This article from Thomas Reuters Foundation News highlights findings from a recent study by Disability Rights International which explored the stigma around children with disabilities in Kenya, and the ways in which that stigma leads to child abandonment, institutionalization, and even infanticide. "Thousands of disabled children in Kenya - abandoned by their parents due to poverty and stigma - are being neglected and uncared for in orphanages across the east African country, according to a study by Disability Rights International (DRI)," says the article. The report also noted the existence of unregistered orphanages throughout the country.
Because of the stigma and lack of support for families with children with disabilities, "disabled children were being abandoned in orphanages where they could be forcefully tied down in wheelchairs, locked in darkened rooms or left neglected and unclean for hours at a time." Eric Rosenthal, DRI's executive director, calls for more information and support for families caring for a child with disabilities so that they can remain at home.
"All the science shows that children need to grow up in a loving family environment, and not in orphanages, which are banned in many countries including the United States," said Rosenthal.
"All children - disabled or not - should be in families, not orphanages."