WUNRN
Theme: Removing barriers to create an inclusive and accessible society for all
http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?navid=13&pid=1514
Gender perspectives on disability and the disability perspective on the situation of women and girls with disabilities
Women with disabilities face significantly more difficulties - in both public and private spheres - in attaining access to adequate housing, health, education, vocational training and employment, and are more likely to be institutionalized (see footnote 1). They also experience inequality in hiring, promotion rates and pay for equal work, access to training and retraining, credit and other productive resources, and rarely participate in economic decisionmaking (see footnote 2)
Promoting gender equality and empowerment of women is essential to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals. Women and girls with disabilities experience double discrimination, which places them at higher risk of gender-based violence, sexual abuse, neglect, maltreatment and exploitation. The global literacy rate is as low as one per cent for women with disabilities, according to a UNDP study (see footnote 3) . The World Bank reports that every minute more than 30 women are seriously injured or disabled during labour and that those 15-50 million women generally go unnoticed (see footnote 4).
International normative framework
on women and girls with disabilities
Through setting international norms and standards the international
community recognizes the need for the gender perspective and the empowerment
women with disabilities to achieve the equal enjoyment of all human rights and
development for all, including persons with disabilities.
The World
Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons states that the
consequences of deficiencies and disablement are particularly serious for
women. Generally women are subjected to social, cultural and economic
disadvantages, making it more difficult for them to take part in community life
(see footnote
5).
The Standard
Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities,
recall the provisions in the Convention on the Elimination
of all Forms of Discrimination against Women to ensure the rights of girls
and women with disabilities, and includes references to women and girls with
disabilities under several Rules, such as Rule 4 on Support services, Rule 6 on
Education, and Rule 9 on Family life and personal integrity.
The Convention
on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities recognizes that women and
girls with disabilities are often at greater risk, both within and outside the
home, of violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment,
maltreatment or exploitation (see footnote
6). To address this concern, the Convention on the Rights of
the Persons with Disabilities has also taken a two track approach to promoting
gender equality and the empowerment of women with disabilities. It has as one
of its principles equality between men and women, (see footnote
7) and it devotes an article to women with disabilities (see footnote
8).
Additionally, in its two recent resolutions on Realizing the Millennium
Development Goals for persons with disabilities, the General Assembly called
for the incorporation of a gender perspective. General Assembly
resolution 63/150 of 18 December 2008 urges States to pay special attention
to the gender specific needs of persons with disabilities, including by taking
measures to ensure their full and effective enjoyment of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms (operative paragraph 8). General
Assembly resolution 64/131 of 18 December 2009, calls on Governments to enable
persons with disabilities to participate as agents and beneficiaries of
development, in particular in all efforts aimed at achieving the Millennium
Development Goals, by ensuring that programmes and policies to promoting gender
equality and empowerment of women and improving maternal health, among others,
are inclusive of and accessible to persons with disabilities (operative
paragraph 6).
The Beijing
Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action
for Equality, Development and Peace, Beijing, 15 September 1995, and the
outcome of the twenty-third special session on Further actions
and initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
recognize that women with disabilities face additional barriers to achieving
gender equality, and call for action at all levels to address and take into
consideration their concern (see footnote
9). Additionally, the outcome of the twenty-third special
session recognizes that discrimination against women with disabilities is an
obstacle to the full enjoyment of their human rights and as a barrier to the
implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (see footnote
10).
There is a need to take into account and to address the concerns of women
and girls with disabilities in all policy-making and programming. Special
measures are also needed at all levels to integrate them into the mainstream of
development (see footnote
11).
Panel Discussion on “Peace and Development – Leadership of Women with Disabilities - Our Forgotten Sisters: Women with Disabilities in Situations of Conflict”
Organized by the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) in
collaboration with the Permanent Mission of Mexico and the Permanent Mission of
Liechtenstein, United Nations Headquarters, Conference Room E, New York, 20
October 2010
Moderator: Stephanie
Ortoleva Esq., Senior Human Rights Legal Advisor, Blue Law International
and Adjunct Professor, University for Global Peace.
Panelists:
Interactive panel discussion on
“Cross-sectionalities of gender, disability, and development: Towards
equality for women and girls with disabilities”
United Nations Headquarters, New York, 4 March 2010
Moderator: Ms. Maria Veronica Reina, Executive Director of the Global Partnership for Disability and
Development
Panelists:
Documents made available during the panel and related references
Internet resources on women and girls with disabilities
International Network of Women with Disabilities
The International Network of Women with Disabilities (INWWD) is comprised
of international, regional, national or local organizations, groups or networks
of women with disabilities, as well as to individual women with disabilities
and their allies. The mission of the INWWD is to enable women with disabilities
to share our knowledge and experience, enhance our capacity to speak up for our
rights, empower ourselves to bring about positive change and inclusion in our
communities and to promote our involvement in relevant politics at all levels,
towards creating a more just and fair world that acknowledges disability and
gender, justice, and human rights.
If people are interested in joining this virtual network, they can email: inwwd-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Footnote 1. Women and adequate housing, Study by the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, Miloon Kothari, E/CN.4/2005/43, para. 64.
Footnote 2. “Employment barriers for women with
disabilities”, Arthur O’Reilly, The Right to Decent Workof Persons with
Disabilities, Skills Working Paper No. 14, Geneva, International Labour
Organization, 2003.
Footnote 3. United Nations Enable “Factsheet
on persons with disabilities”
Footnote 4. World Bank webpage on Reproductive
Health and Disability
Footnote 5. General Assembly resolution 37/52 of
3 December 1982 (see A/37/351/Add.1 and Add.1/Corr.1, annex, sect. VIII, para.
45).
Footnote 6. General Assembly resolution 61/106
of 13 December 2006, Preambular paragraph (q).
Footnote 7. Ibid., Article 3 (g).
Footnote 9. General Assembly resolution S-23/3,
of 10 June 2000, annex, paragraph5.
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