Sentra Advocasi Perempuan Difabel Dan Anak (SAPDA), Indonesia
Sentra Advocasi Perempuan Difabel Dan Anak (SAPDA) is an organisation for, and led by, women with disabilities in Indonesia. It is building a women’s disability rights movement in the province of Yogyakarta, where many people became disabled overnight when earthquakes shook the area in 2006 and 2007. On top of that, in 2010 Mount Merapi erupted, disabling many more people. Being disabled can mean that women are more vulnerable to physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, coupled with increased dependency on family and community members. Thousands of women with disabilities in the area are struggling with the expectations around their roles as wives, mothers, housekeepers, and income earners.
Sentra Advocasi Perempuan Difabel Dan Anak supports women’s independence and refuses to accept their marginalisation. The organisation empowers and organises especially those women who are disabled because of the recent natural disasters. On the ground, the organisation helps women to form village-based groups for mutual support, and to open dialogues between women, their families, and their communities. and supports their direct participation in negotiations with government and within mainstream women’s rights organisations.
Sentra Advocasi Perempuan Difabel Dan Anak supports the women’s direct participation in negotiations with government and within mainstream women’s rights organisations. It advocates for the rights of women with disabilities at local and provincial levels and it forms alliances with the women’s rights movement, with emphasis on the anti-violence movement, and the disability rights movement. This dual strategy allows them to challenge stigma, discrimination, and isolation faced both at the grassroots and at the policy level. The organisation’s advocacy work has led to the provision of free state health insurance for people with disabilities in Yogyakarta, a service accessed by over 2,000 women in its network.
Sentra Advocasi Perempuan Difabel Dan Anak received grants from Mama Cash in 2009 en 2011.
