Led by disabled women, in South Africa
Your voice. Your rights.
Your community.
Voice of Disability is a movement of disabled women making their own voices heard. We remove the barriers that disable people — through advocacy, Universal Design, and knowing our rights.
“Nothing About Us Without Us”
Nothing will change for disabled women without them making their own voices heard. This platform gives those voices a home.
Why we exist →Who we are
Disability is created by barriers — not by people
Disability is the loss or limitation of opportunities to take part in the normal life of the community on an equal level with others, due to physical and social barriers (Disabled People’s International, 1994).
The social model
A person with a physical impairment in a fully accessible environment is not disabled. Barriers — not bodies — create disability. Remove the barrier and you remove the disability.
Universal Design
We remove disabling factors through reasonable accommodation and the seven principles of Universal Design, so spaces work for everyone.
Disabled women’s leadership
Disabled women are not a footnote. We lead the conversation about our own lives, rights, and futures — because we are the experts on our own experience.
“If it is not accessible, it is not equal.”
Our belief is simple: access is a right, not a privilege. When systems, spaces and services are designed for everyone from the start, nobody is left behind. This is what Universal Design means in practice.
Why we exist
Our Founder
Voice of Disability NPC was founded in 2010 by Fadila Lagadien — a disabled Black woman, quadriplegic wheelchair user, and disability rights advocate of forty years.
In 1986, Fadila was left in a hospital corridor through the night after a car accident while her white partner received immediate care. Her spinal cord was severed. A specialist unit existed but was not available to her under apartheid. She was given seven years to live.
She is sixty-seven. She has spent four decades fighting structural discrimination — contributing to South Africa’s disability legislation, building organisations for disabled women, and teaching herself every new technology that could expand what was possible for a quadriplegic woman with one working hand.
She holds an MBA from the University of Liverpool, which admitted her through Recognition of Prior Learning — recognising decades of self-taught expertise that South African institutions refused to credit.
She is now an AI-Enabled Accessibility and Disability Inclusion Specialist, applying AI to make the movement faster, louder, and harder to ignore.
Read her full statement →Four decades of impact
Years of disability rights advocacy
Voice of Disability NPC
A registered non-profit organisation in South Africa. Programmes, rights clinics, and accessible materials — all led by and for disabled women.
Programmes & events
What we do
Our programmes are designed by disabled women, for disabled women. Everything we run is accessible — from the venue to the format to the language used.
Rights clinics
Know your rights under South African law, the Employment Equity Act, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Voices Circle
A members-only space for disabled women to connect, share experiences, and support each other — held online and in person.
Digital access training
Practical sessions on using assistive technology, navigating accessible digital tools, and building digital skills on your own terms.
Advocacy workshops
Learn how to speak up for yourself in workplaces, healthcare settings, and public spaces — and how to hold institutions accountable.
Resource library
Tools for your rights
Guides, templates, and tools to help disabled women navigate systems, claim their rights, and make their voices heard.
Your rights in the workplace
A plain-language guide to reasonable accommodation and the Employment Equity Act.
Download guide →The 7 Principles of Universal Design
What Universal Design means, why it matters, and how to apply it.
Read more →How to write a reasonable accommodation request
A template letter you can adapt for your workplace or institution.
Get template →Blog
Voices & views
Perspectives from the movement — on disability rights, access, AI, policy, and the lived experience of disabled women in South Africa and beyond.
Join us
Become a member
Membership is free. Add your voice, get invited to programmes, and help shape the movement. We’ll only use your details to stay in touch about Voice of Disability.
- Priority invitations to programmes and the Voices Circle
- Members-only updates and resources
- A community that puts disabled women first
Support the work
Fund a barrier-free future
Voice of Disability is a registered non-profit. Your gift funds programmes, rights clinics and accessible materials for disabled women. Every contribution helps a voice be heard.
Choose an amount (ZAR)
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Get in touch
Contact us
Questions, media, partnerships or accessibility requests — we’d love to hear from you.
Cape Town, South Africa
fadila@voiceofdisability.com