International Women’s Day: For Justice, Equality and Peace
National Platform For The Rights of the Disabled
March 7, 2026
International Women’s Day: For Justice, Equality and Peace
On the occasion of International Women's Day, the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) salutes women across the world fighting against exploitation, patriarchy and discrimination. Amongst them are women with disabilities - the most marginalised - who encounter a combination of issues, not restricted to gender oppression, ableism, caste hierarchies and class exploitation.
Disabled women are relegated to the margins of education, employment, healthcare, social and cultural life. Notwithstanding legal guarantees like the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, and the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, systemic neglect is the lived reality.
Reckless pursuit of neoliberal policies by successive governments, have further compounded problems. The implementation of the ill-conceived National Education Policy 2020 has led to the closure and merger of hundreds of government schools, particularly in rural and remote areas adversely impacting the disabled, especially girls. For disabled girls who already face mobility barriers, lack of transport and social stigma, this has meant the loss of one of the few pathways to education and independence.
The growing crisis of livelihoods and social insecurity has also led to rising distress and suicides across the country. Disabled women, who are often denied dignified employment and adequate social support, are among those pushed into extreme vulnerability. Their struggles remain largely invisible in public discourse. The repeal of the guarantee of employment under MNREGA has dealt a severe blow to even the meagre opportunities available in the rural areas.
Violence against disabled women continues unabated. Abuse within families, institutions and workplaces is common, while the criminal justice system remains inaccessible and insensitive. Patriarchal attitudes deny them autonomy over their bodies, restrict their participation in public life and treat them as dependents rather than as rights-bearing citizens.
Militarism and war have devastating consequences for women and persons with disabilities. Wars and armed conflicts produce disability on a large scale. The struggle for the rights of disabled women is therefore inseparable from the struggle for peace and against imperialist wars.
On this International Women’s Day, the NPRD reiterates that equality cannot be achieved without addressing the structural injustices faced by disabled women. As against token gestures, what is required is a rights-based approach that guarantees accessible education, dignified livelihoods, universal healthcare, strong social security and effective protection from violence.
The NPRD would also like to underline that the fight for the rights of disabled women is part of the broader struggle for social justice, democracy and equality. Disabled women should find themselves as equal participants in the larger movements seeking to build a society free from exploitation and discrimination; in defence of secularism; and, for peace and against war.