Blog post by Daphne Visser, Advocacy & SRHR Advisor Lilianefonds.
The Inclusion game: when care is not a given
It’s the morning of the 29th of November. In a small room in Utrecht, participants dedicate their free Saturday morning to learn about disability justice and inclusion during a workshop organized by Liliane Fonds. They have been given the task to support the health care team of the fictional town of Biano who is organizing a free health screening day.
Three individuals step out of a taxi. Francis, Ryta and Frederic have heard about the health screening day and would like to be examined.
This is how the Inclusion Game starts. The game, created by the SeeYou Foundation, asks participants to think beyond the logistics of a health screening day and to examine the barriers that Francis, Ryta and Frederic, who each have a different disability, face. Participants get the opportunity to learn, but also to find creative solutions for barriers that people with disabilities experience.
Real-life barriers that begin at the door
Let’s go back to Franics, Ryta and Frederic. Francis uses a wheelchair and has a visual impairment. He is unable to even enter the health facility, as it can only be accessed by stairs. This is something that multiple young people with disabilities who use wheelchairs or have a physical impairment experience daily when trying to reach their sexual and reproductive health care.
Others experience communication barriers, such as Ryta who is a Deaf woman and has difficulty to communicate with the health care providers. In a youth-led research study done in Rwanda for the Make Way program in 2024, 82% of the participants said that communication accommodations were needed to enhance the accessibility of sexual health services. Often the only way people who are Deaf can communicate is by bringing along a family member to translate which can pose all kinds of problems for trust and confidentiality.
Ryta, Francis, and Frederic are also confronted with the negative attitudes of health care workers. When they go to get a HIV test, the health care workers in the game are surprised and wonder "why would you need a test, you have a disability!” In the Make Way youth-led research study, young people with disabilities in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda shared stories of unhelpful or negative attitudes from staff members. As one participant of the Inclusion Game noted, "it is quite disheartening as it can already be so difficult to convince people to let themselves get tested and then they are experiencing these barriers.”
Up to the participants of the Rally for Women’s festival to come up with solutions!
From Barriers to Solutions
During the workshop, innovative solutions were pitched from using AI or new technologies to translate sign language in real-time to using a smart screen with specific accommodations for people with visual or auditory impairments. Other solutions that were pitched are long-standing best practices in disability justice, such as stigma-reducing training for community members or installing ramps and buzzers. Participants discussed, reflected, and learned.
Even though it is a good way to practice our inclusive muscles, the Inclusion Game is not just fictional. Many young people with disabilities both in the Netherlands and across the Global Majority experience these challenges each time they try to reach their sexual and reproductive health. Will you, like the participants of our workshop, also commit to making Sexual and Reproductive Health services more inclusive and accessible?
Connect with us at Liliane Fonds and we will be happy to support you in your first steps along the way to becoming a Disability Justice Champion: Resources | Liliane Fond
This session by Lilianefonds was organised as part of the Rally for Women's Rights Festival.
