ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the emergent literature in the continent on disability generally and gendered disability specifically with a particular focus on disability advocacy by examining how advocacy strategies address multiple identities. It focuses on the question of whether, and how, the Girl Power Programme was beneficial to girls with disabilities. The disproportionate marginalisation of persons with disabilities by type and severity is accentuated for young persons with disabilities, and girls in particular, because as noted by Gilligan they often have fewer opportunities and are more dependent on their families and caregivers. Historically, disability inclusion has proved to be an obstacle for disability rights activists in Sierra Leone, and exclusion of persons with disabilities continues to pervade all facets of public and private life. The researcher’s position as a cultural and linguistic outsider – young, white, middle class, able-bodied female – certainly had an impact on the research which took place in Sierra Leone, a fragile Sub-Saharan African state.
