Disability rights on the national stage

Leaving her safety bubble, advocating for others, living with a disability, and conquering Wellington’s Bachelor of Laws with Honours, Alice Mander hasn’t lost sight of elevating the voices of the disabled community—something that also hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Alice was recognised by the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) as one of 25 inspiring women under 25 in 2021 for her work on advocating for disabled rights. She met the other 24 nominees in Auckland where it cemented that supporting one another and being inspired by other people is the biggest motivation and influence for her.

The YWCA is a global movement and feminist organisation working for women’s empowerment, leadership, and rights. Its ethos is based on supporting women and girls of Aotearoa who face inequalities and supporting the wellbeing, development and achievement of women and girls in a society where women are still not treated as being equal to men.

On being nominated, Alice says, “I was quite humbled because there are so many amazing young women and young people in general I come across every day who deserve recognition.”

Alice didn’t truly get immersed in being part of the voice for disabled people until she moved to Wellington as, she says, “It took me a while to become comfortable in my own skin.”

She says, “There is a lack of representation and people don’t really talk about disability in the same way they talk about other minorities. I have been inspired to change that.”

Alice has been involved heavily in student politics and channelled her passions into establishing the National Disabled Students’ Association in 2020, of which she is now president. She says, “The association represents disabled tauira at tertiary level nationally… we work with the Government to get the disabled voice into that space when it comes to certain policies or a new law that will affect students.”

“It is challenging being in a space where you have less power…and trying to balance work with university but it is really important.” Alice says she couldn’t do the work she does at a university level without the support from her peers—some of whom have different but similar kaupapa for elevating minority voices.

“I am very lucky with my education and background so I want to use that to create pathways for others and also just be a voice for those who feel disempowered or don’t feel they don’t have one, which would be very relevant if I became a lawyer.” Wellington could be the place where Alice can put those skills into practice.

“I’ve always loved Wellington. I love the place; I love the city with Parliament right here.”

Alice stands by the personal philosophy: “You’re not disabled by your personal impairment—rather by society.” Broadly, she’d like to see a society that doesn’t disable people, doesn’t create systems that exclude them, and where disabled people can have their integrity acknowledged.

The law makes a massive difference, but Alice believes it needs diversification. Alice wants to see more representation among the legal environment with disabled people included in that change to allow them to speak out about their rights or issues they face and hopefully create more leaders for disabled people—“when I leave university, that would be the dream.”

Alice Mander