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It is difficult to be a woman in this country.
It is difficult to be a person with disabilities in this country.
But it is most difficult to be a woman with disabilities.
To address this difficult issue, a group of women with disabilities came together and with the efforts of Lütfiye Kelleci Birer,
they founded the Association of Women with Disabilities.
- How did we found the Association of Women with Disabilities?
There are a lot of associations working for the persons with disabilities in Turkey.
But in many aspects it is very difficult for women to take part in the decision making mechanism of these associations
As usual, organizations working for the persons with disabilities advise women
to organize tea parties and charity bazaars and to bring money to the association.
Women's organizations on the other hand regard women with disabilities
as a group with special needs and therefore do not prefer to work in this field.
As women with disabilities we attribute most of our problems to our disabilities.
Not only women with disabilities, but also women in general are deprived
from equal job opportunities and participation in the society.
We decided that we needed to make the problems of women with disabilities visible,
try to find solutions to these problems,
exchange ideas on attitudes against women
and support each other in this field.
The first project of the Association of Women with Disabilities,
called "Empowering Women's NGOs and women with disabilities to fight for their rights",
was supported by the Sabancı Foundation Social Development Grant Program.
- We aimed to make the issue of women with disabilities visible through this project.
We thought the starting point should be bringing these women together.
We identified 3 pilot cities, namely Ankara, İzmir and Samsun.
3-day trainings were designed and implemented in these cities.
Detailed information was provided on disability,
discrimination, gender and violence against women.
We wish that women become conscious about being a woman
and a person with disabilities and participate in social life more effectively.
On the first day, women were reluctant
to join the discussions,
however on the last day, we realized that they have much to say on disabilities
and that they are more hopeful in joining the social life.
Through the project implemented in 3 cities, the Association of Women with Disabilities reached 65 women.
5 out of the 6 facilitators working actively in the project had visual impairments.
They were able to show everybody, not just 65 women in 3 cities,
that women with disabilities exist and have the capacity for achievement.
They made an unforgettable difference both in their lives
and in the lives of thousands of other women with disabilities who will fight for their survival.