International Disability Alliance (IDA)
Down Syndrome International, Inclusion International,
International Federation of Hard of Hearing People, World Blind Union,
World Federation of the Deaf, World Federation of the Deaf Blind,
World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry,
Arab Organization of Persons with Disabilities, European Disability Forum,
Latin American Network of Non-Governmental Organizations of Persons with Disabilities and
their Families (RIADIS), Pacific Disability Forum
IDA submission on draft General Comment on Article 6 of the CRPD
IDA welcomes the CRPD Committee’s draft General Comment on Article 6 which presents
very important insight into the challenges faced by women and girls with disabilities in society
as expressed through law and culture which institutionalise barriers to the full and effective
enjoyment and exercise of their rights and participation.
While the draft General Comment presents a wealth of information, IDA considers that it the
text could be better streamlined by some structural modifications which could permit more
space for elaboration on State obligations and the inclusion of more concrete measures for
improved guidance to States Parties and other stakeholders on upholding the rights of
women and girls with disabilities.
The present submission proposes edits in this direction and calls on incorporating expressly:

the importance of mainstreaming the rights of women and girls with disabilities in both
the gender equality agenda concerning women generally, and within the disability
agenda concerning persons with disabilities generally, as well as within the children’s
rights agenda;
o
a specific paragraph on girls with disabilities in the context of Article 7

increased attention to addressing the diversity of women and girls with disabilities and
mainstreaming their specific needs across the full text;

the role of data collection in facilitating the twin track approach and enhancing
remedies for intersectional and multiple discrimination and violations of rights to which
women and girls with disabilities are subjected;

missing provisions to which women and girls with disabilities face compounded barriers
in the enjoyment of rights – Articles 5, 7, 14, 15, 16, 18, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31- or at
least clustering articles together to identify and address measures to be taken to
overcome these barriers;

the Post 2015 Development Agenda and the role of women and girls with disabilities in
ensuring the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In addition, IDA supports the proposals put forward by WFD, WBU, EDF and Inclusion
Europe in their submissions commenting upon the present draft General Comment.
IDA submission on draft General Comment on Article 6, August 2015
Comments on structure
While a recap of the 2013 half day of general discussion is very useful, it is suggested to
considerably shorten this part and to move deeper discussion of intersectionality, violence
and sexual and reproductive rights to other parts of the text.
Namely, to move intersectionality to part II on normative content within the same discussion
of non-discrimination and multiple discrimination and either to expand that to include
guidance on practical measures to combat intersectional and multiple discrimination in this
section, or to address that by adding Article 5 to part IV (for example, concerning enhancing
legal remedies and sanctions which to correspond to a finding of intersectional and/or
multiple discrimination). In addition, it is suggested to move discussion of violence and
sexual and reproductive rights to part IV on specific CRPD provisions, and to add Articles 16,
23, 25 which are currently missing in this part, or by clustering provisions - e.g. violenceArticles 15, 16, 17; sexual and reproductive rights- Articles 15, 17, 23, 25).
It is hoped that this change will remove repetition throughout the text and allow for more
space for discussion on concrete measures to guide States on how to fulfil their obligations
when it comes to these violations.
Mainstreaming the rights of women and girls with disabilities
While the draft text makes reference to the twin track approach, IDA calls for strengthened
elaboration of the obligation to mainstream the rights of women and girls with disabilities
across both the gender equality agenda and the disability -as well as across the children’s
rights agenda.
In addition to the reviews of the Committee, reviews of States Parties by other Committees
including the CEDAW, CESCR and CRC Committees, systematically show that women and
girls with disabilities continue to be largely invisible in government strategies, action plans,
laws and policies concerning women and girls generally, as well as those concerning
persons with disabilities. As a result, they fall between the cracks of policies and actions
which do not address this intersection of identities and lose out on programmes, positive
measures and benefits available to women and girls generally, and those targeting persons
with disabilities on the whole- thus leaving their needs unmet. This also contributes to
increasing the gap between women and girls with disabilities and others (both women and
girls generally and men and boys with disabilities) and further marginalising them in terms of
their enjoyment of rights and participation and inclusion in society. Similarly, girls with
disabilities are being neglected within the general children’s rights agendas.
Strong and express guidance from the Committee is needed to oblige and engage States
Parties to systematically mainstream the interests and rights of women and girls with
disabilities across all national action plans and strategies concerning women, persons with
disabilities, children and also across sectoral plans (health, violence, education, political
participation, employment, access to justice, social protection etc). Concrete inclusion in the
wider agendas plus targeted action specific to women and girls with disabilities are essential
2
IDA submission on draft General Comment on Article 6, August 2015
pre-cursors to narrowing the gap with the rest of society in terms of participation and
enjoyment of rights.
Further, a specific paragraph on girls with disabilities in the context of Article 7 is
recommended to highlight the specific barriers faced by girls and young women adolescents
with disabilities which differ from those of adult women and older women with disabilities. In
particular, relating to the right to preserve one’s identity and personal integrity, birth
registration, freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment,
exploitation, violence and abuse,1 right to inclusive education including inclusive
comprehensive sexual education and access to health and early intervention services, right
to family and right to living independently and living in the community.2
Diversity of women and girls with disabilities
In order to capture the scope of the wide range and diversity of women and girls with
disabilities who are covered by the General Comment, it is suggested to mainstream their
specific needs across the full text, in particular certain groups who are presently neglected in
the text including girls and adolescents, older women, indigenous women, lesbian, bi-sexual
and transgender women, refugee, migrant and asylum seeker women, and women and girls
in detention (hospitals, residential institutions, juvenile or correctional facilities, prisons),
women and girls living in poverty, and women and girls with multiple disabilities and high
support needs.
For example, concerning indigenous women and girls with disabilities,3 the text could better
address the specific barriers by incorporating their perspective across different sections
relating to non-discrimination, consultation, access to justice etc. In particular, by requiring
States to put in place effective legislation and policies, not only women-, child-, disability- and
indigenous-focused legislation and policies, but those that address violence on account of
intersectional and multiple discrimination, to ensure that instances of torture or ill-treatment
and arbitrary deprivation of liberty against persons with disabilities are identified, investigated
and, where appropriate, prosecuted. Key to the success of these policies will be consultation
with indigenous women and girls with disabilities as well as their wider indigenous
communities. It has been demonstrated that the most successful and enduring measures to
tackle violence in indigenous communities are those that are conceived of and developed by
indigenous communities with the support of the State, and that indigenous community
initiatives to combat violence are more likely to succeed because of the degree of self
determination exercised by such communities over their development and implementation.4
See in particular, the CRC Committee’s General Comment no 13 the right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence,
2011, CRC/C/GC/13
2
For more information, please see IDA’s submission to the CRC Committee on the right of adolescents with disabilities, April
2015
3
See IDA’s submission to the 2013 half day of general discussion specific to indigenous women and girls with disabilities, April
2013
4
Monique Keel, “Family violence and sexual assault in indigenous communities, walking the talk”, Australian Institute of Family
Studies, no 4, 2004, p 1-31 cited in Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Study on the situation of indigenous persons with
disabilities, with a particular focus on challenges faced with regard to the full enjoyment of human rights and inclusion in
development, E/C.19/2013/6, February 2013, para 17.
1
3
IDA submission on draft General Comment on Article 6, August 2015
Data collection
As recognised by the draft text in paragraph 10, the role of data collection is key to ensuring
effective formulation of laws and policies to both mainstream and specifically target the rights
of women and girls with disabilities, including capturing the diversity of this group and
corresponding intersections with other groups, and to identify the rights holders concerned
for the purposes of consultation and participation in decision-making.
It is suggested that the draft text could go further in strengthening and elaborating the
obligation on States to systematically collect data on women and girls with disabilities with
respect to all government sectors and all rights, including discrimination, violence, sexual and
reproductive health, participation in public and political life, education, employment, social
protection, access to justice, community development, international cooperation, etc. to
develop laws, policies, programmes to better uphold their rights and overcome the specific
barriers which present across and within each sector and rights sphere. Further, women and
girls with disabilities and their representative organisations should be directly involved in the
design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of, and training for, data collection and
establishment of consultation mechanisms to better inform the creation systems for the
effective identification and capturing of the diverse lived experiences of women and girls with
disabilities for improved public policies and practices.
Substantive provisions
Several important Convention provisions have been left out of part IV, namely- Articles 5, 7,
14, 15, 16, 18, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31 in relation to which women and girls with disabilities
face amplified barriers. It is suggested that paragraphs be inserted to address these barriers
and to propose concrete measures to States Parties to ensure participation and exercise of
rights on an equal basis with others. Alternatively, to consider clustering articles together to
identify and address measures related to themes such as violence, sexual and reproductive
health, social protection, etc.
In particular, it is suggested to address the following elements, among other provisions cited:
• Article 5 –5 either together with the discussion of non-discrimination, intersectional and
multiple discrimination in part II, or with States obligations under part III, or in part IV; to
specifically call on States to adopt legal provisions and procedures which explicitly recognise
multiple and intersectional discrimination to ensure the making of complaints on more than
one ground of discrimination both in the context of determination of liability and remedies.
Take steps to provide awareness-raising and training on multiple and intersectional
discrimination to both public and private actors, and provide for research, studies and the
systematic collection of data in this respect.
• Article 7 – a specific article on girls and adolescents with disabilities, the need for which is
raised previously in this submission.
• Article 13-6 The CEDAW Committee’s General Recommendation no 33 (July 2015) on
women’s access to justice recognises the multiple and intersectional barriers which women
and girls with disabilities face and thereby calls on States to give special attention to access
to justice systems for women with disabilities.7 It is necessary to expand on this and beyond
See IDA’s 2013 submission on women and girls with disabilities
See IDA’s 2014 submission to the CEDAW Committee on access to justice of women and girls with disabilities
7
CEDAW/C/GC/33, July 2015, para 17(g)
5
6
4
IDA submission on draft General Comment on Article 6, August 2015
the need to address accessibility concerns and procedural accommodations for participation
on an equal basis with others,8 there is a need for the General Comment to urge States to
fulfil duties in combatting negative stereotypes of women and girls with disabilities rooted in
gender and disability discrimination (and other grounds such as indigenous, linguistic,
minority, migrant, background, among others) which deem them not to be credible or reliable
by law enforcement officials and the justice system,9 which in turn contributes to underreporting and failure to lodge complaints.10 States should implement mechanisms to ensure
that evidentiary rules, investigations and other legal and quasi-judicial procedures are
impartial and not influenced by gender and/or stereotypes or prejudice which may act to
decriminalise rape or sexual violence with respect to women and girls with disabilities.11
Close consultation, data collection, awareness raising and training are necessary to break
the cycles of rights violations and impunity.
• Articles 15, 16, 17, 23, 24, 25 and 26-12 the obligation for States to recognise and safeguard
the right of women and girls with disabilities to free and informed consent for all treatment
and decisions about their health, relationships, sexuality and reproduction. Implicit in this is
the right to inclusive comprehensive sexuality education which plays an important role in
respecting, protecting, and fulfilling Articles 23 (respect for home and family), 25 (the right to
health), 15 (freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment), 16 (freedom
from exploitation, violence and abuse) for women and girls with disabilities, by providing
them with the information they need to act in their own interests and make these important
decisions.13 Further, with respect to Article 23, to address the need to eliminate barriers for
women with disabilities in enjoying and exercising the right to marry, parental rights including
in divorce and custody proceedings, adoption proceedings, as well as in accessing fertility
treatment on an equal basis with others.
• Article 16-14 further guidance could be provided on concrete measures States should be
taking to adopt targeted legislation on violence against women which specifically addresses
women and girls with disabilities, and to mainstream prevention of and response to violence
against women and girls with disabilities in all national action plans, strategies, coordinating
frameworks on violence against women, persons with disabilities and children, which
integrates a due diligence framework to systematise and coordinate strategies and action to
prevent violence and ensure early intervention, as well as enhancing effective tertiary
responses to ensure safety and support to women and girls with disabilities who have
8
For an example of a law which institutionalises such accommodations, in particular for persons with intellectual disabilities, see
the Investigation and Testimony Procedural Act (Accommodations for Persons with Mental or Intellectual Disabilities), Israel
(2005). This law requires accommodations for persons with disabilities in the justice system, applies to police questioning and
interrogation and court testimony of persons with intellectual disabilities, if they are victims of a severe crime, witness such a
crime or are suspected of committing one. The law aims to provide the enforcement and criminal justice system with the
necessary tools to achieve its objective of administering justice and ascertaining the truth. Adaptations provided for under the
law include:
• Questioning performed by someone specially trained in how to communicate with persons with disabilities
• Utilisation of special devices and alternative and augmentative communication, such as pictures and communication boards to
enable a person to communicate effectively
• Giving testimony behind closed doors, in the judge's chambers and without official attire
The law was accompanied by training workshops run by NGOs for the police, state prosecutors, legal aid attorneys, judges and
organisations assisting victims of crime, and awareness-raising and training on the necessity to adapt investigative and judicial
proceedings.
9
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights “Access to justice in cases of discrimination in the EU: Steps to further
equality”, 2012, p 57, http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2012/access-justice-cases-discrimination-eu-steps-further-equality ; see
also http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/research/projects/proj_disability_en.htm
10
Chris Jennings, “Family violence and sexual assault: a criminal justice response for women with disabilities”, paper presented
at a forum on the theme “Disability and the criminal justice system: achievements and challenges”, Melbourne, Australia, 13 July
2005, cited in OHCHR Thematic study on the issue of violence against women and girls and disability, A/HRC/20/5, 30 March
2012, para 42
11
See submission to the Human Rights Committee on violence against disabled women, for the occasion of the review of UK by
UK disabled women’s organisations - Sisters of Frida and Stay Safe East, June 2015, p 4-5, http://bit.ly/1DAWiEl
12
See IDA’s 2013 submission on women and girls with disabilities
13
See the joint submission by IDA and the Centre for Reproductive Rights on inclusive comprehensive sexuality educationsubmitted for the day of general discussion
14
See IDA’s 2013 submission on women and girls with disabilities
5
IDA submission on draft General Comment on Article 6, August 2015
experienced violence. This would necessarily include rendering mainstream services for
women victims of violence accessible and inclusive in order to accommodate women and
girls with disabilities, as well as targeted measures for counseling, outreach services, and
training for police, judiciary, social workers, medical and health professionals, etc.15
• Article 28- States must adopt concrete measures to ensure access to social protection
programmes on an equal basis with others by addressing the intersectional barriers facing
women and girls with disabilities on the ground of gender and disability, including higher
rates of unemployment compared to men with disabilities and women without disabilities, and
the prevalence of girls, women and older women with disabilities remaining at home and
fulfilling caregiving roles- while at the same time ensuring that measures do not reinforce the
Post 2015 Development Agenda
Finally, while the draft text refers to the Post 2015 Development Agenda and the role of the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in promoting participation of women and girls with
disabilities, their specific role in ensuring implementation and monitoring of the SDGs, targets
and indicators should be highlighted, as well as relating to disaster risk reduction and
resilience, and within conflict and post conflict situations. The Committee could call on
States Parties, intergovernmental and regional bodies and organisations to systematically
adopt a twin track approach to women and girls with disabilities in the global agenda to
address their rights and ensure their active participation, including concerning the UN climate
change conference and the World Humanitarian Summit.
For further information, please contact: vlee@ida-secretariat.org
The International Disability Alliance (IDA) is a network of eight global and four regional organisations
of persons with disabilities and their families (DPOs), representing the estimated one billion persons
with disabilities worldwide. Founded in 1999, as a network of international disability rights
organisations, a unique composition, that allows IDA to act as an authoritative and representative
voice of persons with disabilities in the United Nations (UN) system in New York, Geneva and
worldwide. IDA’s advocacy seeks to advance human rights utilising the UNCRPD and other
Conventions, harnessing the strengthened united voice of its members, forging working relationships
with partners to achieve common goals inclusive of persons with disabilities worldwide.
Geneva Office: 150 Route de Ferney, PO box 2100, CH 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
New York Office: 205 East 42nd Street, 20th floor, New York City, NY 10017, United States
Contact email: info@ida-secretariat.org
IDA Website: http://www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/en
P Frawley, S Dyson, S Robinson, J Dixon, “What does it take? Developing informed and effective tertiary responses to
violence and abuse of women and girls with disabilities in Australia: State of knowledge paper”, ANROWS Landscape Series,
July 2015, www.anrows.org.au/publications/landscapes/what-does-it-take-developing-informed-and-effective-tertiary-responses
15
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