A weekend that belongs together
On Friday 16 October 2026, Disability Rights Awareness Month was launched in Pretoria with an awareness walk from Church Square to the Union Buildings. It came earlier than usual, because South Africans vote in the Local Government Elections on 4 November.
The next day, Saturday 17 October, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi led a march and a community imbizo on gender-based violence and femicide in Phiri, Soweto. Residents marched, raised their concerns directly with the Minister, and heard how the National Register for Sexual Offenders is meant to protect vulnerable people.
Two campaigns. Two days. One question that too often goes unasked: where are women with disabilities in this conversation?
The barriers are not in our bodies. They are in the system.
Women with disabilities experience gender-based violence. That is not new, and it is not a side issue. What makes our situation different is not our impairments. It is the barriers built around us:
- Helplines that only work if you can hear and speak.
- Police stations with steps, no ramps and no interpreters.
- Shelters that cannot accommodate a wheelchair, a guide dog or a personal assistant.
- Court processes that assume every witness can read small print, sit for hours or speak without support.
- Information about our rights that is not available in Braille, easy-read, South African Sign Language or plain language.
- A dependence on the very people who may be causing harm, because support services were never designed with us in mind.
When a woman with a disability cannot reach help, the system has failed. She has not.
Present at the imbizo, but heard?
Community imbizos are important. They bring government to the people. But a dialogue is only as open as its doors.
Was the venue accessible? Was there South African Sign Language interpretation? Could a woman who is Deaf, blind, or who uses a wheelchair raise her concern in the same way as everyone else? Could she do so safely, without the person she fears standing next to her?
We ask these questions not to criticise one event, but because they must be asked of every event, every campaign and every service. Accessibility is not a favour. It is a right.
Our asks this Disability Rights Awareness Month
- Accessible reporting. Every route to report violence must work for every woman: text, video, written, in-person, with a support person of her choice.
- Accessible justice. Police stations, courts and the National Register for Sexual Offenders processes must be physically accessible and available in accessible formats.
- Accessible shelters and services. Every shelter and support service funded by the state should meet basic accessibility standards.
- Disabled women at the table. Women with disabilities must be part of planning GBV responses, not only invited to attend them.
- Data that sees us. GBV reporting must record disability, safely and with consent, so that our experiences are counted and acted on.
Your vote is part of your voice
On 4 November, we choose the people who run our municipalities. Local government runs many of the spaces that decide whether we are safe: street lighting, public transport, clinics, community halls and public toilets.
Before you vote, ask your candidates: What will you do to make our streets, transport and services safe and accessible for women with disabilities? And make sure your voting station is accessible to you. If it is not, you have the right to ask for support.
Nothing about us without us
The 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children runs from 25 November to 10 December. Disability Rights Awareness Month ends on 3 December, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. These campaigns overlap for a reason. Our rights do not come in separate boxes.
We are not asking to be protected. We are asking to lead.
If you or someone you know needs help, contact the GBV Command Centre on 0800 428 428, or SMS *120*7867# from any cellphone.