A Life-Course Analysis of the Exclusion and Denial of Agency Among Women with Disabilities

Agency is the capacity to exercise autonomy and shape one's life, is systematically denied to women with disabilities due to socially constructed barriers, but it rather blamed it to their impairments. This article employs a life-course framework to analyse how systemic exclusion, rooted in gendered norms and ableism, restricts agency for women with disabilities across three stages of their life: childhood, adulthood, and old age. It examines how the agency of women with disabilities—a fundamental human right—is systematically restricted by legal, social, and cultural barriers. Utilizing the social model of disability and an intersectional, life-course approach, the analysis argues that such restrictions stem not from individual impairments but from structural factors including discriminatory policies, inaccessible infrastructure, and pervasive stigma. By tracing challenges across their life, the study highlights how structural ableism, intersecting with gendered norms, undermines autonomy and perpetuates exclusion. Drawing on secondary data, we map structural barriers across key domains: personal decision-making (education), economic participation (unemployment), accessibility (social space and community participation), political participation and bodily autonomy (sexual health). The article concludes with policy recommendations for economic justice, healthcare reform, and political equity, advocating a shift from a paternalistic medical model to a human rights framework that centres the voices of women with disabilities and transforms theoretical rights into lived realities.