Speakers at a discussion on Sunday said that cases involving persons with disabilities should be tried in special tribunals.聽
They said that the lack of essential facilities in courts, such as ramps, elevators, and access to sign language services, prevents persons with disabilities from fully accessing the legal system, thus denying them their right to justice.聽
They made the observation at the discussion on Women with Disabilities and their Rights, organised by the Women with Disabilities Development Foundation with support of Bangladesh Nari Sangbadik Kendra at Dhaka Reporters Unity in the capital.
WDDF executive director Ashrafun Nahar Misti said, 鈥榃e have laws on the rights and protection of persons with disabilities, but either persons with disabilities, their families, or those responsible for implementing the law are not fully aware of them.鈥�
Highlighting the case of sexual abuse involving a woman with speech and intellectual disabilities, Ashrafun said that since the woman could not speak and had an intellectual disability, she was unable to explain the events that happened to her, and despite the case beginning in 2013, a verdict has yet not been delivered. 聽
Addressing the event as chief guest, Bangladesh Nari Sangbadik Kendra president Nasimun Ara Haque Minu said that persons with disabilities were citizens of this country, and the country could not move forward by leaving them behind.
The speakers said that persons with disabilities faced neglect starting from their own families after birth, and women with disabilities often become victims of sexual harassment by their close relatives.
Female journalists from various media were present at the event.
