" The way they treat us reflects how they see us”: aspects contributing to social inequities in people with visual disability, a qualitative study

People with visual disabilities encounter multiple barriers in their life experiences, placing them at a social disadvantage compared to sighted individuals. These barriers manifest in limited access to and exercise of their rights, situations perceived as unfair or inequitable. This research aimed to understand how inequities are shaped by what individuals with visual disabilities perceive as fair/unfair and their expression regarding access to material goods and services. An instrumental ethnographic case study was conducted within a community-based institution in Bucaramanga, Colombia, focusing on rehabilitation and social inclusion processes for individuals with visual impairments and their families. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews and 37 participant observation exercises were carried out and documented in a field diary. The emerging categories were: 1. Family, obstacle or facilitator; 2. Visual disability is a label, it is in the environment, in the way society recognises it; and 3. From social exclusion to willing inclusion. Our results indicate that inequities are configured primarily in relation to the way in which others close to people signify and act towards them, constituting scenarios of cultural (non-recognition) and economic (redistribution) injustice. Part of the meanings and practices are based on the view of the body outside the canon of normality and the non-recognition of full citizenship, conditioning discriminatory (charity and infantilisation), stigmatising and excluding practices. The inclusion of this population group is mediated by the sensitivity of the sighted other, a situation that conditions that the access and full enjoyment of rights is a matter of will.