Women and Disability: Conference Proceedings

This brief section includes reports, information, or proceedings generated from from conferences concerning women with disabilities. There are conference presentations and papers included elsewhere throughout this bibliography, depending on the subject matter.

Barbuto, R. (2005, July). Issues of gender in the context of the movement of persons with disability. Winnipeg, MB: Disabled Peoples’ International. Retrieved February 20, 2005 from http://v1.dpi.org/lang-en/resources/topics_detail?page=279.

Brief report and resolution following a DPI Europe conference, “Disabled Women and Personal Assistance,” that was held in April 2005 in Paestum, Italy.

Bennett, L. (2003/2004, Winter). Forum inspires women’s rights and disability rights supporters to work together. National NOW Times. Retrieved February 11, 2005 from http://www.now.org/nnt/winter-2004/forum.html.

The common concerns of the women’s rights and disability rights movements converged at the “Women with Disabilities and Allies Forum: Linking Arms for Equality and Justice for All” in Bethesda, Md., Oct. 17-19, 2003. The forum, the first of its kind, was organized jointly by the NOW Foundation and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD).

Blehar, M. C., & Keita, G. P. (Eds.). (2003, March). Women and depression [Feature issue]. Journal of Affective Disorders, 74(1).

“For the second time in ten years, The Journal of Affective Disorders (JAD) devotes a special issue to the topic of women and depression. In 1993, the Journal published a special issue, titled Toward a New Psychobiology of Depression in Women, based on a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) workshop organized by Blehar. This special issue on women and depression builds on NIMH’s contribution and that of the American Psychological Association (APA). This publication comes ten years after the 1990 report by the APA Task Force on Women and Depression, titled Women and Depression: Risk Factors and Treatment Issues. That book, edited by McGrath, Keita, Strickland, and Russo was one of the first reports that focused on women’s depression.

This issue also stems from the APA’s sponsorship of an October 2000 Summit on Women and Depression. The meeting was initially conceived of by the APA as a way to update the 1990 report. But more importantly, it was brought about through a working partnership that APA forged with other sponsors – among them the Bureau of Primary Health Care/Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office on Women’s Health, and NIMH. Other federal and private organizations collaborated in this undertaking in addition to some of our nation’s foremost experts across disciplines. An executive summary of the Summit is posted on the APA web site www.apa.org/pi/wpo/women&depression.pdf and the NIMH web site at www.nimh.nih.gov.” (p. 1).

Changing borders: Women with Disabilities Learning From Each Other – Resources Pages from the Conference. (1998, June 3). Prepared for Changing Borders Conference, Oakland, California. Retrieved April 1, 2005 from http://www.disabilityhistory.org/dwa/borders.htm.

“Changing Borders was a one day gathering of women with disabilities held on June 3rd 1998 at the Oakland Marriott. The event changed more than borders, it changed lives. Over 120 women attended representing diverse backgrounds, identities, types of disabilities, ages, interests and experiences. Most of the women who attended the event were from California and other nearby States. More than half had never been to an event for women with disabilities before.”

Doe, T., O’Toole, C., & Kafer, A. (Eds.). (1999). Claiming our bodies resource pages. Produced for the Disabled Women’s Conference, May 26 1999, Washington DC. Retrieved September 5, 2002 from http://www.disabledwomen.net/claiming.htm.

Resource kit presents materials from the Disabled Women’s Conference held in Washington DC on May 26, 1999. Topics addressed include sexuality, violence and women’s health. Presentations include (1) “Resistant bodies: disability as sites of resistance”, ways to resist the powers that would make women with disabilities feel inferior; (2) “The who, what, and how’s of disabled persons’ sexuality”, which addresses these issues, offers printed and Internet resources, and also briefly presents the issue of women and safer sex; (3) “Health”, a personal introduction to the topic of women’s health for women with disabilities, focusing on fatigue, pain, mental health, and interactions with doctors. This presentation includes resources in print, on the Internet, and reference and referral services with phone numbers; (4)”Ending violence”, which also includes several resources available in various media forms; (5) “Readings about women and disability that we suggest”; (6) A beginning women’s guide to using the Internet; and (7) The Report and Evaluation from last year’s women’s conference in Oakland.

Duncan, B., & Berman-Bieler, R. (Eds.). (1998, May). International leadership for women with disabilities final report. New York: Rehabilitation International. Retrieved March 31, 2005 from http://www.rehab-international.org/publications/Leadership_Women/index.html.

The International Leadership Forum for Women with Disabilities was one of the most heralded, far reaching and successful events of 1997. Held June 15-20 in Washington, DC, the Forum attracted legislators, artists, advocates, organizational executives, trainers, international assistance experts and grassroots development specialists from around the globe. As a follow-up to the United Nations 4th World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, the Forum served as an international progress report on concrete implementations of the Beijing Platform for Action benefiting the world’s estimated 300 million disabled women and girls.

Fiduccia, B. W., & Wolfe, L. R. (1999). Women and girls with disabilities: Defining the issues—An overview. Washington, DC: Center for Women Policy Studies and Women & Philanthropy. Retrieved March 1, 2005 from http://www.centerwomenpolicy.org/pdfs/1999womenandgirls.pdf
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Prepared for the first-ever conference for grantmakers on women and girls with disabilities, convened by Women and Philanthropy in June 1999, this report briefly addresses a wide range of issues – including physician assisted suicide, access to health care, reproductive rights and health, family life, education and employment, violence against disabled women and girls, and disabled women’s leadership. The report also considers how applying a “disability lens” and reflecting the values and vision of disability feminism can help us bring the voices and visions of disabled women and girls to the policy arena and to feminist research, policy and advocacy agendas.

Global voices for gender equity: How women create change. (2003, June). Washington, DC: American Association of University Women Educational Foundation. Retrieved March 4, 2005 from http://www.aauw.org/ef/internationalsymposium_finalreport.pdf.

Proceedings of the AAUW Educational Foundation’s Fall 2002 international symposium, International Perspectives: Global Voices for Gender Equity that was held in partnership with the Educational Testing Service. The report highlights key speakers, presentations, and issues that emerged, including the symposium track on education for women with disabilities.

Greater London Action on Disability (GLAD). (2002). Disabled women hold up half the sky. London: Author.

Report from a conference for disabled women where disabled women were able to discuss some of the issues affecting them. A summary of this conference is available online at: http://www.glad.org.uk/services/report-summaries/womconf.shtml#doctop.

Greater London Action on Disability (GLAD). (2003). Disabled women showing our power. London: Author.

Report from the second GLAD conference for disabled women.

Holt, G. (Ed.). (2004, October). Women with learning disabilities and mental health [Feature issue]. Tizard Learning Disability Review, 9(4).

In May 2002 a conference, Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Women with Learning Disability, was held at Guy’s Hospital [UK], a joint venture between the Judith Trust and the Estia Centre, Guy’s. The aim was to enable discussion of the importance of good mental health for everyone, for good services for those who become mentally ill and for these services to be sensitive to the particular needs of women with learning disabilities.

Hunsberger, M. B. (2001). Women with disabilities: Strategies for change: Health Care Summit Report. Trenton, NJ: New Jersey Developmental Disabilities Council. Retrieved April 2, 2005 from http://www.njddc.org/whc-report.pdf.

“In June, 2001, 66 women with disabilities gathered in Iselin, New Jersey, from all over the state. They came together to start a movement. The movement’s goals were: to improve the quality of health care for women with disabilities: to increase its availability and to assure that it is delivered by health professionals knowledgeable about and sensitive to the specific needs of women with disabilities, regardless of the nature of those disabilities….Led by keynote speaker June Isaacson Kailes, the women identified a number of barriers that prevented them from receiving adequate health care…. Summit participants began to develop strategies to address the most significant issues they had identified. They established a steering committee to develop those strategies further and to acquire the additional support and resources to implement them.”

Judd, K., & Eisen, A. (1999). Thru the lens: Women and girls with disabilities. Washington, DC: Women & Philanthropy. Retrieved December 2, 2004 from http://www.womenphil.org/usr_doc/thru_the_lens.pdf.

“In June of 1999, Women & Philanthropy, along with Disability Funders Network, Grantmakers in Health, Women’s Funding Network, True North Foundation, and the Center for Women Policy Studies, cosponsored one of the first conferences for the philanthropic community—program officers, presidents and executive directors, and trustees on women and girls with disabilities.

The purpose of the conference was to inform and clarify the breadth of challenges the disabled women’s community faces as well as debunk some of the myths. The sessions revealed powerful insights and new information about the myriad problems confronting disabled women today. Over the two-day conference, funders came to better understand that for all women, including those with disabilities, ‘women’s rights are human rights.'”

Morgan, M. (2003, June 26). Women with disabilities: From invisible to visible citizens [Bulletin Insert]. Disability Negotiations Bulletin, 2(9). New York: Ad Hoc Committee on an International Convention, United Nations. Retrieved March 31, 2005 from http://www.worldenable.net/rights/adhoc2meetbulletin09a.htm.

This bulletin insert reports on a luncheon hosted by the government of South Africa and the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), “Women with disabilities: Opportunities and challenges for women’s rights activists in the development of a convention on the human rights of people with disabilities.” The briefing emphasized the need for the explicit equality of women with disabilities within the context of any human rights framework.

National Aboriginal Network on Disability. (1992). Voices in the wilderness: Aboriginal women and disabilities. Cornwall, ON: Author. Retrieved March 30, 2005 from http://www.schoolnet.ca/aboriginal/disable6/index-e.html.

This paper identifies issues affecting Aboriginal women with disabilities and Aboriginal women who are primary caregivers of disabled relatives. It is the result of a literature review, discussions with Aboriginal women and a two-day “Aboriginal Women’s Circle on Disability” held in Ottawa in March 1992. The paper also contains recommendations based on the Women’s Circle discussions.

Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Keita, G. P. (Eds.). (2003, June). Women and depression [Special section]. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 27(2).

Although women’s 2 to 1 likelihood of developing a depressive disorder is a well-established fact, research over the last decade has expanded our knowledge of risk factors and issues of treatment and service delivery. The American Psychological Association convened an interdisciplinary Summit in 2000 on Women and Depression to examine these findings and to make recommendations on future research and policy needs, and to highlight treatment implications. This special section contains five articles from the Summit addressing a range of issues, including the relationship between women’s depression and their lesser power and status in society (resulting in physical and sexual abuse and poverty), and the menstrual cycle and depression. Additionally, the special section includes articles on the rehabilitation of women with depression and treatment of depressed women in primary care settings.

For more information, the document, Summit on Women and Depression: Proceedings and Recommendations, can be accessed online at www.apa.org/pi/wpo/womendepression.pdf.

Sikand, M. (1998, August). Leadership development for women with disabilities: Key issues and strategies in leadership training and successful participation in microcredit programs. Final report of the Mobility International USA International Symposium on Microcredit for Women with Disabilities, Eugene, Oregon. Retrieved February 12, 2005 from http://www.miusa.org/publications/freeresources/intlsymposium.

This is “…the full report from Mobility International USA’s first International Symposium on Microcredit for Women with Disabilities. Thirteen women leaders with disabilities from 11 developing countries met with US-based international development organizations, experts on microcredit and leaders in disability to strategize about how to improve access of women with disabilities to microcredit programs.”

Stewart, H., Percival, B., & Epperly, E. R. (Eds.). (1990). The more we get together: Women and disability. Charlottetown, PEI, Canada: Gynergy Books.

This resource is the result of a 1990 meeting of 300 women held on Prince Edward Island as the 14th conference of the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women. The 22 papers are divided into the following topics: difference and dis/ability; herstory; caregiving and mothering; and language and writing. Can be ordered from the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women. See http://www.criaw-icref.ca/pubs/publicationDetails_e.asp?id=40.

Women with Disabilities Australia (WWDA). (1998). A report of the ‘Introduction to the Internet Workshop’ for women with disabilities. Rosny Park, Tasmania, Australia: Author. Retrieved March 2, 2004 from http://www.wwda.org.au/wkshp.htm.

An Internet Training Workshop for women with disabilities was held in Melbourne, September 1998. This is an evaluation report of that workshop. Women with disabilities in Australia have identified the need to be included in the information technology revolution, particularly the Internet. The Internet is seen by many women with disabilities as an important accessibility aid to access mainstream information and services, as well as information to meet their specific needs as women with disabilities.