Women and girls with disabilities are the best champions for upholding their rights

Ahead of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, UN Experts* urged governments to amplify the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future, particularly women and girls with disabilities.

Despite the fast-approaching deadline for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the promise of full gender equality remains elusive. “For women and girls with disabilities, this goal is even more distant due to compounded discrimination,” the Experts stated.

Women and girls with disabilities are disproportionately affected by poverty, inadequate healthcare including sexual and reproductive health, limited access to inclusive education, employment in the open market, digital devices and technology, increased exposure to abuse and violence, including sexual violence, trafficking in persons, and limited access to justice. And particularly for those with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, denial of legal capacity often strips them of the freedom to make critical choices, including over their own bodies.

“Women and girls with disabilities are too often invisible and their needs and concerns are insufficiently considered in public policies on gender equality and on the rights of persons with disabilities,” noted the Experts. This is aggravated by the widespread lack of disaggregated quantitative and qualitative data based on disability, age, sex, and gender, and their intersection.

The Experts stressed that the voices and experiences of all women and girls with disabilities must be part of public policy and decision-making priorities and commitments. “They need to be more represented in leadership roles across all sectors – including within movements promoting and advocating for the human rights of women and of persons with disabilities respectively. Women and girls with disabilities need to be fully consulted on all policies that affect their lives and to be included in all discussions and decision-making processes” the Experts urged.

Further, all aspects of the intersection between gender and disabilities need to be considered, for example how the situation of families – and mostly mothers and other female relatives – impacts the human rights of children with disabilities. The Experts recalled the need to establish gender-responsive, disability-inclusive, and age-sensitive care and support systems.

The upcoming 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration provides a pivotal opportunity for governments to assess progress in advancing the rights of women and girls with disabilities, and all women and girls who are left behind and whose needs are insufficiently addressed, including those affected by leprosy and with albinism. While recent national reports reveal achievements, persistent gaps highlight the need for targeted policies and investment.

Reaffirming the commitments of Beijing, the Experts urged governments to prioritize the rights of women and girls with disabilities, ensuring their inclusion in all areas of society and greater alignment between gender equality and disability rights frameworks.

*The experts: Heba Hagrass, Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities; Muluka-Anne Miti-Drummond, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism;  Beatriz Miranda-Galarza, Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy (Hansen’s disease) and their family members; Siobhán Mullally, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; Laura Nyirinkindi (Chair), Claudia Flores (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Estrada Tanck, Ivana Krstić, and Haina Lu, Working group on discrimination against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences; Claudia Mahler, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons; Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame, Chair of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; Ann Skelton, Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child; Ana Peláez Narváez, Chair of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.