Intersectionality of Disability, Gender, and Poverty in Shaping Counselling Access and Outcomes for Persons with Disabilities in Kano State

The intersection of disability, gender, and poverty creates compound barriers to counselling access and positive therapeutic outcomes for persons with disabilities in Nigerian contexts, yet intersectional analyses within counselling research remain rare. This study examined how the intersectionality of disability, gender, and poverty shapes counselling access and outcomes for persons with disabilities in Kano State, North West Nigeria. A critical qualitative design drawing on intersectionality theory and disability justice frameworks was employed. Data were collected through biographical narrative interviews with 60 persons with disabilities across Kano Metropolis and Wudil local government areas, supplemented by 20 key informant interviews with rehabilitation workers and counsellors. Intersectional thematic analysis and positionality mapping were used. Findings revealed distinct intersectional patterns: poor disabled women faced the most severe counselling access barriers, experiencing simultaneous exclusion based on physical inaccessibility, gendered restriction on movement, and inability to afford any formal service. Disability type significantly interacted with poverty and gender, with blind individuals reporting marginally better community counselling access compared to those with physical or intellectual disabilities. Counselling outcomes were systematically poorer for the most intersectionally marginalised groups. The study contributes an intersectional analytical framework to Nigerian counselling research and provides empirical grounding for disability-inclusive, gender-sensitive, and poverty-responsive counselling policy reform in Kano State. Keywords: intersectionality, disability, gender, poverty, counselling access.