“Women and girls with disabilities are even more vulnerable.”

“Depending on the sunflower, its seeds can be different: big or small, wide or narrow, but they all come from the same flower. We want our society to resemble a sunflower,” said Zara Batoyan, President of the Disability info NGO .

This comparison with sunflower is not accidental: Zara was the first editor-in-chief of the monthly publication “Sunflower” for children, which has been working for 17 years already. “Sunflower” is the publication in Armenia with the largest number of staff members who have disabilities, and together they produce content and editorials with the most progressive ideas of inclusion.

Zara was also among the first to raise the issue of women with disabilities in Armenia. Throughout her civic involvement she came to understand that, on the road to development of an inclusive society, girls are especially vulnerable to being left behind.

“If we state that women are vulnerable in the context of gender discrimination, then we must clarify that women with disabilities are vulnerable. They face stereotypes that create insurmountable barriers for them.”

Zara refers to statistical data that proves her point: for instance, there are more girls with disabilities than boys in residential instititutions throughout Armenia, and parents of girls visit them less often than do parents of boys. Girls with disabilities are also at a higher risk than boys of being isolated from society. Observations performed by Zara’s team reveal the reality of the discrimination:

“Parents of boys are more active, they are more involved in the social events and they follow up with their sons’ education. The parents raise their male children to be bold and free, and they do everything to raise their sons’ self-esteem. The picture is quite different with girls,” Zara says, recalling memories from her own experience.

“Years ago, when we were going to “Bridge of Hope” NGO, my male friends’ mothers were more free, for example they were happy when their sons were going on a date or were active. It’s fine, let him do it, doesn’t he need to live independently.’ But it was not the same for the girls. I wouldn’t say that there were physical and psychological pressures, but the public attitudes and stereotypical perceptions led to discrimination.” In her opinion, all of this derives from the family.

“As the ideal acceptable image for a woman is to form a family – that is, become a wife and a mother, run the household. Our mentality dictates that disability ruins the whole cycle because it decreases the woman’s ability to work. It is believed that if a woman has a disability she won’t be able to have a child or take care of the child, run the household, etc. And when a girl with disability is born, it is hard for the family to overlook these stereotypes. The family considers itself more vulnerable than it would be if there were a boy with a disability.” Zara adds that these stereotypes create serious challenges for girls, from employment to motherhood.

Often men with disabilities create families with women who don’t have disabilities; meanwhile women with disabilities marry very rarely. In the event that a woman with a disability gets married, it becomes the center of lots of attention and can even appear on TV. This issue has diverse and deep layers of social mentality and stereotypes. Importantly, the situation is quite different in the marzes as compared to Yerevan.

“Unfortunately gender-based inequality among children with disabilities is not being appropriately raised or addressed, and in this aspect much could be achieved by women’s organizations,” Zara concludes.

Full text in Armenian