Microaggression Toward Filipino Women With Mobility Disabilities: From Microstories to Macrostruggles

The Philippines has worked proactively to ensure equal rights and opportunities for persons with disabilities. Despite these efforts, the promise of disability-responsive and gender-transformative reforms has yet to be achieved. In particular, women with disabilities continue to face distinct forms of discrimination, such as microaggressions, which are often subtle yet common and are marginally covered by existing policies in the country. Guided by Keller and Galgay's (2010) domains of microaggressions and Ancha's (2022) experiences of microaggressions among women with disabilities in the Philippines, the present study employes convergent parallel mixed-method design to examine the experiences of microaggression among with with mobility disabilities in Tahanang Walang Hagdanan, Inc. Our study found that participants had limited awareness of the concept but affirmed that they had experienced different forms of microaggressions. Additionally, participants reported experiencing specific forms of microaggressions more frequently than others, leading to varying levels of discomfort and distress. Our study recommends integrating microaggression in the definitions of discrimination, increasing awareness of the concepts within gender and disability inclusion initiatives of organizations, and expanding literature on gender and disability research.