Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Statement on the Half Day of General Discussion on Women and Girls with Disabilities adopted by the Committee at is eight session (17-28 September 2012)

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been established in 2009 to monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006). It examines reports that States Parties must submit regularly on how they implement the rights enshrined in the Convention, make recommendations to that end to the State Party concerned, and considers individual complaints about alleged violations of the rights provided for in the Convention. The Committee, at its 7th session in April 2012, decided to devote its 2013 Half Day of General Discussion (DGD) to the human rights of women and girls with disabilities.

This decision stems from the Committee’s reviews of the first national reports brought to its attention since the beginning of its work, and the rather scarcity of information on the situation of women and girls with disabilities contained in those reports. Indeed, the Committee is concerned by the multiple forms of discrimination experienced by women and girls with disabilities, which hinder their meaningful participation on an equal basis with other individuals, in all spheres of life.

The Committee expresses, furthermore, its concern at the violence and abuses against women and girls with disabilities, as well as the restrictions of their sexual and reproductive rights and maternity rights The Committee is further concerned at the generalized absence of gender as a cross-cutting issue in the National Plans for persons with disabilities, and the lack of a disability perspective in gender public policies in general.

The work of the Committee is in line with initiatives taken by other human rights mechanisms. In its resolution 17/11, the Human Rights Council requested the OHCHR to prepare a report examining the causes and manifestations of violence against women and girls with disabilities; this report has been launched in March 2012 (A/HRC/20/5). In its resolution 14/12 (2010), the Human Rights Council urged States to make available to women and girls with disabilities services that enable them to avoid and escape situations of violence and prevent its recurrence. The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) devoted its General Comment No.9 (2006) to the Rights of Children with Disabilities, whilst the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) issued its General Recommendation No. 18 (1991) on Women with Disabilities. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights held a day of general discussion on the right to sexual and reproductive health in 2010. The Committee also recalls the first consultations held in September 2012, in preparation of the High Level Meeting on Disability in 2013.

The Committee welcomes inputs on strengthening the protection of human rights of women and girls with disabilities, particularly from Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (DPOs). The submissions should be as concise as possible and sent to the following address in Word format by no later than 17 February 2013: crpd@ohchr.org. While the Committee generally seeks inputs of no more than 10 pages,. All submissions should be accompanied by a brief presentation (1 paragraph is sufficient) on the experience of the submitting organisation in the subject matter. The submissions received will subsequently be posted on a webpage dedicated to the Half Day of General Discussion.