Negation of the Right of Women with Disabilities in Palestine to Marry: Cultural Considerations for Disability.

The right to marriage, family, and parenthood is embodied in Article 23 of the Convention on the Rights of Person's with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to explore the access to marriage for women with physical disabilities in Palestine. Seventeen women who acquired their disability before the age of 16 were interviewed. Fourteen participants were not married. Although these unwed participants believed they had the physical capacity to marry, and some had suitors, their families prohibited marriage. Participants reported marriage censure was buttressed by strong community attitudes. Three participants had married, with the support of the their birth family, but with the strong disapproval of the husband's family. The study explores the relationship between Palestinian cultural practices in regard to marriage and disability and argues that in Palestinian culture a prohibition of marriage results in the negation of the rights of women with disabilities. The study illuminates and raises questions of power and inequity and deepens our understanding of the intersection of gender, gender roles and disability in the Palestinian context, examines the tension between social justice for individuals and respecting a cultural context of collectivism and binding familial relations, and the cultural assumptions made about physical norms and capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]