By Sofia Gonçalves – ENIL’s Trainee
Hi everyone! I’m Sofia Gonçalves, a visually impaired woman. I am originally from Portugal, though I’ve called Brussels home for about 6 years now.
I’m excited to share that for the next 8 months, I’ll be working as a trainee for ENIL!
I chose this traineeship because it’s the perfect chance to deepen my EU knowledge while advocating for inclusive policies that center disabled people’s rights.
Before this traineeship, I completed a master’s in social sciences. In class we often discussed how structural inequalities impact various groups in society, alongside how EU institutions shape citizens’ lives. However, we rarely discussed how societal inequalities or EU policies impacted disabled people’s lives and when I asked my teachers about this, I was often met with blank stares.
So, I started searching for answers. That’s when I discovered disability studies, an academic field in social sciences dedicated to examining how societal barriers shape disabled people’s lived experiences. This led me to the social model of disability, which reframed the barriers disabled people experience as systemic issues we can dismantle together. This new understanding of disability inspired me to connect with disabled people’s groups.
That’s how I found ENIL. After participating in ENIL’s 2024 Freedom Drive, I decided to channel my studies into fighting for disabled people’s rights. In my master’s thesis, I gathered a group of disabled people to explore how we could make civil participation more accessible, by co-designing a more inclusive research methodology. The result: a lively discussion with fresh perspectives absent from any of the essays I had read before. This showed me that including disabled voices drives true innovation.
Now at ENIL, I want to learn how to advocate effectively for the rights of disabled people, so we secure a seat at every table where our lives are being discussed.
Let’s work together for a more inclusive future!
