Last week, a discussion panel on Gender-Based Violence and Functional Diversity was held at the Muñiz Souffont Amphitheater of Ana G. Méndez University, Cupey Campus, as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence campaign.
The panel included experts as well as members of the functional diversity community who discussed violence faced by women with functional diversity, studies, variables, intersectionalities, myths and proposals to eradicate gender violence.
Among the participants was the social worker and activist, Alba Toro, Executive Director of the Institute of Development Skills of the University of Puerto Rico, Dr. Carol Salas, lawyer and activist, Lcda. Yessica Guardiola and as moderator, Dr. Evelyza Crespo, Dean of Liberal Arts of UAGM.
Violence against women with functional diversity is an issue that is not usually addressed in feminist forums and that, while sharing many aspects in common, presents a number of variables worth considering.
Studies show that women with functional diversity are victims of abuse and violence on a much larger scale than women without. Violence against women and girls with functional diversity is not just a subset of gender-based violence: it is an intersectional category related to gender-based violence and one based on functional diversity.
PANELISTS
-Alba Toro Rivera, Social Worker, blind woman
-Dr. Carol Salas, Executive Director, Instituto de Deficiencia en el Desarrollo, UPR
-Yessica Guardiola, lawyer, blind woman
MODERATOR
-Dr. Evelyza Crespo Rivera, Dean of the Liberal Arts Division, Vice presidency of Academic Affairs, UAGM