Beijing ’95

By Meenu Sikand-Taylor

Shocking. Offensive. Degrading. Humiliating. Unacceptable. These were some of the words women with disabilities used to describe the terminology of the poster that was displayed to welcome them: International Deformity Unite.

On August 29, 200 disability rights activists from 22 countries gathered together in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, to participate in the first International Symposium on Issues of Women with Disabilities. The unknowingly insulting sign that had been set up to greet us was removed almost as quickly as it was brought to the Chinese hosts’ attention.

This one-day symposium of people with disabilities was organized by Mobility International USA (MIUSA), Disabled People’s International (DPI), World Blind Union, China Disabled Persons Federation, National Institute on Disability Research and Rehabilitation, the IDEAS 2000 Project, and other groups, and was held prior to the NGO Forum and United Nations (UN) Fourth Conference on Women.

The purpose of this event was to give women with disabilities an overview of the contents of the forum’s draft Platform for Action, and the process that the UN usually follows to produce the final document at the end of the conference.

This symposium provided all of us with a timely opportunity to express and document issues that affect people with disabilities around the world. The information gathered was passed to the UN delegates, in order to include disability issues in the final version of the Platform for Action.

I participated in the symposium and NGO Forum as a representative of the International Committee of the Canadian Association of Independent Living Centres (CAILC).

Earlier this year, when I planned to attend the conference, I had a vision in mind. There were many issues which concerned me as a woman, as a wife, as a daughter, as a sister and as a future mother. I spent many months preparing to participate in this major event, just like many others who attended. I worked very hard to understand the draft of the Platform for Action.

I wanted to have input, to achieve equal opportunity for the development of all women and girls in all areas, and to meet with other women who shared my vision of a world without any violence, a world of peace. I planned to join hands with women and girls from different countries, speaking different languages, from different walks of life, all gathered together to proclaim that "women’s rights are human rights."

I was quite determined to attend the conference, and did manage to raise some of the funds from different sources. However, as the conference date came closer, I started to get little bit nervous about my trip. I use a wheelchair for mobility. My past travel experiences have taught me to inquire about my hotel accommodations in detail before the actual trip, so I tried to follow my usual routine. However, I didn’t have any success in obtaining the proper information. I was scheduled to leave Toronto on Saturday, August 26. As of Wednesday, August 24, none of my inquiries about the accessibility of the conference site had been answered. I had contacted, without success, the China Organizing Committee (COC), the Canada Beijing Facilitating Committee (CBFC), and the Consulate General s Office of the People’s Republic of China.

Two days prior to my departure, my family gave me a special surprise gift: an attendant to help me in Beijing during the conference. In a normal, accessible setting, I don’t need attendant services. Due to the inaccessibility of the conference site, however, I would have had to bear this additional expense -- which I believe is a part of systemic discrimination against people with disabilities. Nevertheless, I initiated my journey with lots of enthusiasm and information to share with other women participants.

I started my trip expecting to face some barriers to women with disabilities. However, what I experienced were enormous physical and attitudinal barriers, which forced the complete exclusion of the participants with disabilities.

All individuals with disabilities were segregated in a hotel that was supposedly accessible (in fact, the only accessible features of the hotel were a wooden ramp on the side entrance and washrooms without doors to create easier access), and it was one and a half hours away from the conference site. We were told to pay $180 U.S. per room, per night, cash in advance. (Later, I was shocked to find out that the regular rate of the hotel was $54 U.S. per room, per night. The extra $126 I had to pay was for my "special needs.")

Our accommodation package included sightseeing, transportation to the conference site, and tickets for three meals each day. However, as the hotel didn’t make any arrangements to send our meals to the conference site, we were forced to buy the meals outside the hotel. There were also no sightseeing tours scheduled during the conference, as the main reason for us to be in Beijing was to attend the conference. So, in fact, we were forced to pay for a package of services that we couldn’t use. We had very little choice in the matter, because the package and fee had been set by the China Organizing Committee (COC). Due to my limited funds, I was forced to search for more affordable and accessible accommodations. Surprisingly, I did find them in downtown Beijing at a rate of $115 per room, per night, including the transportation. Upon my arrival at this hotel, I discovered it had at least 10 accessible rooms, which were still vacant. Once I got settled, I had the opportunity to help other participants move to the new hotel.

Accessible hotel accommodations made my stay in Beijing little bit easier, even though I still had to deal with obstacles at the conference site. Accessible buses with ramps were only available to us during the conference, on the route from the hotel to the site, and we always had to plan our activities according to the bus schedule.

Due to lack of accessibility at the site, my participation in the conference was somewhat limited. There were 5,000 FEATURE workshops scheduled in all, as well as many evening performances. But because transportation was inflexible and site facilities were inaccessible (the majority of the buildings had stairs and no elevators, and there were no sidewalks or proper entrances to the tents), I was unable to attend most workshops.

I had originally planned to attend at least 50 workshops. But I was only able to attend those held in the Disability Community Tent, and two outside events in which I was one of the panelists. Even then, I jeopardized my personal safety many times. The Disability Community Tent was our designated "home" at the conference, where we could hold work shops and press conferences and meet with other participants.

I was disappointed with the inaccessibility. However, I would still like to recognize the contributions we all made by attending this largest ever women’s conference. The NGO Forum offered us an important opportunity to be visible, and to educate and build relationships with ablebodied women’s groups. Women with disabilities cannot change the world by ourselves -- we need to educate other women’s groups about our concerns, and educate ourselves about other women’s issues.

Able-bodied women s groups won’t include women with disabilities or embrace our issues unless we go out and talk with them. This was one of the main reasons I chose to go to Beijing to participate in the forum. Every day during the NGO forum, we educated the conference organizers, media and other participants about the rights and needs of women with disabilities. We advocated for inclusion of our concerns at the forum. Together, we demonstrated the concept of empowerment.

This conference discussed many physical and attitudinal barriers for all special interest groups. The participants had an opportunity to discover the common barriers and prejudices that reside in different countries and cultures around the issues of gender, disability, sexual orientation, economic status, society’s expectations, and so on.

1. INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM OF ISSUES OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES: AUGUST 29

The day of the International Symposium of Issues of Women with Disabilities, I actively participated in the preparation for the forum. I saw a very diverse leadership across the room. Guest speakers included Kicki Nordstrom, Gunar Kraft, Tina Nummi, Justine Kiwanuka, Corbett O Toole, Lucy Wong, Susan Sygall and Anna Lee. This was one of the most powerful gathering of women with disabilities I have ever attended.

MAJOR OBJECTIVES OF THE SYMPOSIUM WERE TO:

- strengthen the international network of women with disabilities;

- coordinate efforts to ensure that women with disabilities and issues of concern to them are fully included at the NGO Forum and UN Conference on Women, in discussions, resolutions and the Platform for Action;

- articulate and prioritize issues affecting women with disabilities; and - compare and prepare strategies for improving equal opportunities for women with disabilities.

I offered my services as Hindi and Punjabi translator. In the morning, Susan Sygall (Mobility International USA) introduced us to the background and the history of the World Conference on Women. She was followed by a summary of Platform for Action by Justine Kiwanuka (Disabled People’s International). Many speakers gave us an overview of the contents of the documents addressing disability issues, as well as how to participate effectively during the forum to affect the final outcome of the document.

Later that afternoon, members of the Women with Disabilities Caucus were divided into different work groups to strategize and work together in areas identified from a survey done early in 1995. Seven work teams were established to discuss the following topics: employment and economic development; the Platform for Action; international policies; education; health; media; and human rights. Access was added to the list later on.

I coordinated and facilitated the team interested in employment and economics. Each work team planned the most important goals and messages they wanted to communicate, the effective strategies to accomplish the task, and an evaluation process. We also discussed the struggles to continue the work during and after the forum: for example, by holding press conferences and workshops, through discussions at the NGO Forum, and by meeting with influential people to enlist their cooperation on our issues. There were 30 members in my group, of diverse backgrounds, and we had quite enlightening discussions. In the evening of August 29, we held an Intercultural Celebration of Women with Disabilities.

It was an extremely successful symposium by all accounts. It created a great networking opportunity for all of us. The symposium, and participation of women with disabilities in the NGO Forum, were momentous and historic events. We need to make sure that these accomplishments are fully recorded so we can continue and build upon our work.

2. NGO Forum and United Nations (UN) Fourth Conference on Women, August 30 - September 8

The NGO Forum, the largest gathering of women world leaders in history, began on August 30. So did Beijing s largest traffic jam, due to the 40,000 participants who arrived from around the world to discuss 10 women’s issues.

As I mentioned previously, I didn’t have the luxury of participating in a majority of the 5,000 workshops. But inaccessibility was not the only problem: COC was not well equipped to provide modified schedules if there were any cancellations or changes in the location or time of the workshops. My first day I had planned to attend four workshops. The first workshop was cancelled because organizers were unable to find their own tent. For the second workshop, there was a double booking. During the third workshop, I helped set up the Disability Community Tent and shared my morning experiences with others in the tent. I wheeled three kilometres to the fourth workshop, only to find out it had been cancelled for unknown reasons. It was frustrating, and there were many other participants with similar experiences.

The next day it rained and the situation was worse. The unfinished walkways to the tents were a definite safety risk to all the women, but especially to the women with disabilities.

Finally, it led to a collective demonstration by all disability groups. This demonstration was covered extensively by the international media -- and yet somehow we all managed to stay out of Chinese prison. However, our transportation was cancelled that night as punishment.

The demonstration did improve our situation. The Disability Community Tent was moved to a location closer to the main gate and the accessible washroom facilities. COC also provided us with more buses with ramps, as well as approximately 80 Chinese volunteers to assist participants with disabilities. The incident raised awareness of the needs and concerns of the participants with disabilities, and created an ongoing dialogue between other workshop organizers and women with disabilities. It was an empowering experience for everyone.

I spent lot of time in our own tent and had many interesting, stimulating and emotional discussions with disability leaders from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Malaysia, Mauritius, England and other countries. We discussed government policies, expectations among various cultures, and the barriers imposed on women due to these expectations and obligations. I gained an insight into the issues and the innovative solutions these communities have applied, with success, to overcome societal taboos.

One other experience I would like to share with readers was a workshop organized by the American Friends Service (ASF). I was one of the speakers who presented her view on the subject of "The

’South within the North’: Economic Justice and Struggles of Marginalized Communities."

Over the past two decades, global economic restructuring has been led by the corporate and political elite of industrialized nations, and has resulted in inequality, poverty, unemployment and/or underemployment. In the North, a neoconservative agenda is gutting social programs, cutting taxes for corporations and the rich, and deregulating health, environmental and labour safety, and civil rights politics. At the same time, military expenses are increasing.

This economic restructuring, which is parallel to the structural adjustment in the South, is imposing severe hardships on historically marginalized communities of the North: women, women with disabilities, women of colour, immigrants, refugees, indigenous women and women of low income. Hence, the "South within the North."

I addressed the struggles as a woman who was born in the South (East India), later moved to the North (Canada) for better opportunities, and now, due to globalization of the industries and global recession, has experienced the dilemma of fighting for basic survival in the North along with other marginalized communities such as single parents and welfare recipients. The recent drastic cuts applied by our new Ontario provincial government to various public policies and programs are just one example of what we can expect in the near future from other governments around the world.

Of course, the solution I presented was to apply the philosophy of the Independent Living (IL) Movement to educate and influence the governments and policy makers. This solution has been a proven success for one of the marginalized groups of North, empowering them and improving their quality of life. But first, organizations have to understand the philosophy clearly so that they can truly apply it.

I enjoyed the different views of other panelists. It was another successful event, and AFS promised to write letters to its government about the exclusion of participants with disabilities through the choice of a conference site like Beijing.

On September 7, I had an opportunity to attend a meeting organized by Sheila Finestone, Canada’s Secretary of State, Multiculturalism and the Status of Women, and to present the barriers and inequalities faced by the Canadian conference participants with disabilities. In the room were representatives from the Status of Women, the Canada Beijing Facilitating Committee (CBFC), and the Canadian delegation led by Sheila Finestone.

I received a very encouraging and positive response from all parties, and most of the women signed a petition condemning the systemic discrimination forced upon women with disabilities -- for example, the different rates of the hotel rooms for participants with and without disabilities, and the obligation to hire personal attendants due to the lack of physical accessibility.

I also presented the idea of setting up international standards for all future international conferences, to accommodate the basic needs of its participants of different abilities. In my view -- which was supported by other attendees -- these international standards should be enforced in all future NGO and UN conferences. The countries that cannot fulfil these requirements should not be allowed to host the international conference. Women with disabilities must be consulted and included to create these standards, and we all have to make sure that the standards are applied in future conferences.

Ms. Finestone expressed support for the idea, and I have been asked to send a letter to her and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs documenting the proposal. If we want equal participation in future international UN conferences, I feel there is a definite need to address the issue of accessibility now, before starting preparations for the next conference, which will be in the year 2000.

I believe that women can and should contribute to the world s productivity. And all women and girl children should have access to adequate education and training, as well as guarantees against workplace discrimination based on gender, to earn a decent wage doing what is meaningful and useful without being categorized into specialty groups.

I have yet to find someone who can help me to understand why the term "special interest group" is applied to women, when women make up half of the population around the world. And if women’s groups have yet to achieve equality, then the struggle for women with disabilities is even tougher.

Many of the women with disabilities I talked to shared my views. But the sad truth for women in all societies is that having a disability signifies dependency, weakness, loss of status and relegation to an unproductive, asexual role in the community.

What is encouraging is that during the conference I heard many personal stories from women who have fought these demeaning stereotypes in their communities and have managed to break through the walls of prejudice and discrimination to create strong role models for other girls and women in their own countries. Strong networks, both national and international, are needed to enable girls and women to support each other in their efforts to join the world.

Women’s groups need to work collectively to pressure the UN and the governments to fund more projects that inform women of their rights as human beings and create a barrier free society, where women have access to information and the political processes through which they can influence public policy, legislation and distribution of international funds to create equal economic stability for women. There is a need for more frequent international women’s conferences, so we have an equal and direct input in political and economic areas, which affect our lives directly or indirectly as a person, wife, daughter, mother or grandmother.

(Meenu Sikand-Taylor is a disability rights advocate living in Toronto, ON.)