Persons with disabilities have been part of all the societies and they face a lot of social barriers in all societies. Pakistan has a long way to go in order to change social attitudes towards persons with disabilities.
PWD patients have always struggled for being recognized by the people, they try to create space for themselves and to make themselves feel accepted in our society. People with disabilities face more challenges in their lives than normal people and they are exposed to many social barriers which affect their daily lives regularly. Due to these social barriers, people with disabilities PWD fail to participate in any social or economic activities. They often face sympathy and pity towards themselves and this shatters their self-confidence and self-worth and they fail to recognize themselves as part of reputable society.
Back then they were considered unhealthy, defective, feared and pitied, the society made them feel left out, they made them feel incapable of contributing to society but by time awareness has been created and attitude of people towards PWD patients has been changed in some segments.
The Government does not take any proper majors for the well-being of PWD, they get neglected by all the sectors from the very beginning, and they get unheard and uncounted in this country. People need to realize that they cannot be neglected and they also deserve proper respect and stability in their lives.
People’s behavior towards them makes them feel shallow and isolated. People’s stares and pity looks does not help them in any way but rather leave them depressed and questioned. The treatment they get towards themselves is very heartbreaking, some families think of them as a burden and sometimes they are also excluded from the major events and left alone. People treat them with the ways which they don’t deserve. Their self-confidence is shattered and they feel left out from the society because of the disgust behavior and attitude of people towards them. They deserve to be treated with positive and kind attitude as the behavior plays an important part in building the confidence of the person.
Health issues Faced by Women with Disabilities:
Women with disability face different health problems, people remove their reproductive organs and this takes their reproductive rights away but it also complicates their plans for marriage. Women with disabilities can’t be assisted by men because of the cultural barrier of our society and they face different challenges because there are many few female nurses available.
PWD (Person with disabilities) feel that they are a burden for their families and dealing with them is difficult. When people look at them with pity it makes them feel uncomfortable and it shatters their self-confidence. The unwanted stares of people and intrusive questions of people causes them depression and isolation.
Basic Human Rights:
They do not get the essential rights by the government. In air transport, They have no access to aisle of chairs even in public places there are no lifts or ramps for the wheelchair bounded people even they do not have access to many public places. The roads do not have any parking slots for them. This is very saddening that they are not getting the same treatment as other human beings. The ignorance of some people is such that they call PWD (People with Disabilities) cursed or as a punishment for family. Only their families knows how much they are suffering and going through. Parents of children with disabilities also need help to cope with the situation because it is not easy for them as well to see their children living a dependent life.
It is high time for Pakistan to treat Disabled people like normal people because they are also humans and they also have their human rights. In public transport, schools, colleges and universities there should be a ramp for their wheelchairs and they should get equal employment opportunities infact they should get special privileges because they deserve it. Because only the family of disabled person knows how much societal pressure they are dealing with in their daily lives.