Women and Girls with Disabilities

"WOMEN AND GIRLS WITH DISABILITIES"

Report on the half-day general discussion organized on 17 April 2013 by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at the Palais des Nations in Geneva

Elizabeth Williamson, INPEA UN NGO Representative, Geneva

Keynote speakers and panelists included the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women (Rashida Manjoo), as well as representatives of States parties, UNICEF, CEDAW, UN Women, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,national human rights institutions, disabled persons organizations,NGOs and other stakeholders.

The three principal themes were

-Intersectionality of gender and disability

-Violence against women and girls with disabilities

-Sexual and reproductive rights and women and girls with disabilities

Speakers highlighted the fact that women and girls with disabilities are disproportionately affected by discrimination on the basis inter aliaof colour, gender, language, religion, political opinion, ethnicity, social origin, age and sexual orientation.They experience barriers in their access to justice, education, health care, work and employment and are hindered from effectively participating in civil, political, economic, social and cultural life on an equal basis with others. They encounter more frequent domestic abuse, and are especially vulnerable in humanitarian crises and armed conflict and post-conflict situations, while their sexual and reproductive rightsmay be violated by subjection to forced abortion, forced marriage and forced sterilization.

In addition, multiple forms of discrimination based on gender and disabilities may “intersect” simultaneously, creating new and aggravated forms of discrimination. Speakers stressed the need to understand intersectionality in order to effectively address the human rights violations of which women and girls with disabilities are victims.

It is also essential to mainstreamdisability in national, regional and international legislation and policies to ensure equal opportunities for women and girls with disabilities; to collect data disaggregated by sex and age; to increase public awareness and understanding of disability; and to ensure access to information on women and girls with disabilities concerningtheir sexual and reproductive rights.

Useful references

• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 13, 2006, entered into force on May 3, 2008

• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

General Recommendation 18 Disabled women

• Human Rights Council Resolution 14/12, Accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women: ensuring due diligence in prevention

• CSW 57 Agreed conclusions

• World report on disability, published in 2011 by WHO and the World Bank

• “Promoting the Rights of Children with Disabilities”, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, October 2007

• “State of the World’s Children”: UNICEF’s flagship publication. This year’s edition, to be launched on 30 May 2013, will focus on Children with Disabilities.

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