SDG 5 and PWDs: Achieving Gender Equality and Empowering all Women and Girls with Disabilities

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals number 5 (SDG Goal 5) aims to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Therefore, this article focuses on women and girls with disabilities, by analyzing the international normative frameworks and providing an overview of their situation, as well as presenting national and international efforts to promote their inclusion and participation in society. The article likewise concludes with suggestions on the way forwar on how to achieve gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls with disabilities.

Keywords: Disabilities, Equality, Gender, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Introduction

Over one billion people worldwide experience some form of disability. The global prevalence is greater for women than men, standing at 19% compared with 12% respectively. In low and middle-income countries, women are estimated to comprise up to three-quarters of persons with disabilities. Poverty and marginalization are compounded when gender and disability intersect. Women and girls with disabilities face multiple barriers to realizing their rights: environmental, physical and informational accessibility issues, including lack of resources and inadequate access to services, as well as widespread discrimination, stereotyping and social stigma (UN Women, 2017).

Women and girls with disabilities are often subjected to double discrimination due to their gender and disability status and continue to be at a disadvantage in most spheres of society and development. Available data revealed that the gap is stark compared with men without disabilities; women and girls with disabilities are three times more likely to have unmet needs for health care; three times more likely to be illiterate; two times less likely to be employed and two times less likely to use the Internet. Among those employed, women with disabilities are two times less likely to work as administrators or decision-makers, senior officials or managers. Women with disabilities tend also to be in a worse position than women without disabilities. Moreover, women with disabilities are at heightened risk of suffering sexual violence compared to those without disabilities.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides the global community with an enormous opportunity and the moral obligation to work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for all women and girls, and address the rights and demands of women and girls with disabilities as a matter of priority. Furthermore, the Sustainable Development Goals 2015-2030 Framework underlines the obligations of state parties to address the rights of all women, specifically mentioning the marginalized groups, such as women and girls with disabilities to not be left behind.

Women and Girls with Disabilities

The term ‘women and girls with disabilities’ refers to all women with disabilities including adolescent girls and young women. ‘Disabilities’ includes all types of impairment – physical, psychosocial, intellectual or mental, as well as sensory conditions with and without functional limitations. Beyond medical dimensions. Disability is understood as ‘the social effect of the interaction between the individual’s impairment and his/her social and physical environment’ (UN, 2018).

Women and girls with disabilities: At a glance

• One in five women live with a disability globally.

• An estimated one in four households has a person with disabilities.

• Women are more likely than men to become disabled throughout the course of their lives.

• Women comprise up to three-quarters of persons with disabilities in low and middle-income countries.

• Prevalence of disability is higher among marginalized populations and people in rural areas.

Gender Equality

The concept that women and men, girls and boys have equal conditions, treatment and opportunities for realizing their full potential, human rights and dignity, and for contributing to (and benefitting from) economic, social, cultural and political development. Gender equality is, therefore, the equal valuing by society of the similarities and the differences of men and women, and the roles they play. It is based on women and men being full partners in the home, community and society. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female.

Gender equality implies that the interests, needs and priorities of both women and men, girls and boys are taken into consideration, recognizing the diversity of different groups and that all human beings are free to develop their personal abilities and make choices without the limitations set by stereotypes and prejudices about gender roles. Gender equality is a matter of 

human rights and is considered a precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable people-centred development (UNICEF, 2017).

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Disability-inclusive development is an essential condition for a sustainable future. In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, pledging to leave no one behind in the global efforts to realize the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Without the world’s one billion persons with disabilities - 15% of the world population - being included as both agents and beneficiaries of development, these Goals will never be achieved. Yet, persons with disabilities are still invisible and often left behind (UN, 2018).

SDG 5: Gender Equality 

It focuses on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls including those with disabilities. In just about every way, women and girls lag behind. There are still gross inequalities in work and wages, lots of unpaid “women’s work” such as child care and domestic work, and discrimination in public decision-making. But there are grounds for hope. More girls are in school now compared to in 2000. Most regions have reached gender parity in primary education. The percentage of women getting paid for their work is on the rise. Hence, the Sustainable Development Goals aim to build on these achievements to ensure that there is an end to discrimination against women and girls everywhere (UN, 2018).

If there is gender equality, then men and women have the same opportunities to access and benefit from social and economic resources such as healthcare services, education, employment opportunities, social protection, leadership roles in decision making, among others. Unequal gender power relations and harmful gender norms and stereotypes affect the social and well-being of women and men in a number of different ways. 

SDG 5 and Women/Girls With Disabilities

Disability, gender inequality, and discrimination are closely interlinked. For example, while a significant portion of women and girls were born with disabilities, others become disabled as a result of exposure to gender-related risk factors, including lack of access to sexual and reproductive health services, exposure to violence and harmful practices, and gender-biased intra-household distribution of resources. Further, as a group of women that is far from homogenous, women with disabilities often experience multiple forms of discrimination based on other factors in addition to gender and disability. For gender equality and empowerment to become a reality for all women and girls, it is indispensable that the specific concerns of women and girls with disabilities are mainstreamed across the entire SDGs framework and considered across all targets for SDG Goal 5. For the latter, it is important to remember that:

Target 5.1: Women and girls with disabilities often lack legal capacity and have reduced power and status in relationships, households and communities, and are more likely to face discrimination than men and boys with disabilities and women and girls without disabilities.

Target 5.2: While affecting women generally, women and girls with disabilities are disproportionately at risk of violence due to factors relating to systemic discrimination and stigma. This is compounded by poverty, social isolation and political marginalization; inadequate services and support systems that lack awareness, training and capacity; lack of access to justice, and disabling, inaccessible and hostile environments. Women and girls with disabilities are often targeted for their perceived powerlessness and vulnerability, mostly by men they know and rely on for care, support and companionship in dependent professional and personal relationships. 

Target 5.3: Women and girls with disabilities are two to three times more likely to be child brides, experience early pregnancy and female genital mutilation;10 they are subjected to specific harmful practices, like ‘virgin testing’, and ‘virgin rapes’, relating to myths about HIV and AIDS; neglect linked with preferential care and treatment of boys; extreme dietary restrictions; and infanticide, forced sterilization and abortion, commonly justified by ill-informed cultural and paternalistic interpretations of disability.

Target 5.4: Women and girls with disabilities depend on others for care, but are often also caregivers themselves. They are therefore disproportionately affected by the lack of recognition and social support for unpaid care and domestic work. In addition, stereotypical views of women with disabilities as “unfit” mothers may lead to the termination of parental rights by social service agencies or in child custody and protection proceedings following divorce.

Target 5.5: Women with disabilities face numerous environmental, attitudinal and other barriers to political participation, and consequently remain largely excluded from decision-making and advocacy processes about issues that affect their lives. Their views are often ignored or disregarded in favour of ‘experts’, ‘professionals’, parents, guardians and carers. Enabling environments are essential to promoting political participation, which in turn may result in public policy that is more disability-inclusive.

Target 5.6: The lack of access to sexual and reproductive health and rights is among the most pressing concerns for women and girls with disabilities; they are often not enabled to make their own informed decisions regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use and reproductive health care.

What Does SDG 5 Mean For Women and Girls with Disabilities

The SDGs and particularly Goal 5, which focuses on Gender Equality and the empowerment of women and girls, has a key role in creating opportunities for women and girls with disabilities to fulfill their full potential. Goal 5 includes a number of targets and the following bullet points highlight how these targets are also equally relevant to women and girls with disabilities. 

1- End discrimination against all women and girls everywhere: This is particularly relevant to women and girls with disabilities. In comparison to men with disabilities and women without disabilities, women and girls with disabilities have lower education completion rates, are less likely to be employed and are more at risk of living in poverty. National policies and frameworks that are developed as a result of the SDGs must include women and girls with disabilities if discrimination against all women and girls is to be achieved.

2- Eliminate all forms of violence and harmful practices against all women: Women with disabilities are at heightened risk of violence, exploitation and abuse compared to women without disabilities. Measures taken to implement this target must be inclusive of women with disabilities.

3- Recognize and value unpaid care work: This is an important point for both women and men with disabilities who require personal assistance/care assistance and needs to be adequately resourced by governments. Women who make up the majority of the caring/personal assistance workforce providing this support should be paid fairly for their work.

4- Reform legislative and policy blocks that prevent women having equal rights to economic resources: Linked with the above statement about women with disabilities at risk of living in poverty, some of the factors that contribute to this include; laws and policies that prevent women with disabilities having control over their resources. For example, outdated legal capacity laws and prejudicial attitudes which deny women with disabilities the opportunities to have their own bank accounts or prevent them from getting access to micro-credit for livelihood opportunities. Measures taken to reform laws to enable equal rights to resources must also include women with disabilities,

 

5- Enhance the use of enabling technology: Technology and assistive devices are key enablers for women and men with disabilities. Access to assistive aids and devices can make a difference in the lives of women and men with disabilities, technology also has a key role to play in creating inclusion,

 

6- Ensure participation and leadership in decision-making: Women with disabilities typically have not been in leadership positions within the government and public sector, the private sector, disability or gender movements,

 

7- Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights: Women and girls with disabilities face negative attitudes by society related to the intersection of disability and gender and these impact on the enjoyment of sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the right to a found a family.

International Normative Frameworks Relevant for the Achievement of SDG 5 for PWDs

Goal 5 calls for the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against all women and girls, including those with disabilities. It also stresses the importance of their full and effective inclusion and equal opportunities in political, economic and public life. 

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) adopted in 1979 addresses the advancement of the status of women. While CEDAW does not make explicit reference to women and girls with disabilities, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action recognizes that women and girls with disabilities face multiple barriers to full equality and advancement, and the enjoyment of human rights, and identifies specific actions to ensure the empowerment of women with disabilities in various areas, including: enhancement of the self-reliance of women with disabilities (paragraph 175(d)); equal access to appropriate education and skills training for their full participation in life (paragraph 280(c)); improvement of their work opportunities (paragraph 82(k)); creation of health programmes and services that address the specific needs of women with disabilities (paragraph 106(c)); promotion of equity and positive action programmes to address systemic discrimination against women with disabilities in the labour force (paragraph 178(f)); and improvements in the concepts and methods of data collection on the participation of women and men with disabilities, including their access to resources (paragraph 206(k)). 

However, it was not until the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) that the international community set out specific provisions dedicated to women and girls with disabilities. The CRPD calls for a twin track approach in this regard: gender equality is established as a general principle, to be taken into account in the implementation of each article of the Convention, and the CRPD also includes a stand-alone article on women with disabilities (Article 6). This article recognizes that women and girls with disabilities are subjected to multiple forms of discrimination and establishes that States Parties should take all appropriate measures to ensure their full development, advancement and empowerment. The CRPD further stipulates that States Parties should put in place effective legislation and policies with a focus on women with disabilities to protect them from exploitation, violence and abuse (article 16, paragraph 5), and should pay special attention to women and girls with disabilities in access to social protection programmes and poverty reduction programmes (article 28, paragraph 2(b)). 

Relatedly, the General Assembly Resolution on Implementation of the Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol thereto: Situation of women and girls with disabilities (A/RES/72/162), adopted in 2017, focuses on the special needs and challenges that women and girls with disabilities face. The resolution calls for eliminating multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and all forms of violence, supporting women and girls with disabilities to exercise their legal capacity to have the freedom to make their own choices on an equal basis with others in all aspects of life, promoting their empowerment and leadership, as well as ensuring equal access to education, employment and health services, including sexual and reproductive health services. The resolution emphasizes the importance of collecting and analysing data disaggregated by income, sex, race, age, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant to national contexts to guide policy planning. It also calls upon States to improve data collection systems for adequate monitoring and evaluation frameworks on the implementation of the CRPD and the SDGs for women and girls with disabilities. 

Gender equality is also addressed in the context of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The Small Island Developing States Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway, adopted in 2014, emphasizes the importance of reducing structural and socioeconomic inequalities and multiple intersecting forms of discrimination that affect women and girls, including those with disabilities, that hinder progress and development. Commitments to women and girls with disabilities in the SAMOA Pathway include support for the provision of high-quality education and training, and disaggregation of data by sex, age and disability. 

The Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011–2020 commits to pursuing policy measures to promote gender equality for women with disabilities. 

The Situation of Women and Girls with Disabilities 

This subsection presents available evidence on the status of inclusion, on an equal basis with others, of women and girls with disabilities. It focuses on available data and information in relation to key areas of the SDGs, including poverty and hunger, access to health-care services, education and employment. The subsection also presents evidence to illustrate the situation of women and girls with disabilities regarding several Goal 5 targets. This includes available data on exposure to violence (target 5.2), child marriage (target 5.3), unpaid work (target 5.4), opportunities for leadership (target 5.5) and use of the Internet (target 5.b). 

Poverty and hunger 

There is limited data on poverty that has been disaggregated by disability and sex. Data on the percentage of persons living under the national poverty line from six countries around 2014, albeit limited in the number of countries, show a consistent pattern. While women with disabilities experience higher poverty rates than men and women without disabilities in all countries, the poverty rates among women and men with disabilities are similar. The highest gap in poverty rates between women and men with disabilities is observed in the United States (6 percentage points) and the lowest gap in Mongolia (no gap). Poverty rates among women with disabilities vary from 11% in Macao, China to 36% in the Republic of Korea. 

Regarding food security and nutrition, data from 35 countries, mostly in Europe, show that on average 18% of women with disabilities are unable to afford a meal with a protein component every second day. This ranges from 2% in Iceland to 68% in Turkey. Women and men with disabilities show on average similar percentages regarding inability to afford a meal with a protein component every second day. The highest gaps between women and men with disabilities – over 5 percentage points – appear in Bulgaria, Iceland, Lithuania and Serbia. The highest gaps between women with disabilities and men without disabilities – over 15 percentage points – are observed in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Montenegro and Serbia. Evidence from Botswana points to similar rates of food insecurity between women and men with disabilities, but women with disabilities are almost twice as likely to not have food in the household, due to lack of resources, than men without disabilities (UN, 2018).

Access to health care 

Among 37 countries, 13% of women with disabilities, on average, cannot get health care when they need it. In Austria, Cyprus and Slovenia, the health-care needs of women with disabilities are largely met: only 1% of women with disabilities are unable to meet their health needs – the lowest values among the 37 countries. However, in ten of these countries, more than 20% of women with disabilities are not able to meet their health needs. In Montenegro, this affects 43% of women with disabilities. Differences between women and men with disabilities tend to be small (up to 5 percentage points), while the differences between women with disabilities and men without disabilities are wider (up to 40 percentage points, and 9 percentage points on average). 

On average, women with disabilities have similar rates of unmet health needs as men with disabilities (13% and 12%, respectively), but higher than both men and women without disabilities (4%). This suggests that overall, barriers for persons with disabilities are a major factor impeding access to health care for women with disabilities. This is consistent with other findings showing that physical, financial and attitudinal barriers are an obstacle for persons with disabilities in accessing health care (UN, 2018).

Access to education 

Among 29 developing countries, on average only 69% of women with disabilities ever attended school, compared to 72% of men with disabilities, 79% of women without disabilities and 86% of men without disabilities. In most countries, for both persons with and without disabilities aged 15 to 29, men are more likely to have ever attended school than women. The percentage of women with disabilities who have ever attended school varies among these 29 countries, from 21% in Burkina Faso to 97% in Uruguay. The gaps vis-à-vis men without disabilities are small in eight countries (under 5 percentage points); but are wider than 20 percentage points in seven countries. 

The evidence suggests that, depending on the country, gender discrimination or barriers for persons with disabilities (e.g. lack of accessibility and discrimination on the grounds of disability) may play a bigger role. In Benin, Mali, South Sudan and Togo, the gap is wider between women (both with and without disabilities) and men, but narrower between women with and without disabilities. The ratios of men with disabilities who have ever attended school are closer to those of men without disabilities. This suggests that gender discrimination plays a major role in schooling. In Brazil, Indonesia, Tunisia and Timor-Leste, the gap is wider between persons with disabilities (both women and men) and persons without disabilities. In these countries, the percentage of women without disabilities who have ever attended school is close to that of men without disabilities, thus suggesting that attitudinal and physical barriers against persons with disabilities are a factor explaining the low rates of school attendance of women with disabilities (UN, 2018).

1. Primary education 

Evidence from 17 countries, around 2010, shows that in all countries but Gambia, young women and men with disabilities aged 17 to 24 are less likely to complete primary education than their peers without 

disabilities. Depending on the country, young women have higher or lower rates of completion than boys, regardless of their disability status. In eight of those countries, young women with disabilities have higher rates than boys with disabilities, and in five of these eight, the same is true for their peers without disabilities. Young women with disabilities show higher completion rates than young men with disabilities mostly in countries in which the overall completion rate is high or in which young women without disabilities show higher completion rates than young men without disabilities.

2. Tertiary education 

Among 41 countries, around 2012, on average, 10% of women with disabilities have completed tertiary education, which is similar to the rate for men with disabilities (also 10%), but lower than the rates for women and men without disabilities (21%), as shown in various empirical studies. There is a wide variation among countries on rates of completion of tertiary education for women with disabilities: in Cambodia only 0.2% but in Finland as many as 34% of women with disabilities complete tertiary education. In 27 countries, or more than half, the tertiary completion rates for women with disabilities are lower than for men with disabilities. In 40 countries, or almost all, the tertiary completion rates for women with disabilities are lower than for men without disabilities. In 38 countries, the tertiary completion rates for women with disabilities are lower than for women without disabilities.

3. Literacy rates 

Evidence from 35 countries around 2010 shows that, in the majority of countries, women with disabilities have lower literacy rates than men with disabilities. The widest gaps occur in Mozambique, where the difference is 32 percentage points, and the State of Palestine, where the difference is 34 percentage points. In Mozambique, almost one in two men with disabilities (49%) can read and write, compared to only one in six women with disabilities (17%). In the State of Palestine, three in four men with disabilities are literate but only one in four women with disabilities are literate. In four countries, women with disabilities have higher literacy rates than men with disabilities: Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Uruguay, with differences ranging from 1 to 7 percentage points. In all countries women with disabilities have lower literacy rates than men without disabilities, the gap between these two ranges from 6 percentage points in Costa Rica to 72 percentage points in Oman. Among the 35 countries, on average, 45% of women with disabilities are literate compared to 61% of men with disabilities, 71% of women without disabilities and 82% of men without disabilities (UN, 2018).

Employment 

A direct result of limited access to education among women with disabilities is their significant disadvantage upon entering the job market, in comparison with men with disabilities, and also with women and men without disabilities. According to evidence from six regions, women with disabilities are less likely to be employed than men with disabilities and persons without disabilities in all regions. The employment-to-population ratios for women with disabilities are lowest in Northern Africa and Western Asia (14%) and highest in Europe (42%). In Northern Africa and Western Asia, women with disabilities are five times less likely to be employed as men without disabilities, in Europe they are two times less likely. The gap between women and men with disabilities varies between 6 percentage points in Europe and 26 percentage points in Central and Southern Asia (UN, 2018).

1. Unpaid work 

There has been growing recognition of the value of women’s unpaid care and domestic work, but the role of women with disabilities in this type of work is less known. Contrary to paid work in which women with disabilities participate less than women without disabilities, available evidence shows that in seven out of eight developing countries, women with disabilities are more likely to be engaged in unpaid work than women without disabilities. On average, among these eight countries, 10% of women with disabilities versus 9% of women without disabilities are engaged in unpaid work. The percentages of women with disabilities in unpaid work vary from 2% in Jamaica to 32% in Viet Nam. Since women with disabilities have more difficulty finding paid employment in formal or informal sectors than those without disabilities, they may be left with unpaid work as their only option, especially within the household (UN, 2018).

Opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making 

The glass ceiling is harder to break for women with disabilities. Evidence from 19 countries shows that on average women with disabilities are less likely to assume a position as  legislators, senior officials or managers than their peers without disabilities and men with or without disabilities: 2.3% of women with disabilities hold these positions compared to 2.8% of men with disabilities, 3.4% of women without disabilities and 4% of men without disabilities. Women with disabilities are the least likely to hold these positions in nine out of these 16 countries and are less likely than men without disabilities to assume such leadership positions in all countries except in Ghana and Jamaica. 

There is limited data available on women with disabilities in political leadership roles. The data available suggest that representation remains extremely low. According to data collected in 2017, in 14 out of 18 countries in the Asia and Pacific region, there was no female parliamentarian with disabilities in the national legislative body. In the other four countries, the percentage of female parliamentarians with disabilities ranged from 0.3% to 6.3%.

The representation of women from organizations of persons with disabilities tends also to be low in national coordination mechanisms on disability matters. For instance, among 17 countries or areas from the Asia and Pacific region, the percentage of female members from organizations of persons with disabilities is on average 12%, compared to 21% for men from these organizations and 24% of women and 43% of men from other organizations. In three of these countries, there are no women from organizations of persons with disabilities represented. Nauru has the highest representation of women from such organizations (29%). Among representatives from organizations of persons with disabilities, the number of women is equal to or higher than men in only five countries or areas

The representation of women with disabilities in national machinery for gender equality is even lower. In 7 out of 12 countries in the Asia and Pacific region, none of the members are women with disabilities. In the remaining five countries, on average 9% of the representatives are women with disabilities. According to the available evidence, gender gaps also persist in the leadership of organizations of persons with disabilities. An analysis of social media data, in 2017, indicated that 42% of women versus 58% of men held leadership positions in Spanish-speaking organizations working on disability issues or with persons with disabilities (UN, 2018).

Access to ICT 

Evidence from 13 developing countries indicates that the percentage of women with disabilities using the Internet varies from 1% in Uganda to 57% in the Maldives. Usage of the Internet among women with disabilities is lower than among persons without disabilities (both men and women) in all countries. But compared to men with disabilities, the percentage of women with disabilities using the Internet is higher in 10 out of the 13 countries. On average, among these 13 countries, 21% of women with disabilities use the Internet, compared to 20% of men with disabilities, 33% of women without disabilities and 34% of men without disabilities. This suggests that more barriers exist for disability than for gender. The lowest gaps between women with disabilities and men with and without disabilities are observed in Costa Rica and Honduras, with all of these showing similar rates of Internet usage (UN, 2018).

Current Practices in Gender and Disability 

Women and girls with disabilities are often invisible in national policies and programmes. Many countries address gender and disability issues separately without focusing on the intersection between the two. A study in Latin America points to increasing awareness in this region of the need to address this intersection. Seventeen out of 20 countries in the region include disability in their national gender plans and 12 of these countries have gender plans with specific measures targeting women with disabilities. However, only 6 out of 19 countries address gender in their disability laws. 

While some countries promote the inclusion and empowerment of women and girls with disabilities through general laws, development plans and strategies, others develop national strategies specifically focusing on women and girls with disabilities. Examples include national action plans for women with disabilities, acts that focus on girls with disabilities in rural areas, reserved seats for women with disabilities in parliament and local governments, and promotion of access to health-care services for women and girls with disabilities. There are also initiatives that prioritize projects that improve the status of women with disabilities when distributing government grants. A number of countries have also put in place initiatives to promote the education of girls with disabilities through targeted scholarships and by promoting the employment of women with disabilities through training. One of these programmes builds on the recognition of the value added of including women and girls with disabilities: visually impaired women were trained as clinical breast examiners as they are able to detect up to 50% more and up to 28% smaller changes in the breast than doctors. 

At the international level, an initiative has been taken to establish specific funding for projects focusing on women with disabilities in the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women. In 2018, these funds granted financial support to nine projects that aim to end violence against women and girls with disabilities and to strengthen the response capacity of local grassroots organizations working with women and girls who are survivors of violence (UN, 2018).

Conclusion and the Way Forward

The findings in this section are limited to a subset of countries, but they confirm that many women and girls with disabilities face multiple discrimination and barriers to their full and equal inclusion in society and 

development. Compared to men without disabilities, women with disabilities are at a severe disadvantage. 

 

The evidence presented here shows that, compared to men without disabilities, women with disabilities are: two times more likely to be poor, two times more likely to not have nutritious and sufficient food, three times more likely to have unmet needs for health care, three times more likely to be illiterate, two times less likely to be employed, and two times less likely to use the Internet. Among those employed, women with disabilities are two times less likely to work as legislators, senior officials or managers. Overall, women with disabilities are also in a worse position than women without disabilities. 

In a couple of areas, the evidence does not seem to indicate a further disadvantage of women with disabilities relative to men with disabilities, suggesting that attitudinal and environmental barriers against disability, not gender, are the major factors driving the disadvantage experienced by women with disabilities. This is the case for poverty, access to education, use of the Internet, and physical violence. However, for access to employment and sexual violence, barriers against both gender and disability seem to play a role. 

These findings vary across countries. To guide policy design, it is important for development actors and decision makers to determine whether and to what extent the disadvantage that women with disabilities experience is driven by their disability status or by their gender. Gender policies will not succeed if barriers against disability prevent women with disabilities from benefiting from them – in that case, gender policies need to address these barriers, too. Similarly, policies promoting disability inclusion will not succeed if gender discrimination prevents women with disabilities from benefiting from them – in that case, disability policies need to address these stereotypes. 

It is still the case that the needs and perspectives of women with disabilities are often not reflected in national gender or disability mechanisms. These mechanisms will need to move beyond working in silos 

and acknowledge the intersection between gender and disability.

Despite these findings, this section shows that the gaps between women with disabilities and others vary from country to country, and some countries have managed to reduce gaps. Several countries have implemented measures promoting the inclusion of women and girls with disabilities and these best practices need to be scaled up in other countries. To fully achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls with disabilities, the following actions should be considered: 

(1) Address the needs and perspectives of women and girls with disabilities in national disability strategies or action plans, as well as in national gender strategies and action plans. Adopt a national disability strategy or a national disability action plan that is well-funded, has benchmark indicators, and pays due attention to the intersectoral dimension concerning women and girls with disabilities. Include also this dimension in national gender strategies and action plans. 

(2) Develop policies and programmes focused on women and girls with disabilities aiming at their full and equal participation in society. Moreover, engage women and girls with disabilities in the development and evaluation processes of policies and programmes. Develop programmes aimed at combating violence, especially sexual violence, against them. 

(3) Support the empowerment of women and girls with disabilities to participate equally in society and to reduce gender gaps in economic, social and political participation. Invest in education for women and girls with disabilities and support their transition from school to work through training. Education and training must be provided in accessible formats. Engage with employers to bring awareness of the value added of a diverse workforce that includes women and girls with disabilities. 

(4) Raise awareness on the needs of women and girls with disabilities and eliminate stigma and discrimination against them. Provide disability training among organizations and personnel working on gender equality and launch public campaigns to combat the negative stereotypes associated with disability and gender. 

(5) Enhance the collection, dissemination and analysis of data on women and girls with disabilities and disaggregate and disseminate data by sex, age and disability for effective policy development, implementation and monitoring of gender equality. Enhance the capacity of national statistical offices to collect and disseminate these data. Promote evidence-based analyses to identify the barriers experienced by women and girls with disabilities, specifically if these are attitudinal barriers against disability, gender or both. Use the data and the studies to inform and guide policymaking.

References

UN (2018). Disability and Development Report: Realizing the Sustainable Development Goals by, for and with Persons with Disabilities. New York: UN Press.

UN Women (2017). Issue Brief: Making the SDGs Count for Women and Girls with Disabilities. Retrieved on Wednesday 4 April, 2022 from https://goo.gl/iWUHEL

UN (2006). Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Retrieved on March 14, 2022 from https://www.un.org/development/desa/disbilities/convention-on-the-rights-ofpersons-with-disabilities/article-1-purpose.html

UNICEF (2017). Gender Equality: Glossary and Concepts. https://www.unicef.org/gender/training/content/resources/Glossary.pdf. Retrieved on 19 August, 2022.

WHO & World Bank (2011). World Report on Disability. Retrieved on March 19, 2022 from http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/report/en/

How to Address it: Double Discrimination Based on Gender and Disability Face by Women and Girls with Disabilities

Abstract

Women and girls with disabilities face multiple discrimination due to their gender and disability state. Therefore, this article provides an overview on how this discrimination manifests itself in many domains of life like in the access to education, healthcare services, work and employment, social protection and political participation. Likewise, this article examines the international legal frameworks relevant for addressing the multiple discrimination based on gender and disability. The article ends with conclusion and recommendations.

Keywords: Discrimination, Disability, Gender, Women and Girls with Disabilities.

1. Introduction

More than one billion persons worldwide experience some form of disability, within this group, women experience higher prevalence of disability. Women and girls with disabilities constitute at least 19% of the world’s female population. The majority of these women and girls face double discrimination based on their gender and disability. Poverty, lack of access to education, limited access to employment and inequality to healthcare services also contribute to their marginalization in society. “Both men and women with disabilities are subject to discrimination, but women and girls with disabilities are doubly disadvantaged by discrimination based on gender and their disability status” (Brayman, 2015).

Ensuring the inclusion of disability in gender policies and programs will greatly reduced the risk of violence, exploitation and abuse of all women and girls with disabilities who continue to be at risk, as well as prevent discrimination in access to healthcare services, education, employment opportunities and so on. Likewise, Article 6 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes the link between disability and gender and is, therefore, obligated to protect and promote the equal rights of women and girls with disabilities, including their right to be protected from discrimination. 

The intersection of disability and gender get attention of international institutions/agencies, governments, NGOs, academics and activists; often using the narrative of ‘double discrimination’ whereby women and girls with disabilities face exclusion and discrimination on the grounds of both their gender and their disability. In addition, there are much of the literature on gender and disability focuses on women and girls with disabilities, in an effort to address the persistent discrimination and exclusion females with disabilities experience across their lives, in a number of spheres; and this article follows suit in discussing and analysing the discrimination that women and girls with disabilities are experiencing based their on gender and disability.

2. Conceptual Clarification

2.1 The Concept of Disability

Disability comes in different forms. Some disabilities are physical (static or progressive), some congenital and some acquired, some visible and others not. Their onset and degree also varies. Impairment is often located in biology (organs of the body) and not in the social context. Disabling conditions, however, are always part of the social and physical environment (Daviki, et al., 2013). 

Person with disability is most commonly defined as someone with a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. (UK Disability Discrimination Act 2005). The term is used to refer to individual functioning, including physical, sensory, cognitive and intellectual impairments, mental illness, and various types of chronic disease. Nevertheless, disability is conceptualised as being a multi-dimensional experience for the person involved. There may be effects on organs or body parts, or effects on a person's participation in areas of life. Correspondingly, three dimensions of disability are recognised: body structure and function/impairment (medical model), activity (and activity restrictions) and participation (and participation restrictions). The classification also recognizes the role of physical and social environmental factors in affecting disability outcomes (social model). The social construction and representation of people with disabilities shapes the policy and practice responses they receive, both discursive and practical, as well as their own responses (Thiara, Hague & Mullender, 2011).

2.2  The Concept of Gender

Gender differs from sex which is based on biology and is seen as a socially constructed set of behaviours, norms, symbols, interpretations, institutions and identities (Daviki, et al., 2013). Gender is a social and cultural construct, which distinguishes differences in the attributes of men and women, girls and boys, and accordingly refers to the roles and responsibilities of men and women. Gender-based roles and other attributes, therefore, change over time and vary with different cultural contexts. The concept of gender includes the expectations held about the characteristics, aptitudes and likely behaviours of both women and men (femininity and masculinity). This concept is useful in analyzing how commonly shared practices legitimize discrepancies between sexes (UNICEF, 2017). 

2.3  The Concept of Discrimination

Discrimination has been the topic of controversial debates and has many facets and definitions. The European Court of Justice defines it as “different treatment of 

similar situations or similar treatment of different situations”. Discrimination can be 

direct or indirect. Though explicit discrimination has been reduced in contemporary democratic societies, more subtle forms of discrimination are omnipresent and affect specific social groups, such as the persons with disabilities. Likewise, discrimination can be manifested on different grounds like gender, disability, tribe/ethnicity, race or nationality, among others. Also, discrimination can be in form of de jure discrimination (by laws or policies) e.g., in some countries women are not allowed to be in public/private civil service, or de facto discrimination (by practices or norms) e.g., a man and woman may hold the same job position and perform the same duties, but their benefits may differ. 

Studies have shown that discrimination has significant health impact, including depression, anxiety, psychological distress etc.; perceived discrimination has also been shown to lead to physical problems, such as hypertension, breast cancer, high blood pressure, or obesity (Pascoe & Richman, 2009).

2.4 Discrimination on Gender and Disability

Gender and Disability Discrimination can take many forms, but it has been defined as “any distinction, exclusion, or restriction on the basis of disability and gender which has the purpose or effect of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment, or exercise, on an equal basis with others, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil, or any other field. It includes all forms of discrimination on the ground of gender and disability, including denial of reasonable accommodation and accessibility”.

2.5  Women and Girls with Disabilities

It is estimated that about one in five women live with a disability. Women with disabilities experience various types of impairments, including physical, psychosocial, intellectual and sensory conditions, that may or may not come with functional limitations (UN Women, 2014).

“In addition to this, the diversity of women and girls with disabilities includes those with multiple and intersecting identities, such as being from different ethnic, religious and racial backgrounds; refugee, migrant, asylum-seeking and internally displaced women; widowed women; young and older women; and women living with and affected by HIV, across all contexts. As a result of substantively distinct life experiences based on these factors, some women and girls with disabilities are pushed to the extreme margins and experience profound discriminations”.

“Systemic and historical marginalization as well as attitudinal and environmental barriers hinder the participation and inclusion in society of women and girls with disabilities on an equal basis with others. These barriers often lead to lower economic and social status, increased risk of violence and abuse, as well as harmful disability and gender-based discriminatory practices resulted in deniel of access to education, healthcare (including sexual and reproductive health services), employment opportunities, social justice, as well as civic and political participation”. 

Women and girls with disabilities are often excluded from various aspects of the humanitarian-development continuum. International and national laws and policies 

have historically neglected to address the intersection of gender and disabilities. Systemic barriers coupled with the failure to prioritize the collection of data on the situation of women and girls with disabilities has perpetuated the invisibility. Gaps in alliances among women’s rights organizations, organizations of persons with disabilities, and organizations of women and girls with disabilities often result in the rights of women and girls with disabilities being overlooked during the development and implementation of relevant policies, programmes and intergovernmental processes. Organizations of women and girls with disabilities are often unable to access funding, as their work may not fit within the standard portfolios of women’s rights or disability rights donors, or funding mechanisms are inflexible and do not accommodate them. This gap in access to resources and capacity hinders their full and effective participation (Kantola & Nousiainen, 2018).

3. Double Discrimination Experienced by Women and Girls with Disabilities

“Double Discrimination in this context refers Multiple Discrimination occurs when a person is discriminated on the basis of several grounds operating separately, for instance, by being treated less favourably on the grounds of disability in one situation and because of gender in another”. 

Discrimination on the basis of gender and disability is a fact officially recognised by the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Article 6 CRPD) to which the European Union acceded in 2010. The Convention calls for state measures which will safeguard women’s full enjoyment of all their rights and freedoms, such as equal rights in accessing services, education, employment, health care and a personal life free of torture, exploitation and violence. However, multiple discrimination and intersectional discrimination on grounds of gender and disability experience by women and girls with disabilities persist (Daviki, et al., 2013).

Furthermore, “discrimination is an enduring issue for all people with disabilities. Women and girls with disabilities however, are subjected to double discrimination: sexism as well as disability bias. While there are many ways in which this discrimination manifests itself, one key result is that women with disabilities are significantly poorer than men with disabilities and women without disabilities. A variety of factors contribute to this situation. For instance, women with disabilities are more likely to be unemployed; if employed, they receive considerably lower wages than men with disabilities; and women with disabilities have not been part of nondisabled women’s increases in numbers or salaries in the paid labor force”.

3.1  Discrimination on Access to education

The World Report on Disability (2011) found that in low-income countries, 45.6% of males  and 32.9% of females with disability have completed primary school education, compared with 55.6% of males and 42.0% of females without disability, putting girls with disabilities at the most risk of being left behind from early on. Additionally, ‘enrolment rates also differ according to impairment type, with children with physical impairment generally faring better than those with intellectual or sensory impairments’ – thus placing intellectually disabled, deaf, blind or deafblind girls at the furthest disadvantage from early in life. 

Within the school environment, children with disabilities can face a number of obstacles to inclusion, such as lack of physical accessibility and alternate methods of communication and materials, for example braille. Additionally, ‘when schools do not provide safe, private and accessible sanitation facilities for girls and women, or when educators and parents do not believe that girls and women with disabilities should or could be educated, then girls and women with disabilities face additional discrimination and barriers to accessing education’. This often occurs on the ground and intersection of disability and gender on women and girls’s education (CBM, 2018).

Various studies showed that women and girls with disabilities have trouble in accessing formal education because of various issues. The issues can be gender and disability related, as well as additional discrimination-, environmental-, economic issues. Discrimination can be the fact that boys with disabilities gets priority in terms of education over girls with disabilities in some developing communities due to traditional beliefs and perception, norms and customs (Braathen & Kvam, 2019).

3.2  Discrimination on Access to Employment/work and Pay

The issue of employment/work and pay is highly gendered, and the gender pay gap persists across much of the world. Employment rates across the intersection of disability and gender reflect a similar pattern to education, with a proportion of working age population in employment, in low-income countries, of 58.6% for men and 20.1% for women with disabilities, compared with 71.2% for men 31.5% for women without disabilities. Unsurprisingly, women with disabilities tend to earn less than men with disabilities;

25 all of which has an impact on disabled women’s risk of poverty.

Sustaining a livelihood, Hanass-Hancock and Mitra argue, is dependent on building and maintaining financial, human, social, physical and natural capital, which they argue are disproportionately significant to the income opportunities of people with disabilities. They also note the importance of education and training for building human capital and point to the impact of unsuitable vocational training on women’s lack of access to employment, in particular.

In some parts of the world such as Asia and the Pacific, however, the unemployment rate amongst people with disabilities is lower in low-income than high-income countries, possibly because of greater availability of low-skilled and informal jobs, lower availability of benefits in poorer countries and greater likelihood of self-employment. However, this kind of work is typically more vulnerable, with little social protection or stability. And whilst globally, ‘informal work is a greater source of employment for men (63%) than for women (58%) women are more often to be found in the more vulnerable categories of work, for instance as domestic workers or self-employed home-based workers’. This is a typical discrimination on the ground of gender and disability (CBM, 2018).

3.3  Discrimination on Access to Healthcare Services

Women and girls with disabilities are at a greater risk than those without disability of exclusion from screening for and diagnosis of health problems, for example breast and cervical cancer. Observations from CBM’s Amhara Trachoma Control Programme in Ethiopia found that the women engaged in the programme were more inhibited in seeking treatment for the infection due to: limited control over the finances of the household; in some places, restrictions on movement; and restrictions on time due to caring responsibilities. These observations are reinforced by findings from CBM SARO (South Asia), where despite a greater number of women than men attending screening camps, fewer women are accessing clinics for glaucoma related surgery because of financial constraints and lack of decision making power in accessing healthcare (CBM, 2018).

In terms of sexual and reproductive health and rights, and right to family life, women and girls with disabilities in many parts of the world face a number of discrimination and barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare and enjoyment of family life. These include not only discrimination in physical barriers such as lack of access to premises and transport, but also cost, communication difficulties and negative attitudes of health workers. An inaccessible society can create extra discrimination and barriers as well as challenges for women with disabilities in carrying out their caring responsibilities for children and other family members. 

A comprehensive literature reviewed, found that: 

• Women with disabilities report that their needs and expectations are not met by gynaecological services;

•  For women and girls with certain disabilities, such as autism and intellectual disabilities, menstruation is a potentially traumatic experience, resulting in behavioural and emotional difficulties; and hysterectomy for women is regarded as an effective way for treating menstrual problems;

• For women and girls with hearing disabilities, they have difficulty of communicating effectively with a health workers, as a result of this they often visit a facility accompanied by a person (usually family member) to help with communication;

• Additionally, clinicians and nurses who provide general interventions, report feeling concerned and unskilled at delivering interventions or assessing the sexual and reproductive health needs of women who have acquired a disability and women with intellectual disabilities.

Very generally, it is argued that in many parts of the world, ‘society views women with disabilities as not capable of having children and therefore, incapable of fulfilling their role of being a mother and participating in family life; women with disabilities are not seen as marriage material and, in many circumstances, are left hidden away resulting in an increased vulnerability to a life of poverty.’

3.4  Discrimination on Access to Social Protection

This happens in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis. The discrimination and challenges that women and girls with disabilities face in their everyday contexts are amplified, or experienced in different ways, in situations of conflict and disaster;

for example, limited mobility can result in an inability to flee dangerous situations or

access basic services such as sanitation and healthcare. 

Women and girls with disabilities face increased discrimination and vulnerability to violence and exploitation in displacement settings, especially sexual violence – indeed, they may be targeted specifically by displaced or host communities ‘because they are seen to be less able to protect themselves’; and in many places this results in pregnancy.  

Conflict and disasters also can erode traditional and informal support networks that women and girls with disabilities may have relied on. Women and girls with disabilities in humanitarian situations may also face discrimination and barriers to formal support in refugee camps were they are unable to provide official documentation of disability, especially where humanitarian staff are untrained in identifying disability, and in particular those with psychosocial and invisible disabilities. Scarcity of access to new or repaired assistive devices also compound exclusion. 

3.5  Discrimination on Access to Participation in  Political and Public Life

Research and literatures have shown that in all parts of society, negative attitudes directed towards women and girls with disabilities exist in political sphere participation. In some communities, women with disabilities are the subject of discrimination in participation of politics, leadership role, and being consulted on public issues or included in matters affecting their lives or the whole society due to negative traditional perceptions and beliefs. Women and girls with disabilities are marginalised in political participation despite the political rights enshrined in the constitutions of many countries of the world. The marginalisation can be in terms of casting votes or to contest and be voted for, also in terms of political appointment women with disabilities are more stigmatised and discriminated than their counterparts men with disabilities who are sometimes appointed as special advisers. As a result few women with disabilities are in positions of political leadership to engage with mainstream programs and thus the female voice is seldom heard in global dialogues on disability.

On the other hand, women and girls with disabilities are globally stigmatised and discriminated in terms of being engaged to marriage with non-disabled men. Many women and girls with disabilities are not married by the non-disabled males compare to their men counterparts with disabilities who are less likely to be stigmatised and discriminated in being engaged to marriage with non-disabled females.

4. International Legal Frameworks Relevant for Addressing Double Discrimination on Gender and Disability

Today, gender and disability are both internationally accepted as human rights issues and each is subject to a UN convention and other international legislations. For this reason, this segment examines and analyses the existing international legal frameworks on gender and disability to see in what way and to what extent they deal with the gender and disability discrimination experience by women and girls with disabilities globally.

4.1 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights coming into force in 1948 claims for “equal rights of men and women” in the preamble and mentions disability in article 25 (1) with regard to being entitled to social welfare. There is no link between the two and both subjects are no cross-cutting issues in the document. Still this declaration is the basis for all the following human-rights documents and its limitations are the reason for the development of the subsequent conventions: Since the 50ies, the United Nations have been working on more specific conventions that detail the rights of vulnerable populations like the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1981, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1989 and the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2006. Several United Nations’ specialized agencies like UNICEF, UNESCO, WHO and ILO promotes the disability inclusion issue over the last decade. 

4.2 The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) 1981

In 1979 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and it came into force in 1981. Although, “There is no explicit reference to women with disabilities in the convention, means that they are given little consideration.” In 1993 the declaration on the 'Elimination of Violence against Women' referred specifically to women with disabilities. In 1995 the 'Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action' that mentions disability on several occasions, mainly together with other marginalized groups. It deliberately included women with disabilities in the agenda of women’s empowerment and promotion of their rights. The General Assembly Resolution S23/3 of 10 June 2000 recognised that "girls and women of all ages with any form of disability are generally among the more vulnerable and marginalized of society". The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing adopted in 1995 the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action recognizing the specific rights issues faced by women with disabilities, and suggests a comprehensive recognition throughout the suggested actions. 

4.3 The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) 2006

After years of discussions, disability became internationally accepted as a human rights issue finding its legal expression in the 'United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)'. The United Nations adopted the UNCRPD in December 2006 and it came into force in May 2008. The UNCRPD is the first international legal instrument that refers to the specific challenges of women and girls with disabilities, and recognizes the need to consider gender throughout the document (preamble). Article 1 declares the purpose of the Convention as: “to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.” Until today 151 countries have ratified and 159 signed the UNCRPD; 85 countries also ratified and 92 signed the Optional Protocol.

Certainly all articles of the UNCRPD are relevant to women and girls with disabilities, and specifically they are mentioned in the preamble and articles 3, 6, 16 and 28: 

• Article 3 deals specifically with the non-discrimination and equality between men and women.

• Article 6 recognizes that women and girls with disabilities are subjects to multiple discriminations; and that “State parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure the full and equal enjoyment by them of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and to ensure the full development, advancement and empowerment of women with disabilities”.

• Article 16 focuses on the freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse; and focuses specially on the obligation for “States Parties to put in place effective legislation and policies, including women- and child-focused legislation and policies, to ensure that instances of exploitation, violence and abuse against persons with disabilities are identified, investigated and, where appropriate, prosecuted”.

• Article 28 recognizes specific needs for girls and women within all issues concerning adequate standard of living and social protection; “State parties shall ensures access by persons with disabilities to social protection programmes and poverty reduction programmes”. 

5.  Conclusion

Based on the content and thematic analysis as well as literature review, women are more likely than men to experience any form of disability throughout the course of their lives. Across the world women comprise up to three quarters of persons with disabilities in low and middle-income countries, with one in four households having a person with disabilities. Globally, the prevalence of disability is higher among marginalized populations and people in rural areas particularly women and girls. 

Despite the international legal framework like UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), women and girls with disabilities are experiencing multiple discrimination based on gender and disability. As a result, they experience chronic poverty, lack of opportunities for education and employment, inadequate healthcare services, and are routinely denied social and political rights due to attitudinal and institutional barriers. Few countries take account of the unique needs of women and girls with disabilities in terms of health, sanitation and personal hygiene, education, employment, vocational training and empowerment, rehabilitation and assistive technologies. While, in many countries their rights to social protection, essential health services, qualitative education, accommodated job opportunity, social and legal justice, participation in social and development activities, political decision making and in community life are denied.

6. Recommendations

1- Priority actions of governments should be domestication of the laws that prohibit discrimination of women and girls with disabilities on ground of gender and disability in all spheres of life. UN Member States should domesticate the UNCRPD provisions; and in this regard should take measures to ensure the full and equal enjoyment by women and girls with disabilities of all human rights and free all forms of discrimination.

2- The community should change its negative mindset towards women and girls with disabilities and fully integrate them into the community affairs. This can be done by fully recognizing the rights of girls and women with disabilities as equal members of the communities. Communities must also do away with traditions and beliefs that exposes women and girls with disabilities to the elements of double ddiscrimination.

3- Measures should be taken to increase the inclusion of women and girls with disabilities and accessibility to education, healthcare services, work/employment, social and political participation for inclusive development of society as a whole.

4- Advocacy and awareness-raising programmes should be undertaken at all levels, targeting the general public, women and girls with disabilities, their families, friends and others close to them, professional groups (including doctors, nurses and other health workers, architects and social workers, administrators, people working in education sector, private employers, vocational training centres, as well as the business community and, very importantly, political decision makers. The advocacy and awareness-raising should be undertaken with the inclusion of women with disabilities. 

5- The media should be made aware of the need to present positive images of girls and women with disabilities, rather than constantly showing them as either victims or exceptional beings. Women with disabilities must instead be presented, as other people are, in ordinary situations: as professionals, students, mothers, wives or expressing their views and taking part in everyday activities.

References

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