Embodiment Experiences of Women with Disabilities in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

 

Embodiment Experiences of Women with Disabilities in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

 Abstract

 This paper explores the changing embodiment experiences of new disabled women after the 2006 earthquake disaster in Bantul district, Yogyakarta province, Indonesia. As a consequence of the disaster, thousands of people lose their parts of their bodies and become disabled. Not only they faced psychological suffering and trauma caused by the earthquake but also they should deal with many challenges in order to survive in their subsequent lives. Their properties were vanished and the situation was exacerbated by their work inability as a result of their impairment. They have been adapting to unproper environment situation such as inappropriate facilities that hinder their mobilities. This situation even worse for new women with disabilities because they have not only to struggle for daily needs, they also have to challenge multiple oppression because they are disabled, because they are women and because they are poor and do not have ability to work. They also have been experiencing changing embodiment. After the disaster they lose their dignity and have to adapt to their new embodiment experiences. They have to follow procedures of medicalization to their physical disabilities in order to close with normality and should involve in some programs such as work skills from government and NGOs. This paper deal with ethnographic approach of the personal experiences of 5 new disabled women in comparing embodiment experiences before and after become disabled. This paper also discloses the embodiment process after 5 years of disaster and how those women with disabilities exercise their bodies to mainstream disabilities in their families and neigbourhoods.

Keywords:

Disaster, embodiment, women with disabilities