Talking about the position of women with disabilities in Montenegro is not only a story about the realization of political, economic and social rights, but about identity and self-acceptance, it was said at the public debate of the Initiative of Young People with Disabilities in Boke (I MI Boke).
The executive director of I MI Boka, Miroslava-Mima Ivanović, at the public debate "March 8 in the light of the rights of women with disabilities", reminded that she has been active in the movement for the rights of the disabled since the age of 17, stating that since then she has been saying that a person with disability.
"It was only a few years ago that I started saying that I am a woman with a disability. This means that I had to go through a long process of searching for integrity, working on myself, to transform myself into a person with all my qualities. That's why I needed courage" , Ivanovic said.
She believes that recognizing herself as a disabled woman in Montenegro is a great responsibility.
"That is rarely heard. It means breaking down stereotypes, prejudices and taboos, it means being the leader of a huge number of women who are hidden, who are not seen, who are silent and who do not talk about their needs," Ivanovic pointed out.
He believes that, as stated in the announcement, talking about the position of women with disabilities in Montenegro is not just about realizing the political, economic and social rights of women.
"It's a story of identity, a story of accepting yourself and developing yourself in a personal way. It's a story that carries with it many aspects," said Ivanovic.
Presenting the research on violence and discrimination against women, girls and girls with disabilities and the types of support they and their families need, she said that 30 women and girls with disabilities and their family members participated in the research.
"The research showed that 55 percent of girls and women with disabilities completed secondary vocational school, while 30 percent of them completed higher vocational education. Also, 55 percent of them are employed in the NGO sector, and only four percent of them are in managerial positions." Ivanovic said.
She pointed out that only 18 percent of women and girls with disabilities live independently, while 82 percent live in families.
"Many of them share their funds with their family, but the problem is that 15 percent of them do not have the ability to decide independently where their income will go. As many as 41 percent of the respondents said that they do not have enough funds to cover all their life needs, including those concerning disabilities, such as aids, accessible transportation... That percentage is twice as low for family members, 20 percent, but this percentage for women and girls is worrying," said Ivanovic.
She pointed out that 41 percent of girls and women with disabilities do not need the help of another person in meeting their basic life needs, while 59 percent of them said that they do.
"For 41 percent of girls and women with disabilities, help is provided by family, 18 percent by personal assistants who provide help during the duration of the project. When we asked respondents who need help, whether they would use personal assistance if it was financed by the state or local self-government, 78 percent said they would, 22 percent said they wouldn't," Ivanovic said.
She said that 44 percent of the respondents said that they do not regularly go to the gynecologist, stating that some of the reasons are fear, negative experiences with doctors of other professions, but also discrimination that exists, such as inaccessibility.
Speaking about the recommendations that resulted from the focus groups, Ivanovic pointed out that it is difficult for women and girls with disabilities to open up to talk about their experiences of violence, that relevant personnel need to be educated in order to provide a safe and confidential environment for reporting violence, and that necessary adaptation of existing and establishment of specific services for women with disabilities: SOS lines, psychological support...
"It is necessary to establish a Resource Center to support relevant institutions and organizations in terms of professional knowledge and technical administrative resources," added Ivanovic.
State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights, Bojan Božović, pointed out that the level of protection of human rights depends on several angles and several different bases.
"First, we need to build institutions. Second, we need to create adequate legal mechanisms that will be applied by these institutions. The most important thing, especially when we talk about the contemporary context, is to create a sufficient level of awareness among every responsible person that neither in for a moment, let's not forget about those who are the most discriminated against," said Božović.
He said that everyone's responsibility must be greater and stronger, otherwise, as he believes, we will go backwards.
The Head of the Media and Culture Department of the US Embassy in Podgorica, Nikol Gallagher, assessed that, although significant progress has been made in the fight for equality in recent years, women are still underrepresented in many spheres of life.
"Unfortunately, girls and women with disabilities are one of the most marginalized categories of society. Females are inherently considered less valuable in patriarchal environments, and women with disabilities face even worse treatment," Gallagher warned.
What is even more worrying, she believes, is the fact that women and girls with disabilities often see themselves through the eyes of an environment that devalues them, while, as she stated, they are not aware that they are victims of discrimination and violence.
Gallagher reminded that the USA is taking concrete measures to improve the position of women.
During the Panel "How to suppress multiple and intersectional discrimination against women with disabilities in Montenegrin society?" The director general of the Directorate for the Protection and Equality of Persons with Disabilities in the Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights, Aleksandra Popović, recalled that the Government recently completed the process of electing members of the Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which, as she clarified, will give priority to the rights of PWDs .
"The plan of our department is to adopt a new law on the prohibition of discrimination. The working group worked on the first draft of that act. Special attention was paid to the formulation of intersectional discrimination and additional strengthening of multiple discrimination through more severe forms of discrimination," stated Popović.
The State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare, Janko Odović, believes that the project scoring system must be changed when it comes to projects financed from the budget.
"What is a systemic error from the previous period and which must be changed is that independent evaluators often do not have specific knowledge in a specific field, and they evaluate a project," stated Odović.
He assessed that it is necessary to create a single expert body, stating that PWDs must pass 30 commissions in order to determine the degree of disability.
"For this reason, we launched an initiative to adapt the legal regulations in this sense, to see how it is resolved in the environment and the EU," said Odović.
Chief adviser at the institution of the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms, Dina Knežević, said that in the last few years there has been an increase in the number of complaints from PWDs.
"The increase in the number of complaints does not mean an increase in the number of discriminations, but also an increase in awareness and knowledge about the rights of PWDs," said Knežević.
She pointed out that in the Institution of the Ombudsperson with regard to cases related to domestic violence, there was not a single complaint related to domestic violence, which had PWD as a victim.
During the discussion, MP Božena Jelušić of the Civic Movement URA said that since this year, for the first time, there is an attempt to implement the program budget and gender-responsive budgeting in it, stating that she sees an opportunity to recognize women with disabilities.
The public debate was held as part of a project supported by the Ministry of Justice, Human and Minority Rights, and the research findings came from a project funded by the US Embassy.
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