Author: Lodenius, Lina
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Uppsala universitet, Statsvetenskapliga institutionen 2020
• Subjects: Compulsory able-bodiedness; Disability; Normate; Othering; Women; Zimbabwe; Social Sciences Interdisciplinary; Tvärvetenskapliga studier inom samhällsvetenskap
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-412746

This thesis is a thematic content analysis, looking at how compulsory able-bodiedness affects Zimbabwean disabled women’s ability to practice their reproductive- and sexual rights. Zimbabwe is an optimal case to apply this study in, due to its contradictory legislation and high amounts of human rights violations. This study is therefore based in feminist disability studies with the aim to fill the research gap in acknowledging the consequences compulsory able-bodiedness can have on disabled citizens if found in governmental policy. By analysing interviews conducted with 39 different disabled women aged 18-65 through the theoretical framework of compulsory able-bodiedness and Othering, this thesis contributes with suggestions of how these social structures are affecting the respondents’ everyday lives. The theoretical framework is operationalized into themes and criterias which are then applied to analyse the conducted interviews. This thesis shows that there is a discrepancy between government policy and the practical experiences of the respondents. The respondents experienced a lack of accessibility to reproductive healthcare, to the law, and to sex education – which are all rights ensured by government policy. Identified consequences included: discouragement in seeking health treatment, discouragement in reporting crimes, and receiving false sex education information from secondhand sources. This study therefore concludes that the Othering of the respondents consequently prohibits them from practicing their reproductive and sexual rights.