Gendered denials: Vulnerability created by barriers to legal capacity for women and disabled women

This article explores the vulnerability that is created when legal capacity is denied to women and disabled women. It argues that vulnerability is largely contingent on social constructs – as opposed to being an inherent quality of disability or gender. It discusses barriers to the exercise of legal capacity that women and disabled women experience – such as limitations on reproductive choice, higher rates of substituted decision-making, and unique experiences with forced mental health treatment. It then explores evidence that such barriers are disempowering and can leave women and disabled women vulnerable to abuse and marginalisation. It explores financial, physical and sexual abuse that can occur as a result of this vulnerability. Finally, it concludes that autonomy and power are inextricably linked and can be essential for minimising vulnerability.