"I assert and assume more and more my handicap,"
says Diane Michenot with a confident voice.
However, the young woman who has worked in a strategy consulting firm for three years has not forgotten anything about her beginnings.
At 19, while in the second year of preparatory school, she suffered a stroke.
Forced to spend eight months in the hospital, she managed to finish her course and graduated from a business school in 2013. After setting up her start-up, she turned to a
"large-scale
strategy consulting firm
" human and committed ”.
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If she feels good there, her integration was not without difficulties, especially during her first mission.
“
It was pointed out to me that, since I only type with one hand, I was slower than the others,
” she recalls.
Following her stroke, Diane Michenot became hemiplegic: the entire left part of her body is paralyzed.
If she can now walk, she has not recovered the use of her left arm.
The solution came to him from one of his managers who suggested that he acquire a special mouse used by video game players and which allowed him to gain speed to the point of allowing him to write almost as quickly as his collaborators. .
Make people forget their handicap
Motivated, Diane Michenot struggles to prove herself. “
At the beginning, I wanted to show that my handicap was not a hindrance to my productivity and my performance and at times I tried to compensate by working more and putting my own aspirations and expectations in the background. vis-à-vis the company,
”she testifies. She fights to make people forget her handicap, but not only that. She is a woman, and there too there are many prejudices. “
In the professional world, the body occupies a very important place, especially when you are a woman. You have to show that you are strong and that you have self-confidence. Disability can make our image as a woman even more fragile and further undermine our confidence.
She remarks. In addition, she notes that "
women tend to apologize or devalue themselves when men are going to be more in the demand
".
This observation, Charlotte Tourmente also draws it up. She has been living with multiple sclerosis for 25 years and is well aware of the difficulties these women face. It is to remedy this
"and promote daring in their homes"
that she joined the DareWomen association founded by Frédérique Picard Le Bihan and created DareWomen Handicap, of which she is the president. “
With DareWomen handicap, we wanted to establish a much more positive communication about women with disabilities by presenting inspiring role models that are lacking in society and in the media. However, we build ourselves by seeing examples that allow us to say that it is possible
», Affirms this doctor reconverted in medical journalist and sexologist.
DareWomen handicap currently has 10,000 valid and disabled members and supporters.
The entity is increasing its campaigns on social networks and in the media and organizing various workshops for women with disabilities.
It is also aimed at companies in order to raise their awareness on the subject, in particular on recruitment and management issues.
An employment rate of 20%
This assistance seems essential in view of the report of the Defender of Rights on the employment of women with disabilities published in 2016 and which alerts on this multiple discrimination calling for
"special vigilance"
towards them. The figures also demonstrate this reality. The employment rate of women with disabilities is only 20% while that of men is 53%. Salaries are also lower. However, among the beneficiaries of assistance for the adaptation of work situations (AST), they are 57% to have at least the bac against 37% among their male employees, according to figures from Agefiph, an association responsible for promote professional integration and job retention of disabled people in the private sector. And when they manage to work, they are more confronted with situations of underemployment and more likely to occupy part-time positions: 31% against 7 to 8%. Victims of stereotypes attached to their gender, they are oriented towards
"Professional tasks which would suit" naturally "more to women than to men"
thus limiting their choice of orientation, underlines the report of the Defender of the rights.
"Make these women shine"
"They are exposed to intersectional discrimination because of their disability and their gender"
, confirms Christophe Roth, president of Agefiph who shares the opinion of DareWomen Handicap:
"We must make women with disabilities shine. for their potential and skills through regular communications, particularly in the media ”
.
"We must also communicate the reality of these figures," he
adds. According to the president of Agefiph, it is also essential to take action on the ground with companies "
to change their outlook
" and encourage them to recruit "
these talents
", in particular in the current context of recovery.
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But the solution does not lie in the obligation or the quotas, he believes, which confirms the confederation of small and medium-sized enterprises (CPME).
“
We must raise awareness without making positive discrimination or quotas because they serve the company and the person.
Rather, we must facilitate access to training and strengthen the visibility of these women,
”argues Dominique du Paty, vice-president in charge of inclusion at CPME, founder of Réseau H and worker with disabilities.
Charlotte Tourmente, too, does not see obligation as one of the solutions to compensate for the lack of women with disabilities in the workplace. But concrete measures can be put in place. “
Above all, it
is important to establish a diagnosis in order to understand the obstacles to employment for these women and to identify when in their professional careers they meet them,”
indicates Diane Michenot
. Once this diagnosis has been made, we will be able to consider effective and targeted solutions
”which notably involve disability missions and referents within companies. They "
should be particularly attentive to the level of salaries, to the development of the career of women with disabilities and to support them in the steps to negotiate increases or an evolution
”, adds Charlotte Tourmente.
If for her, as for many,
"things are moving too slowly"
, the one who is naturally optimistic wants to believe in the future and welcomes the progress already made.