Finance and Economy: Seben Ayşe Dayı (Erişilebilir Her Şey)

“I am Seben, and am 31 years old. I am a journalist and an anthropologist. My window on feminism is a place rarely observed all over the world, combining the views of two different ones. I am a woman. I am a disabled woman. I would like to tell you about Bağımsız Yaşam Hakkımız: (Our Right for Independent Life) - meetings in Turkey attended by 30 disabled women from in November 2019. That was perhaps one of the most unique experiences - there were about two sentences that I heard for the first time in those meetings, that made me say “how could this happen!” even in an area which I thought I so well mastered.

When deaf women are subjected to violence, they cannot file a complaint because they cannot find a sign language interpreter. In order to prevent sexually abused women with mental disabilities to receive basic sexual education, they describe the situation as “a game of husband-hood.

We have a lot to learn in order to understand each other’s problems and to defend their rights. The past decade has been a very good start. Yet only a start…"

Journalist, educational anthropologist and disability rights advocate Seben Ayşe Dayı, is an individual with cerebral palsy. Dayı, having started special education and physical therapy at a young age, studied journalism from which she graduated with a first-class degree, with a scholarship, and then completed a master’s degree in educational anthropology. Stating that her aim is to make sure that children do not marginalize people with disabilities and respect differences, Dayı dreams of a society in which the disabled are not segregated but normalized, and emphasizes that in order to achieve this, at first, the perspective of people should be corrected.

According to Dayı, solutions to existing problems can be developed by making state institutions physically accessible in accordance with universal design standards and providing qualified employment opportunities. In addition, she underlines that more disabled people should be involved in disability policies. Dayı, who with her social initiative Erişilebilir Her Şey, (Everything Accessible) offers coaching, educational services and solutions to everyone who wants to take a step into a more accessible life, starting from cultural institutions, venues, events and festivals, works also as an expert in Eğitimde Engelli Hakları (Disability Rights in Education) designed to generalize inclusive education.