disability, sexuality, rights
Because we live in an ableist system, as disabled folks we always sort of doubt if we will be good at this or we will not be good at this, so I was doubting if I would be good at advocacy work, or even if I’m meant for advocacy work, but listening to and hearing so many lived experiences of activists and people who have been in the community, has really affirmed my belief, my self-belief in advocacy as well.
DSROI has sort of given me an education that I don’t think academia has given me. It helped me feel very represented and helped me feel that my voice is being centered. And it was so easy to learn on DSROI because there were accessibility aids given to us. participant of DSROI 2022
CREA runs an annual Disability, Sexuality and Rights Online Institute (DSROI). The six-week-long online course provides a conceptual study of disability, gender, and sexuality, and their interlinkages with feminism, sexual and gender diversity, racial justice, sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence, media, art, representation and law, amongst others. Using a rights-based approach and practical action models, the Institute focuses on activist initiatives that address disability justice in practice with an intersectional and global South lens. An international group of SRHR academics and activists working in the disability rights field design and teach the DSROI.
To address the dearth of disability-centric dialogue, literature and fieldwork with a cross-disability focus, DSROI creates an opportunity for all organizations and activists to apply a disability rights lens into their gender and sexuality work. For example, after completing the DSROI,
- a gender justice activist in Guatemala began collaborating with feminist collectives with disabilities to try and build cross-movement learning and cooperation.
- many alumni acknowledge that after the Institute they included disability rights within their organizations’ strategic frameworks, funding or programming.
To ensure the DSROI space is accessible to all participants, since 2021 it has been conducted on a more fully accessible online platform. DSROI constantly updates its course material to keep up with evolving themes in the area of disability, sexuality, and rights. In 2022, the Institute focused on exploring joy as well as community care and how it relates to sexuality and disability.
CREA has also expanded the global Institute to begin regional DSROI Institutes. CREA piloted the regional Institutes for partner organizations of the CREA-led Women Gaining Ground (WGG) consortium. WGG focuses on building the capacity and transformative leadership of women with disabilities, and young women and girls, to equip them to lead political and social transformation to redefine, prevent, and eliminate sexual and gender-based violence.
DSROI Hindi began in 2022, and focused on the importance of holding deep theoretical knowledge in Hindi for community and regional level work.
DSROI East Africa and DSROI Bangladesh were conducted in 2023 for partner organizations of the WGG consortium.
