Abstract
COVID-19, reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) as an outbreak ofpneumonia with unknown cause in Wuhan, China, toward the end of 2019, rapidly
spread worldwide and became a global epidemic. Since then, the epidemic has struck
in multiple waves, and even now shows no signs of ending. The COVID-19 pandemic(hereafter, the pandemic) has set back the global economic activity, deepening andincreasing existing inequalities (UN 2020b:21). This pandemic is not only health crises,
but also economic and human rights crises, and have enormous impact on the world's
poorest people. Women and people with disabilities in developing countries have been
severely impacted by the COVID-19 as they were marginalized and economicallyvulnerable even before it began. Since the multiple vulnerabilities of women andpersons with disabilities intersect, women with disabilities experience discriminationand disadvantages on both counts as “disabled women.” Therefore, the difficulties
faced by women with disabilities, that cannot be understood only from the perspectiveof women or the disabled, will become apparent in the pandemic.
However, previous research has underestimated the impact of COVID-19 on womenwith disabilities, and at the same time, there has been a lack of research on individualsituations and difficulties of women with disabilities. Hence, this research focuses on
women with disabilities in Bangladesh, a developing country immensely affected by
the pandemic. Through field research, I aim to clarify changes in their daily lives
before (before 2019) and after (after 2020) COVID-19, and analyze the impact of thepandemic on women with disabilities.
The study employed face-to-face, semi-structured interviews using a questionnaire
titled “Survey on daily life impact in the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh,” and wasconducted between January and March 2022. The total number of respondents were102 (80 women and 22 men), which included 70 women and 22 men with disabilities,
and 10 women without any disabilities but with children (persons) with intellectualdisabilities. All respondents belonged to local disability organizations and received
some assistance. From the quantitative and qualitative data collected, I analyzed thechanges in the daily lives of women with disabilities before and after COVID-19.
This study analyzes difficulties faced by persons with disabilities in terms of theimpact of COVID-19 in Bangladesh, based on the six issues highlighted from theperspectives of gender or persons with disabilities in previous studies. These havebeen presented in the following section.

1. Economic hardships: women with disabilities working in the informal sector, suchas day laborers and self-employed workers, lost their income due to the pandemic,
while women employed by organizations for persons with disabilities and NGOs
were relatively protected. For some women with disabilities, their personal income
has increased since COVID-19 although their household income has decreased. The
range of the highest and lowest per capita household income for women withdisabilities was large. COVID-19 has exposed the gap between the rich and poor
among women who until now were collectively considered as "women withdisabilities.”
2. The risk of violence: the data of women with disabilities who have been subjected
to violence and discrimination from people close to them since before the COVID19 were captured. Unlike previous studies, our findings indicated that the numberof people who experienced violence and discrimination after COVID-19 hasdecreased, while violence and discrimination against non-disabled women hasincreased. One of the reasons for the decrease is that information and assistancefrom organizations for persons with disabilities were brought to families andcommunities through women with disabilities.
3. Health risks: it was found women with disabilities have safety concerns ofnighttime use of communal toilets located outside in slums. One participant(woman) with disability mentioned taking her husband's permission to see a doctor;
this is a common issue among women which is based on gender norms. However, it
becomes particularly difficult for women with disabilities, as they require more
visits to medical institutions due to their disabilities. Inability to obtain permission
from their husbands to see a doctor, increases their health risks and reduces theirquality of life immensely. In addition, COVID-19 has exposed the difficulties ofcarrying toilet water for women with mobilities disabilities because people havebecome more concerned about hygiene. Moreover, with vaccination venues not being
accessible to persons with disabilities, socio-cultural norms in Bangladesh createdadditional difficulties for women with disabilities.
4. Distribution of unpaid care work: less than half of women with disabilities felt that
unpaid care work in their household had increased since COVID-19. Even inhouseholds where unpaid care work increased, women with disabilities did not bear
the load since they tend to be unmarried and reside in the home where they wereborn, or even when married, were not originally responsible for care due to theirdisability.

5. The government and NGO assistance: most women with disabilities received
emergency assistance from the government or NGOs either through the concernedorganizations to which they belonged or by being listed on a list of people in needof assistance. However, a reason why some of them could not receive assistance wasbecause of the registered address on their national ID card.
6. Difficulty in accessing information: most of the women with disabilities had accessto information about COVID-19 through TV/radio, NGOs, and mobile phones. For
information on emergency aids, few women with disabilities could obtain
information, and the source of information was biased toward NGOs. In addition,access to information on disabilities was primarily from respective organizations ofpersons with disabilities. Hence, it was evident that their source of information wasbiased toward the NGOs (organizations for persons with disabilities) to which theybelonged.
In conclusion, it was clear that women with disabilities faced multiple
discriminations in the daily lives during the pandemic. In some cases, the womenthemselves were not clearly aware of the discrimination. The study highlighted thecomplex intersection of various discriminations that women with disabilities face on adaily basis. In response to the difficulties faced by women with disabilities arising fromsuch complex and intersecting discrimination, support from organizations of persons
with disabilities, especially for women, goes beyond the direct benefit of materialassistance. The findings emphasize the significance of restoring the dignity of womenwith disabilities, including their own self-esteem and respect from their families andcommunity.