Resources search

Sexual violence against women with disabilities in Ghana: Accounts of women with disabilities from Ashanti Region

OPOKU, Maxwell Peprah
HUYSER, Nicole
MPRAH, Wisdom Kwadwo
ALUPO, Beatrice Atim
BADU, Eric
2016

Expand view

Purpose: Women with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to violence and often at risk of being violated sexually. The study aimed to document the causes and consequences of sexual violence against women with disabilities in Mampong Municipality of Ashanti region in Ghana.

 

Methods: This exploratory study recruited 41 participants, made up of women living with intellectual, visual and hearing disabilities, were interviewed using convenience and snowball sampling techniques. 

 

Results: It was found that many participants had suffered sexual violence and factors such as poverty, rejection by families, isolation and unemployment were given as the cause. It was also found that these women suffered consequences such as unwanted pregnancies, divorce, outright rejection and psychological trauma.

 

Conclusion: The current situation of women with disabilities make it impossible for them to escape sexual violence. Therefore, it is essential that national awareness campaigns be fashioned to encourage people to provide support to their family members with disabilities. 

Understanding Hearing Impairment in Individuals from a Perspective of Social and Emotional Functioning

Kodali, Prakash Babu
CT, Anitha
Kopparty, Swarajya
2016

Expand view

Purpose: Hearing Impairment is one of the most neglected forms of disability. It accounts for the loss of thousands of disability adjusted life years (DALYs) worldwide (WHO, 2005). Developed countries have made some progress in the measuring and management of hearing impairment (HI), but this is still in the initial stages in developing countries such as India. The International Classification of Functioning disability and Health (ICF) has shifted the approach towards a holistic perspective in defining and measuring disability. This paper tries to measure HI from the perspective of social and emotional functioning of individuals.

 

Method: The sample population consisted of 1160 individuals, selected by systematic random sampling from among those who complied with inclusion criteria. 51.7% of the total respondents were females, and 48.3% were males. The participants were administered a questionnaire (Standardised) and their responses were quantified. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.

 

Results: Prevalence of HI was found more among males than females. 84.6% of the total population had no hearing impairment, whereas 13.7% had mild to moderate impairment, and 1.7% had significant hearing impairment. The TotalImpairment score obtained by the individuals was divided into Social Impairment score and Emotional Impairment score. Correlation and Multivariate regression analysis were used. Correlation - Age and Social Dimension Score r= 0.609,p≤0.01, n=1160, R2= 0.370; Age and Emotional Dimension score: r= 0.622, p≤0.01, n=1160, R2= 0.386; Regression- Gender and Social Dimension score b= 0.703, t (1160) = 2.988, p<0.05; Age and Total HI score b= 0.787, t (1160) =27.096, p< 0.01.

 

Conclusion: Measuring HI in terms of social and emotional functioning is more holistic and cost-effective, and could be used in resource-poor settings, and for initial screening in large-scale studies.

E-bulletin