Disabled women in Malaysia face entrenched barriers to healthcare, education, and legal protection when seeking sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services, according to a new report.
The study, “Monitoring the SDGs at 10 years: Sexual and reproductive health and the lived experiences of women and individuals assigned female at birth with disabilities in Malaysia”, draws on interviews with seven women of diverse disabilities, ethnicities, and regions.
Conducted by the Datum Initiative and the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (Arrow), it reveals that despite Malaysia’s ratification of key international conventions such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw), domestic action remains fragmented, inconsistent, and often performative.
Participants described routine discrimination, dismissive treatment, and a lack of accessible information.
Women with invisible disabilities were frequently disbelieved or denied accommodations, while outdated and ableist language, including terms such as “deaf and dumb” in medical documents, reflects the persistence of a paternalistic system that undermines autonomy.
Education was also found lacking. The Education Ministry’s materials on SRHR rarely catered to disabled learners, with most participants only discovering essential information after becoming sexually active or during childbirth.
Only one recalled accessing inclusive resources: a family planning workshop with sign language interpretation.
Personal testimonies underscored the consequences. Lakshmi, a blind woman in her 50s, described struggling with breastfeeding guidance, sexual harassment protection, and even basic menstruation management due to the absence of tactile or sensory-friendly aids.
Barriers were even greater for queer and gender-diverse respondents. Iman, a trans-masculine participant with physical and learning disabilities, said seeking advice on SRHR came with the fear of being flagged in the healthcare system.
“For them, accessing help often involved complex trade-offs between visibility and vulnerability,” the report said.
With institutional gaps so pervasive, nearly all participants said they relied heavily on the internet for SRHR information - a stopgap that underscores what researchers called a structural failure to uphold disabled people’s rights.
Dismissed and disregarded
The report highlighted a woman from Sarawak with an invisible physical disability, Mei, who had described using Google and online forums to learn about sexual health, especially in the absence of physical access to health educators or trained professionals.
“However, this approach carries its own risks, particularly the lack of quality control or contextual relevance. For queer women especially, finding safe, affirming, and medically accurate content online is fraught with misinformation and potential harm.
“One particularly poignant account came from a deaf Kadazan woman from Sabah, Mary, who detailed her extensive reliance on self-directed online research to understand her condition. She spoke of doctors who were often dismissive, condescending, or uninterested in her input.
“Her only option was to become a self-advocate, researching medical conditions online and then presenting her findings to professionals during consultations.
“Yet even then, she faced resistance and rarely had the opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue with healthcare workers,” the report further said, adding that these findings underscore a systemic and structural neglect in the way SRHR education is designed, delivered, and accessed by women and girls with disabilities in Malaysia.
“The assumption that SRHR is only relevant upon marriage or motherhood ignores the full scope of rights, autonomy, and health that disabled individuals are entitled to throughout their lives.
“Furthermore, the reliance on nondisabled norms in healthcare and education reinforces exclusion. The consistent theme of ‘self-advocacy in the face of systemic disregard’ speaks volumes about the resilience of our respondents, but also signals a profound policy and institutional failure,” the report added.
Learning disabilities misunderstood
Adults with learning disabilities were also repeatedly misunderstood. Many healthcare providers continued to view attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or similar conditions as “children’s problems,” often refusing treatment or medication.
“Iman was denied ADHD medication by a government psychologist, despite having a formal diagnosis from a psychiatrist.
“Stigma was another pervasive thread, particularly for women with invisible disabilities. Iman, who is autistic, was doubted and belittled for not having ‘the autism look’.
“Farah, with a psychosocial disability, was subjected to ableist jokes by her doctor who didn’t take her condition seriously, while Mary shared her frustration at the communication breakdown with doctors who were unwilling to simplify medical explanations or ensure she understood,” the report highlighted.
It added that medical jargons were used without translation or clarification, “reinforcing the idea that disabled patients were not worth the time or effort.”
Workplace bias and tokenism
The report said that employment remains one of the most challenging arenas for women and girls with disabilities, not only in terms of access, but in terms of retention, dignity, and equity.
It said that workplaces frequently become a site where ableist assumptions, discriminatory practices, and tokenistic gestures converge, forcing many to navigate jobs that are unaccommodating at best and exploitative at worst.
“One of the first barriers arises during job applications: the declaration of disability. Iman, who lives with multiple disabilities, described how this act of disclosure opened the floodgates for invasive questioning.
“Hiring managers, under the guise of curiosity or ignorance, often interrogated her condition, remarking that they had ‘never seen anything like it before’.
“These experiences were not isolated; many participants shared how such interactions were laced with ableism, disbelief, and patronising sympathy,” it added.
Even registering is fraught with issues
For women and girls with disabilities in Malaysia, registering for disability status is rarely a simple choice.
On paper, it promises access to services, support and legal recognition. In reality, it often comes with painful trade-offs.
What should be a straightforward administrative step is, for many, a deeply personal and political decision. One that means weighing survival against stigma, care against compromise, and access against autonomy.
Take Iman. Living with both psychosocial and learning disabilities, she was told to declare only the latter when applying for disability status.
The reason? Private insurers often reject anyone with a mental health diagnosis. A single tick on a form could lock her out of insurance for life, including critical illness cover.
Solutions
The report called for sweeping reforms to address the barriers faced by disabled women in Malaysia, including the removal of discriminatory language in laws and policies, stronger constitutional protections, and amendments to the Persons with Disabilities Act to include enforceable anti-discrimination measures.
It also recommends disability-inclusive sex education, universal accessibility in healthcare facilities, and mandatory training for frontline workers on inclusive communication and SRHR rights.
The report further stresses the need for disabled women and gender-diverse people to be directly involved in policy making, and for proper audits of government disability action plans to ensure accountability.
Without such reforms, the report warns, Malaysia risks perpetuating systemic exclusion and undermining the rights and dignity of its disabled citizens. - Mkini
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