“Eradicating Poverty” by Alice Doyle

To eradicate poverty, we must see it clearly,

understand what it is and how it happens in the context of

the cost of disability and gender,

the cost of parenting, disability and gender

and enabling financial independence

for disabled women and non-binary people.

Poverty and exclusion exist within the lines drawn by others.

These lines are often shaped by decisions made

by those who are not poor or, sometimes,

by those with no experience of disability.

Every choice, every plan, every decision made by others

without core experience and understanding of the lives

of disabled women and non-binary people

has the potential to cause more damage,

to raise the barriers to full participation in life

and to increase the unseen costs of exclusion.

I listened to the words you shared.

I see and experience the decisions made by others,

how they shape, separate and divide us,

how they limit our full access to life,

to care, to work and to facilities

and how they deny equality.

I see how within those lines,

our core truth and experience lie hidden.

How its shape is defined and languaged by others,

how its expression lacks a permission slip,

a witness or audience that fully hears

who and how we are and what we need.

These lines cause poverty.

Each line shapes differently,

each affects a chapter of a life

which bears the cost of exclusion.

True equality begins with financial freedom, choice and autonomy.

These lines can create their own structure and shape,

can determine their own future,

pick their pen, choose their ink,

when to write and when to stop.

We, however, have had to choose what we can afford,

while others limit what we can access.

Choice is often a luxury that lies outside our lines.

The lens through which we see and experience

our world is limited by poverty.

Let us name the additional costs

that disabled women and non-binary people

face compared with non-disabled people.

The additional costs of housing, gender related medical care,

transport, education, heating, PA support

and of trying to stay safe.

The further costs of older age, of living alone,

of paying for everyday household tasks to be done.

The mental and physical health effects of isolation,

of neither being listened to nor seen

and of experiencing digital exclusion.

Let us name the impacts of disability and gender.

That disability and gender are fundamental

to how we experience inequality.

How because of gendered expectations of behaviour,

disabled women don’t want to be seen as the problem.

That how we live as women is affected by sexism and misogyny

and how intersectional marginalisations result in

further discrimination, disadvantage and oppression.

Let us name the costs of disability and gender.

The personal, financial, social, mental and physical health costs

of trying to be believed about our lived experience of our own bodies.

The strain and exhaustion of medical gaslighting

and misogyny in disability and health services

and of not being taken seriously.

The costs of accessing gender related care,

of accessing diagnosis and the lack of financial support

for essential equipment, medical care and

alternative therapies that support us.

The emotional, physical and financial costs of reproductive healthcare

and of maternity, endometriosis and menopause care

and how these are dismissed more for disabled people.

The costs and impact of diagnostic overshadowing,

diagnostic delays and how they reduce our health outcomes.

The physical and mental toll on disabled people

resulting from the lack of trauma informed services.

The costs of sexual violence and the impact of not being believed.

Let us name the gendered challenges to earning money.

The lack of PA support that could allow us

to participate fully in society and in work.

The lack of appropriate access to educational opportunities

that would grow us, and enable us to earn more.

The lack of reasonable accommodations for work and the risk

of speaking up to ask for better, especially in a new job.

The impact of multiple medical appointments on work and education.

The limited available employment market for disabled people,

particularly those with childcare responsibilities.

The lack of employment opportunities for people with dynamic disabilities.

The effect on our future income and pensions

by being in and out of the workplace.

The gender pay gap and disability pay gap.

Workplace discrimination against mental health diagnoses.

It is against the law to discriminate, but they still do.

That access to work can be caused by discrimination, not by disability.

Embodied ableism and the lack of acceptance of lifelong disability.

Let us name the gendered challenges to accessing disability benefits.

The lack of recognition of the costs of disability when assessing means.

Means testing of spousal income.

The time, energy, health and financial costs

of navigating exhausting systems and processes

to access disability supports and benefits.

That when you are disabled and have assets,

your access to support is limited or none at all.

Let us name the other forms of poverty that affect

disabled women and non-binary people.

How lack of personal assistance, inadequate financial, educational

and healthcare supports create social, cultural and civil poverty,

limit full participation in life, work, politics and advocacy and, thereby,

reduces the visibility of disabled women and non-binary people

and creates further barriers to effecting much needed change.

Let us name what needs to change.

We need person-centred, flexible services that facilitate remote access

and dedicated disability people in services, education and employment.

Disability knowledge needs to be embedded in practice.

Collaboration and co-creation with disabled people is key.

Improved employability services that support disabled people

to find and keep better paid jobs.

Implement cost of disability payments and eliminate mean testing.

Support access to childcare, and work flexibility.

We were not silent.

We were not invisible here.

We were seen.

We were heard and we were listened to.

We named the costs and effects of poverty,

the barriers to accessing quality employment and education

and what needs to change.

Now that they are named, we see them more clearly

and when seen, it allows us to ask for better

for disabled women and non-binary people.

May this be a new beginning where better is expected

so that a healthier, more inclusive and financially sustainable future

can be envisioned for all.