Whenever you fall into two categories that are discriminated against separately, it’s often twice as hard to deal with it. This applies to women who have disabilities. It can definitely be a difficult combination to deal with for certain.
Discrimination Against Women
The glass ceiling phenomenon when it comes to women trying to succeed in the workplace is well known at this point. This essentially means that women who are working don’t get paid as much as men doing the same work, and that women can only rise so high in organizations. Additionally, there were many jobs that were opening up to women only slowly as of the ‘70s, and that continue to go mostly to men. Even now there are many organizations out there that are dedicated to helping women get “equal pay for equal time.” Current statistics as of 2010 show that women tend to only make 77 cents for every dollar a man works for the same exact work.
Discrimination Against Disabled People
At the same time, discrimination against disabled people tends to happen a lot as well. No employer will ever admit that a person’s disability is the reason why they weren’t hired for a job, but it often is the case. This is because no one wants to have to go through any extra difficulty to hire someone who has a disability when they can hire someone else at the same price with less difficulty.
Double Discrimination
The real problem starts when people are discriminated against twice. Obviously no one deserves to be discriminated against at all. Women have the right to get the same pay as anyone else for the same work, both as U.S. citizens and simply as human beings, to say nothing of as disabled people. Any one of these discriminations could be a serious problem, but having to deal with both at the same time can seem insurmountable at times. But, there are plenty of things you can do to get employment as a disabled woman, even if it seems like every job you apply for turns you down.
Getting By
There are many options available to you that you may not have considered before. For example, there are grants from the government that will help you get back on your feet if you’re suffering a period of disability. Examples include the Eaton Trust which gives financial assistance for women in need. You can get all sorts of help from this grant such as for getting a wheel chair, or setting up a home to handle your needs. Additionally, there are charities that have similar aims.
It’s also true that you can go through the government to get social security disability back pay for any period when you were disabled on the job, especially if it was due to negligence on the part of your employer, but even that may not be necessary. It’s definitely worth checking out on the off chance that you qualify since it will only take you a minute or two.