This presentation is based on a study involving four young women with disabilities who were survivors of gender based violence during their adolescence in the Northern part of Ethiopia. The analysis of the interviews conducted clearly shows how this violence had an impact on their education. The presentation does not only discuss these consequences but also shades light on ways of addressing this problem and how to deal with the precarious situation for girls and women with disabilities in general. The approach chosen to discuss these issues is the capability approach developed by Amartya Sen (1979, 1999) and Martha Nussbaum (2009, 2011). The results show that the capability approach can help identifying environmental factors that are needed to restore capabilities and hence functionings of the young women. This includes the capability and functioning to receive, consume and use education to raise one’s quality of life and well-being.

Nussbaum, M. C., & Sen, A. (Eds.). (2009). The quality of life. New York: Oxford University Press. Nussbaum, M. C. (2011). Creating Capabilities. The Human Development Approach. Cambridge/Massachusetts/London: Harvard University Press. Sen, A. (1979). Equality of What. The Tanner Lecture on Human Values held on 22nd of May 1979. Stanford: Stanford University. Sen, A. (1999). Development as Freedom. New York: Oxford University Press.