In many countries around the world, adolescent girls with disabilities are fighting for more than just a place in school: they're fighting for the chance to stay, to learn and to thrive.

At Humanity & Inclusion (HI), we recently spoke with 117 adolescents and caregivers across Nepal, Rwanda, and Senegal to understand the educational challenges faced by adolescent girls with disabilities.

The findings, detailed in our new factsheet Beyond Access: Ensuring the continuity of education for adolescent girls with disabilities, shine a light on how age, gender, and disability intersect to create more significant and often invisible barriers to education.

While many education initiatives focus on improving access, which remains a major barrier in many contexts, the added challenge is ensuring that girls not only enroll, but also learn, feel safe, and reach their full potential.

When inequality multiplies

Globally, children and youths with disabilities are significantly overrepresented among those out of school, and disparities worsen in adolescence.

In low- and middle-income countries, 40% of children with disabilities are out of primary school, and 55% are out of lower secondary school (UNICEF, 2021).

Gender inequities compound these challenges: only 41.7% of girls with disabilities have completed primary school, compared with 50.6% of boys with disabilities and 52.9% of girls without disabilities (World Health Organization and World Bank, 2011). Why?

Learning is more than enrollment

For girls with disabilities, learning environments often ignore their specific needs.

Teachers can be powerful allies or unintentional barriers. When trained in inclusive methods and supported to respond to diverse learning needs, they can transform lives. But without the right tools and understanding, they may contribute to exclusion, even if unintentionally.

Yet classrooms often lack adapted teaching methods, and many teachers are not trained to support diverse learners.

Without accessible environments and adapted support, moving from primary to secondary education, to vocational education and training, or to higher education, becomes especially challenging for children and youths with disabilities.

Adolescent girls face added barriers, including gender-based violence, child, early and forced marriage, imposed domestic responsibilities, and inadequate hygiene facilities, making them even more vulnerable to dropping out.

For those with sensory or intellectual disabilities, the absence of accessible materials, Braille resources, or sign language interpretation limits their ability to engage.

Physical barriers, such as steep steps, narrow doorways, or inaccessible toilets, prevent girls with physical disabilities from fully participating.

The lack of accessible, private toilets and menstrual care products often makes it difficult to manage their periods with dignity, leading to discomfort, humiliation, and, in many cases, frequent absences or even dropping out of school.

One girl in Rwanda described the change when her school finally provided a safe space during her period: “Menstrual periods are not a shame and problem to me nowadays.” A simple, affordable intervention, yet life-changing for her education.

Social norms that devalue girls’ education, stigma around disability, household economic constraints, and violence both at home and at school converge to drive them out of the classroom.

The role of families and communities

Families with children with disabilities routinely experience exclusion from community activities, such as communal meals or other exchanges with neighbors.

The mother a of girl in Nepal shared: “Whenever my daughter leaves the place of my neighbors, they instantly clean the place where she was sitting with water that makes me feel bad. My daughter doesn’t have any communicable diseases to be treated in that way.”

Parents—often driven by fear—may choose to keep daughters with disabilities at home. While protective instincts are understandable, isolation increases vulnerability to abuse and removes girls from the chance to build confidence and life skills.

One 12-year-old girl in Nepal shared how her blind friend felt "useless in life", a heartbreaking result of systemic exclusion. Another, a 15-year-old from rural Nepal, expressed her frustration that her family planned to marry her off instead of supporting her studies past grade 8.

These stories are not rare. They reflect deep-rooted barriers that go well beyond school gates. Changing these dynamics requires working closely with families and communities to challenge harmful beliefs and champion the right of every girl to learn.

Building systems that work for all

We can’t rely on individual resilience to fix systemic exclusion. Governments, donors, and civil society must act together to:

• Change harmful beliefs on disability and gender
• Create accessible and inclusive educational settings for girls with disabilities
• Ensure protection and safety of girls with disabilities
• Support and empower families and communities.

This isn’t just about education: it’s about dignity, safety, and future opportunities.

A call to action

Education is a right, not a privilege. Adolescent girls with disabilities must be able to learn, grow, and participate fully in school and society. When they can stay in school and succeed, whole communities benefit.

It’s time to ensure continuity, inclusion, and quality learning for every child, everywhere.