Inequality can be traced back to several centuries ago when society favored some people over others. However, some traditionally marginalized groups have tried to fight for their space by advocating for equal opportunities and rights within the systems. Although it has not been easy and people have been killed, many vulnerable people such as women have gotten a fair share of their rights though there are still challenges. It is even more challenging if you are a woman who is physically challenged and a lone parent.
Morning
At 24, Jael Hazel was happily married and expecting their firstborn child with her husband, Bernard. Then, one morning in 2015, she got fatigued and thought it was a result of expecting a baby. Otherwise, healthy, she was not bothered because she knew it would disappear within a day or two. Furthermore, the baby was due in 3 weeks, according to the doctor. She finished her shift at Patrick Guilbaud, Dublin, where she worked, canceled a late lunch with her husband, and went to bed. Little did she know that it was the last time she would walk on her two feet.
Afternoon
Bernard came home at 3: 15 P.M. only to hear a groaning and agonizing sound. To his surprise, Jael could not even move her body an inch. Without hesitation, he quickly called an ambulance, which came within a few minutes, readily equipped to take Hazel to the hospital. The paramedics had to carry her from her bed into the parked ambulance. A spinal code diagnosis revealed a potentially deadly infection of bacteria. Meningitis is a type of disease that affects a person’s neurology system (McGill et al., 2016). Hazel’s kidney began to stop functioning as she became sicker. As a result, she was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) at The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin.
Night
While her friends and husband were helplessly waiting for the doctors’ feedback, desperately hoping that she would emerge victorious over the disease, Hazel was unconscious. “I believe I just had a normal disease, and everybody was overreacting,” she recalls. “I had no idea of the aftermath of the event.” Although she survived the ordeal, the results were disappointing to everyone. She was to go a surgery, which led to her legs and fingers’ amputation on her right hand. Her recovery was to take two years, which implied that she had to give birth while still battling the body pains.
Unfortunately, Jael’s husband died in 2018 in a road accident. After her husband’s burial, she went to her original workplace and requested the management to get her former position back. Although the officials were initially reluctant owing to her physical condition and the nature of work she was to perform, they allowed her to try. It is quite unfortunate the management still wanted her to do the same tasks in the same manner and speed. Her physical state had slowed her, and life pressures dragged her performance. Later that year, she rendered her resignation letter and left the company. The work environment was not conducive for her; there was no room for lactating mothers to breastfeed their children. The spaces between the grocery shelves were small hence could not accommodate her wheelchair, yet her salary was deducted if products were damaged as a result of her movement.
Jael is not the only person experiencing inequality at her job place in Ireland. Mary has been struggling to get employment ever since she graduated in 2016. Although most job adverts state that physically challenged persons will be given priority, she has lost all her job interviews to others who are fit physically. “It is hard competing with normal people, especially if you are a mother with children to take care of,” Mary acknowledges. The majority of incapacitated people in Ireland often finish college with the hope of getting direct employment, but they are always disappointed (Nolan and Gleeson, 2017). According to Sherry, statistics indicate that physically challenged people are more likely to be discriminated against (2016). Research conducted by the Economic and Research Institute (ESRI) indicates that 26% of lone and disabled parents are likely not to get jobs in Ireland (ESRI, 2018). Van Aswegen et al. also assert that although the Irish laws require unfit people to be incorporated, most are still excluded from the job markets. Jael recounts that “even though sometimes we are given an opportunity, the work environment does not take into consideration the challenges we experience”. She sometimes feels frustrated with her situation and sympathizes with lone parents who experience the same challenges.
In conclusion, society has not entirely accepted individuals who are physically challenged. Based on Jael and Mary’s accounts, many people are discriminated against on the job market when they are not well fit. This is even when worse when they are lone parents and have to take care of their families’ needs also. Although there are guidelines for promoting equality, Irish institutions are still not ready to embrace these changes. The work environment does not support equality, even if the hiring process was fair. Hence, there is a need to ensure that labor policies are well implemented.
Reference List
ESRI (2018) ‘’Significant gap’: Lone parents and those with disabilities among the most deprived in Ireland. ‘The journal. ie. Web.
McGill, F. et al. (2016) ‘Acute bacterial meningitis in adults.’ The Lancet, 388(10063), pp. 3036-3047.
Nolan, C. and Gleeson, C.I. (2017) ‘The transition to employment: the perspectives of students and graduates with disabilities.’ Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 19(3), pp. 230-244.
Sherry, M. (2016) Disability hate crimes: Does anyone really hate disabled people? Routledge.
Van Aswegen, J. and Shevlin, M. (2019) ‘Disabling discourses and ableist assumptions: Reimagining social justice through education for disabled people through a critical discourse analysis approach.’ Policy Futures in Education, 17(5), pp. 634-656.