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Access to rights-based support for persons with disabilities 2017, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Support is a normal part of community life, with families serving as the first source of support for everyone. For many persons with disabilities, family support serves as a bridge to access other assistance needed to fully enjoy their human rights. However, when no other options are available and families are the sole source of support, the autonomy of persons with disabilities and their family members is reduced. Those being supported have no choice or control over the assistance they require to pursue their life plans, and questions of overprotection and conflict of interest commonly arise. Families - especially the poorest - are also under significant pressure as unpaid familial support also affects social relationships, income levels and the general well-being of the household. Women and girls are disproportionately affected, as in practice they are the main providers of support within the household, reducing their freedom and choices to pursue their own life plans.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to rights-based support for persons with disabilities 2017, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls with disabilities face significant difficulties in accessing support throughout their lives. On average, they are less likely to study and work; they earn less than men and thus have fewer opportunities to access appropriate support. Moreover, existing support services are frequently not responsive to the needs, nor respectful of the rights, of girls and women with disabilities. Male staff are often assigned to provide assistance, which may not respond to their preferences and create a heightened risk of abuse. In this regard, support cannot be addressed in gender-neutral terms. When designing and implementing policies and interventions on support, States must take into account the systemic and multiple discrimination faced by women and girls with disabilities. They must remove all barriers that interfere with access by women and girls to comprehensive support arrangements and provide appropriate assistance to those women with disabilities who perform care and support responsibilities as parents, without reinforcing patterns of discrimination and negative stereotyping.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to rights-based support for persons with disabilities 2017, para. 87
- Paragraph text
- General services, such as education, employment, justice and health, as well as other community services and social protection programmes, must consider the provision of support to persons with disabilities. Similarly, programmes to end domestic violence should include appropriate forms of gender- and age-sensitive assistance and support for girls and women with disabilities. States should budget and plan for such measures when designing policies and programmes to ensure that support for persons with disabilities is available from the start.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Disability-inclusive policies 2016, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- The promotion of gender equality is also a critical aspect to be included in disability-inclusive policies. Men and women with disabilities face different forms of exclusion and discrimination throughout their life cycle and expectations relating to their role within the family, school, workplace and the community also differ greatly and vary widely across countries. While many States have adopted legal frameworks to guarantee equality of rights between women and men, as well as national gender action plans, only a few have taken concrete action to address the specific needs of women and girls with disabilities, to enhance their participation and to dismantle the barriers they face.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Disability-inclusive policies 2016, para. 78d
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations to States with the aim of assisting them in developing and implementing disability- inclusive policies:] Integrate a gender perspective in such policies and programmes, addressing the intersectionality of discrimination faced by women and girls with disabilities;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Mandate, working methods, work plan for the mandate 2015, para. 19d
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur will be guided by the following overarching considerations in all aspects of her work:] Gender sensitivity. In the view of the Special Rapporteur, international and national efforts on disability have to a certain degree failed to systematically take into account a gender perspective; she therefore aims to pay special attention to gender sensitivity in her work, considering, in the first instance, the multifaceted discrimination and marginalization and the compounded violations of human rights that women and girls with disabilities face in most societies, as well as other persons or groups who may experience discrimination due to their sex or disability.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Mandate, working methods, work plan for the mandate 2015, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur will join the disability community in advocating for disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction ahead of the third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, to be held in March 2015, and engage in the process leading to the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 in the light of article 11 of the Convention, which calls for measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and the occurrence of natural disasters. She will also engage in efforts to ensure that the rights of women and girls with disabilities are adequately reflected in the process of the 20-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and its outcome.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- In her thematic reports, the Special Rapporteur has underscored the importance of ensuring a gender perspective in all interventions related to persons with disabilities, stressing the significant additional barriers that women and girls with disabilities encounter that can prevent them from the full enjoyment of their rights. As international and national efforts on the rights of persons with disabilities have too often failed to take into account a gender perspective, it is urgent that the multifaceted discrimination, marginalization and compounded human rights violations that women and girls with disabilities face in most societies be addressed (see A/HRC/28/58, para. 19 (d)).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- The present report focuses on the sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities. The term “girls with disabilities” refers to women with disabilities below the age of 18 years, whereas the term “young women with disabilities” refers to women between 15 and 24 years of age. The Special Rapporteur stresses that those women face significant challenges in making autonomous decisions with regard to their reproductive and sexual health, and are regularly exposed to violence, abuse and harmful practices, including forced sterilization, forced abortion and forced contraception. She recalls that States have an obligation to invest in the sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities, and to end all forms of violence against them.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- In preparing her report, the Special Rapporteur analysed 47 responses to a questionnaire sent to Member States, national human rights institutions and civil society organizations, including representative organizations of persons with disabilities, as well as the outcome of consultations conducted with girls and young women with disabilities in three countries, whose main trends are reflected in the text. She also organized an expert consultation in New York in June 2017 with representatives of United Nations agencies, women’s organizations and organizations of persons with disabilities. The Special Rapporteur would like to thank Plan International, who supported the research efforts for the study, which was undertaken under the coordination of her office.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- Disability is more prevalent among women than men. Women with disabilities account for almost one fifth of the world’s female population. There are no reliable and representative global data on children with disabilities. Estimates suggest that there are between 93 and 150 million children with disabilities worldwide, but numbers could be higher. Furthermore, there are very few statistics available on girls with disabilities at national and international levels, as generally data are not disaggregated by gender, age and disability. That scarcity of data has contributed to making the pressing human rights issues that affect children with disabilities, and girls in particular, invisible.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- The intersection between young age, disability and gender results in both aggravated forms of discrimination and specific human rights violations against girls and young women with disabilities. While in all parts of the world persons with disabilities are faced with violations of their rights and barriers to their participation as equal members of society, girls with disabilities are significantly worse off than boys with disabilities, regardless of the types and levels of impairment. Girls with disabilities are more likely to be excluded from family interactions and activities, and are less likely to have access to education, vocational training and employment, or to benefit from full inclusion.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, girls and young women with disabilities are, almost without exception, prevented from making autonomous decisions with regard to their reproductive and sexual health, which can result in highly discriminatory and harmful practices, as discussed in section III below. Many of those practices occur in institutions, as girls and young women with disabilities are more likely to be institutionalized.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- For women with disabilities, disability inclusion and gender equality cannot be achieved without addressing their sexual and reproductive health and rights. In particular, girls and young women with disabilities are able to develop their own identities and realize their full potential when their sexual and reproductive health needs and rights are met. That contributes to ensuring their health and well-being, reducing the existing gaps in their access to education and employment and achieving their empowerment. When those needs and rights are not met, they are exposed to unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, gender-based violence and sexual abuse, child marriage and other harmful practices that hamper their participation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- States have an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well as other international and regional instruments, outline standards for securing the sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities and for protecting their right to be free from any kind of gender-based violence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Sexual and reproductive health, human rights and sustainable development are all interconnected. The Sustainable Development Goals explicitly call for ensuring “universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights”, and include targets related to that under Goal 3, Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages; Goal 4, Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all; and Goal 5, Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. In addition, Goal 5 stresses that all forms of discrimination and violence against girls and women (including those with disabilities) must be eliminated. Investing in sexual and reproductive health and rights saves lives and empowers girls and young women with disabilities. Protecting and promoting their sexual and reproductive health and rights should therefore be a top priority for States.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities represented a major milestone towards the full and effective enjoyment of sexual and reproductive health and rights by girls and young women with disabilities. Embracing the basic principles of human rights, the Convention moves away from medical and paternalistic approaches towards a human rights-based approach to the sexual and reproductive health and rights of persons with disabilities. The Convention challenges all forms of substituted decision-making in the exercise of sexual and reproductive health and rights (see arts. 12 and 25); prohibits harmful and discriminatory practices against persons with disabilities in all matters related to marriage, family, parenthood and relationships, including the right to retain their fertility and to decide on the number and spacing of their children (see art. 23); calls to end all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse, including their gender-based aspects (see art. 16); and promotes access to quality sexual and affordable reproductive health care and programmes (see art. 25).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The Convention addresses the rights of girls and women with disabilities in a cross-cutting manner, adopting a twin-track approach. On one hand, it includes specific articles on women and children with disabilities (see arts. 6 and 7); on the other, it refers to them in the general principles and other substantive articles (see arts. 3, 4, 8, 13, 16, 18, 23, 25 and 30). Article 6 recognizes that women and girls with disabilities are subject to multiple discriminations and requires States to adopt measures to ensure their full and equal enjoyment of rights, as well as their full development, advancement and empowerment. States must systematically mainstream the interests and rights of girls with disabilities in and across all national action plans, strategies and policies concerning women, childhood and disability, as well as in their sectoral plans. They must also target and monitor action aimed specifically at girls with disabilities, including their sexual and reproductive health and rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Article 7 of the Convention provides that States must take measures to ensure the full enjoyment of rights by children with disabilities, consider the principle of best interests and respect their evolving capacities. The Convention requires States to ensure that boys and girls with disabilities have the right to express their views freely on all matters affecting them, their views being given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity, on an equal basis with other children, and to be provided with disability and age-appropriate assistance to realize that right (see art. 7, para. 3). The Convention thus reinforces the obligations of States to recognize and respect the evolving capacities of children with disabilities and to provide support to strengthen their capacities to enable independent decision-making. As stressed by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the young age or the disability of a child does not deprive her or him of the right to express her or his views, nor reduces the weight given to the child’s views in determining her or his best interests.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- While attention to the sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and women with disabilities increased following the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development of 1994 and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of 1995, it is in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that States and the international human rights system restated their commitment to promote and protect the rights of girls and young women with disabilities in that area. For example, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued a general comment on the right to sexual and reproductive health with specific references to persons with disabilities, including accessibility and reasonable accommodation. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child have also highlighted the importance of ensuring sexual and reproductive health services and ending sexual violence and harmful practices against women and girls with disabilities. The special procedures of the Human Rights Council have also addressed the issue of sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls with disabilities, including recent reports by the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health with regard to the rights of adolescents (see A/HRC/32/32, paras. 86 and 94), the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment focused on torture in health-care settings (see A/HRC/22/53, paras. 48 and 57-70), the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, with regard to violence against women with disabilities (A/67/227) and the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice focused on the issue of discrimination against women with regard to health and safety (see A/HRC/32/44, paras. 45-47).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Stigma and stereotypes play a significant role in limiting the sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities. The sexuality of persons with disabilities is usually considered a taboo topic. Relatives, teachers and health-care providers are generally anxious, untrained and unconfident about discussing sexuality with them. Moreover, there is a prevalent assumption that persons with disabilities, particularly girls and young women with disabilities, are either asexual or hypersexual. Those stigmas are particularly strong in the cases of persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities. Empirical studies show, however, that young people with disabilities have the same concerns and needs with regard to sexuality, relationships and identity as their peers, and have similar patterns of sexual behaviour.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Stereotypes based on gender and disability often lead to structural or systemic discrimination against women with disabilities, in particular when exercising their sexual and reproductive health and rights. Stigma and misconceptions about disability and sexuality can have a profound negative impact on their lives and can lead to their disempowerment and infantilization. The nature of the prejudice experienced affects their self-esteem, making them feel insecure and socially isolated. Girls and young women with disabilities are neither seen to be in need of information about their sexual and reproductive health and rights and available services, nor seen as competent to make decisions about their sexual and reproductive lives. Moreover, as many girls and young women with more severe impairments live at home or in institutions, often completely dependent on or controlled by others, they are denied the full exercise of their autonomy and privacy, whether that is intentional or not. Consequently, many girls and young women with disabilities lack the basic knowledge and support required to protect themselves from sexual abuse, unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, and are not equipped to make informed decisions about their own bodies, health and lives.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Dominant patriarchal assumptions of a woman’s role as primarily that of a wife and mother also hinder girls and young women with disabilities from living healthy sexual and reproductive lives. Because girls and young women with disabilities are perceived to be less likely to become, or be capable of becoming, spouses, mothers or caregivers, families often pay less attention to them than to other family members, thereby deepening gender inequalities. Likewise, the prevalent societal idea of beauty affects many girls and young women with disabilities, who see themselves as unattractive and unworthy. The prevalence of such models and views can have a deeply rooted impact on girls and young women with disabilities, as they may perceive themselves as incapable of fulfilling those models and views, creating a hard-to-break cycle of low expectations and relegation by their families and society. Some young women with disabilities report that stigma about disability makes them willing to accept a partner who might mistreat them.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- Girls and young women with disabilities belonging to groups that have been historically disadvantaged or discriminated against, such as indigenous peoples, religious and ethnic minorities, poor or rural populations, migrants and refugees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, experience multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination in the exercise of their sexual and reproductive health and rights. For example, indigenous girls and women with disabilities face a higher risk of experiencing early marriage, sexual violence and unwanted pregnancy. Girls with disabilities, particularly those with intellectual disabilities, also encounter significant barriers to asserting their sexual orientation because parents and guardians often deny and supress their views.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Girls and young women with multiple impairments and those who are deaf, deaf-blind, autistic or have leprosy or an intellectual or psychosocial disability, experience aggravated forms of stigma and discrimination. For example, the pervasive view that girls and young women with intellectual disabilities lack the capacity to understand sexuality and their own bodies, as well as the fear of their relatives of being held responsible for allowing their sexual activity, puts those girls and young women under excessive monitoring and control. Furthermore, in some countries, girls and young women with disabilities, especially those with albinism, are at heightened risk of sexual violence owing to the myth that having sex with them can cure HIV/AIDS (see A/71/255, para. 17).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Many girls and young women with disabilities do not have access to information and education about sexual and reproductive health and rights and related services. Several studies found that youth with disabilities, especially girls and young women with intellectual disabilities, have low levels of sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health and rights knowledge, including information with regard to the prevention and transmission of HIV. The lack of inclusive education prevents girls and young women with disabilities from accessing comprehensive sexuality education, as those programmes are usually not available in special education settings. In addition, comprehensive sexuality education is not always delivered in accessible formats and alternative languages, and very often it does not address disability-specific needs. Stigma and stereotypes about female sexuality can also lead to the exclusion of girls and young women with disabilities from existing comprehensive sexuality education programmes by their parents, guardians and teachers. There is a general lack of guidance for families and teachers on how to talk about sexuality and equality with girls and young women with disabilities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, in many parts of the world, girls and young women with disabilities are often entirely excluded from the education system, or otherwise isolated from their communities at home or in institutions, and are without any access to sexuality education. The lack of equal access to inclusive and quality education affects, in particular, girls and young women with disabilities in conflict, post-conflict or other humanitarian situations, especially those who are refugees, internally displaced, migrants or asylum seekers; deprived of their liberty in hospitals, residential institutions, juvenile or correctional facilities; or homeless or living in poverty. Girls and young women in such situations are at heightened risk of being subjected to physical or sexual abuse and contracting sexually transmitted infections.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Girls and young women with disabilities frequently have limited access to sexual and reproductive health-care services. Common barriers to accessing those services include negative and hostile attitudes among service providers; the absence of physical accessibility with regard to buildings and equipment (e.g., exam tables and diagnostic equipment); the lack of information in accessible formats (e.g., in Braille or plain language); communication barriers (e.g., the lack of training for service providers on communicating with young women and girls with intellectual disabilities and the inability to use sign language); relatives and caregivers acting as gatekeepers to information and services; the lack of accessible transportation to or from services; the affordability of services; and the isolation of girls and young women with disabilities in institutions, camps, family homes or group homes. Moreover, many women and girls with disabilities report that their specific needs and expectations are not met by gynaecological services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Girls and young women with disabilities face unique challenges with regard to the management of menstrual hygiene. The absence of appropriate sanitation facilities in schools, including separate, accessible and sheltered toilets, in addition to the lack of education, resources and support for menstrual hygiene, compromise their ability to properly manage their hygiene and make them especially prone to diseases. Consequently, many girls and young women with disabilities stay at home or are sent to special schools, reinforcing their exclusion from comprehensive sexuality education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- The prevalence of sexually transmitted infections among youth with disabilities, including girls and young women with disabilities, is of concern. Evidence shows that children and youth with disabilities have a similar or increased risk for contracting sexually transmitted infections compared with other youth, while girls with disabilities experience higher rates than boys with disabilities. However, youth with disabilities, including girls, are less likely to receive information about the prevention of HIV/AIDS or to be given condoms or other methods to prevent sexually transmitted diseases. Evidence suggests, for example, that HIV testing is lower among youth with disabilities (men and women) than among the general population. Generally, girls and young women with disabilities are not the target of prevention campaigns on sexually transmitted infections and cancers. The issue is particularly serious for those who are deaf or deaf-blind, who are traditionally excluded from all mainstream information.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
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