Socio-Economic Wellbeing and Human Rights-Related Experiences of People with Disabilities in Covid-19 Times in South Africa

Abstract

During the early months of the global pandemic the international Disability Rights Monitor group survey illustrated the circumstances of persons with disabilities around the world. Gradually literature on the situation for persons with disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa started to emerge. As members of an informal network looking at issues affecting this group, some of the authors of this report realised that much of the research done was not specifically focusing on their perceptions during the pandemic and that it was not using the WG-SS questions. Having noticed a gap in the type of data being collected by other scholars and the media, this small informal network identified a need for a survey that would look at both experiences and perceptions of persons with disabilities focussing on lived experiences of socioeconomic impacts and access to human rights during the pandemic in South Africa.

This report summarises some of the key findings of the study, which was conducted on-line using Google Forms from the 1 July to 31 August 2021. All percentages displayed are rounded to the nearest percent and this may affect what is displayed in charts. While we cite some literature in this report, a separate literature review was written by the team, and was used to guide the research and focus the questions.