The assessment of the challenges faced by women with visual impairment in equalization of opportunities in Rwanda: a case study of Bugesera district.

Abstract

This study is an assessment of the challenges faced by women with visual impairment in equalization of opportunities in Rwanda. The current study explored the causes that prevent women with visual impairment to participate and being treated as the rest of the population in an equal way under the given opportunities in their settled area and elsewhere within the country. The study proposed the strategies to promote the awareness and knowledge for the social norms and laws on equalization of opportunities. This dissertation determined the different strategies that can be used to avoid and overcome all the challenges toward the opportunities of opportunities for the women visually impaired in Rwanda. The study employed a qualitative approach and a case study inquiry in Bugesera district, Eastern province of Rwanda. The purposive sampling technique was used to select participants. Data were mainly collected through in-depth interview respondents were 18 and 6 key informants The participation for respondents was limited to the women visually impaired aged between 23 and 52 years old. The findings revealed that lack of information to the women sighted impairment biased them to achieve on equalization of opportunities in Rwanda, by expressing how the government’s policies and its programs have been disseminated through the journals which are in ordinary writings the others through radios while they use writings in Braille for the literate women. Others confessed that in their families they do not have radios to access information. The findings revealed also that there are no specific strategies used to promote the awareness on social norms and equal rights on different given opportunities in Rwanda. The respondents expressed that they encountered barriers to update on policies and programs of government. Some of those barriers are poverty and illiteracy as well as lack of assistance from the leaders. The respondents also confirmed that there is a negative perception toward them from the community. The society neglects them by considering themas invaluable and useless. The research found out that the strategies preferably to use in overcoming these challenges, is the interdependence of all institutions, the leaders in different institutions work and react as a teamwork with the same commonalities targeted to remove and overcome the challenges encountered by women sight impaired to access the equalization of opportunities. Therefore, women visually impaired were not impacted negatively only on equalization of opportunities but also they suffered the stigma and isolation in their settled area. As conclusion,this current study found out that women with visual impairment face a lot of challenges to access the opportunities as the others. so, a durable solution to overcome them is to facilitate and promote women visually impaired in attending all levels of school to fight againstilliteracy which is one among the main core for all challenges, the government should also train its public workers and private employers on skills and abilities of women visually impaired to avoid the inequality toward employment, it should also invite them for making together as a teamwork in eradicating all kinds of discrimination done to women visually impaired in Rwanda.