Disability, Marriage and Rights

While marriage continues to be critiqued for its patriarchal structure and exclusionary character for many structurally excluded communities, it still serves as the socially accepted means of accessing sexuality. For disability rights activists and feminist human rights advocates, the consistent review and analysis of state interventions in disability and sexuality rights with a critical eye is vital. What are the implications for women with disabilities in India from marriage incentive schemes? How do we look at it from a disability rights and feminist perspective? How does the state's incentivization of marriage for women with disabilities intersect with notions of governing sexuality?

Shampa Sengupta and her team, with support of CREA, took up this task through their 2019 qualitative research on marriage incentive schemes implemented in two Indian states (Kerala and Bihar). The ‘Disability, Marriage and Rights’ brief presents the key findings of the study and examines debates around marriage, its place in the lives of women with disabilities, and whether the state should have a role in incentivizing marriage and linking rights and benefits to it.

If you are an activist interested in gender and disability rights mainstreaming, if you are a researcher working towards complicating your understanding of disability rights inclusion, if you are a policy analyst working on reviewing and providing feedback for state schemes, if you are a curious learner who would like to work towards an intersectional feminist future, - we assure you, reading this brief would benefit you!

The publication is available also in Hindi and Bangla.