On 12 June 2026, our Programmes Lead, Srinidhi Raghavan, facilitated a virtual training session on "Disabilities and Power" for the #YouthForSAMAJ Programme for Ending Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in South Asia. Jointly launched by Equality Now and SAMAJ, and implemented by The YP Foundation, the session brought together 25 young advocates, law students, journalists, social workers, and activists from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan.
The session explored how power, systemic injustice, and ableism shape the lives of persons with disabilities across the region. Through examples and discussion, Srinidhi challenged participants to rethink disability beyond medical and charity-based frameworks. She highlighted how exclusion is often embedded in social systems, institutions, and the built environment. The session also examined the intersections of disability with gender, caste, mental health, and other forms of marginalisation.
Participants engaged in a rich cross-country dialogue, sharing perspectives on stigma, language, and the exclusion of lived experiences from advocacy spaces. Srinidhi closed the session by encouraging the cohort to carry these intersectional perspectives into their upcoming country-level advocacy projects.
