Women with disabilities lament scarcity of men for marriage

Physically challenged women in Edo State have raised concern that men are not willing to marry them because of their conditions.

The women, under the women’s wing of the Joint National Association of Persons With Disabilities (JONAPWD), said this in Benin yesterday during a briefing to mark the International Women’s Day which was celebrated on March 8.

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The chairperson of the women, Ann Ojugo, said, “Most women with disabilities live their whole life with the title of ‘miss’ even in their 50s, 60s and 80s because they are so discriminated against that men don’t think of marrying them. How many men can take the bold step to marry women with disabilities?”

She added that physically challenged women and girls were suffering social and cultural discrimination amid other structural and technical barriers placed on them by society.

She further said, “If you take statistics, people with disabilities who are educated are more of the men than the women. People don’t train women, and it is a double tragedy for women with disabilities.”

Ojugo, therefore, appealed to political parties to embrace women with disabilities by offering a waiver for election nomination forms to have more disabled persons in elective positions and be part of the decision-making process in governance.