The Connections between Gender Inequality, Disability and Poverty as A Barrier to Equality in Africa: A Review of Selected African Countries
Phakamile Thwala
*
University of South Africa, College of Economic Management Sciences, 1382 Inhloni Street, KaMagugu, Mbombela, 1200, Republic of South Africa.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This article evaluates the connections between Gender Inequality, Disability and Poverty as A Barrier to Equality in Africa. It focused on the common experiences and observation from four selected African countries drawn from different literature sources reviewed by the researcher. Employing a qualitative narrative and a cross-sectional comparison, the article reveal how disability linked with the female gender leads to exclusion and increased barriers in access to social security, education, transport, state of poverty and decrease employment opportunity. It employs social security, education, transport, poverty, employment as the central themes for its evaluation. The article demonstrates that women who are impoverished, disabled and not enjoying equal living conditions compared to their male counterparts in Africa and the world. as a result, their path to equality is longer. The author argues that there is greater connection between the variables gender inequality, disability and poverty and they are a barrier to equality in Africa. This article calls for inclusive and multidimensional programme that simultaneously address the problem affecting impoverished women with disability.
Keywords: Gender, disability, poverty, barriers, inequality, correlation, impoverished women, women with disability