Analysis of Discrimination and Denial of the Rights of Women with Disabilities with the Help of the Nvivo Software

Abstract

[EN] Discrimination and denial of the rights of women with disabilities continues to be a reality. Women suffer situations of double discrimination, because they are women and because they have a disability. Women are disadvantaged in educational, employment, social, legal and economic terms. The prevalence of disability in Castilla y León (an Autonomous Community of Spain) is 6.86%, 48.2% are women and half of the people with disabilities are 65 years old or older. The objectives of the study were to know the real situation of women with disabilities in this region, to elaborate their profile from their own perception, and to propose actions that may improve their quality of life. Under a multi-method approach of an exploratory and descriptive nature, the authors elaborated a survey to which 526 women responded, almost all of them were aged 35 to 64, most of them with intellectual disabilities. NVivo software was used for qualitative data analysis. Results: The answers indicate the importance that these women give to the availability of support, need to carry out actions that may improve their quality of life, mainly in self-determination, social relations and emotional well-being, and the need to sensitize the community. Conclusions: In rural and urban settings, self-determination is the most important concern, followed by inclusion and emotional well-being. They demand greater availability of personal assistants, in number and hours, regulated by the administration (59.4% are aware this figure). They do not show a denial of access to maternity (40.7% have children). The study highlights the importance of planning social awareness programs, training women with disabilities and guaranteeing their basic rights.