A/67/227 “cultural contradiction” imposed by society since lesbianism is viewed as a sexual identity, while women with disabilities are often stereotyped as asexual. 11 28. The forced sterilization of women with disabilities remains a global problem. 12 Women with disabilities who elect to have a child are often criticized for their decision and face barriers in accessing adequate health care and other services for themselves and their children. 13 Although society’s fear that women with disabilities will produce so-called “defective” children is for the most part groundless, such erroneous concerns have resulted in discrimination against women with disabilities from having children. There is a dichotomy between the notions, on the one hand, that motherhood is expected of all women and, on the other, that women with disabilities are often discouraged, if not forced, to reject motherhood roles, despite their personal desires.3 Research shows that no group has ever been as severely restricted, or negatively treated, in respect of their reproductive rights, as women with disabilities. 14 29. The 2009 World Health Organization (WHO) guidance note on promoting sexual and reproductive health for persons with disabilities highlighted the fact that women with disabilities are considered in some societies to be less eligible marriage partners and may therefore find themselves in unstable relationships.3 Additionally, if such unstable relationships become abusive, women with disabilities have fewer legal, social and economic options and may be further discriminated against.3 For example, in the event of child custody disputes, courts may use the discriminatory stereotype that the non-disabled partner must be a more competent parent, when awarding custody. 15 30. Older women experience disability more frequently as they age, and older women with disabilities are at particularly high risk of violence. Older women face multiple forms of discrimination, with gender, disability and age compounded by other forms of discrimination. General recommendation No. 27 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, on older women and protection of their human rights, recognizes that, inter alia, gender stereotyping and traditional and customary practices can have harmful impacts on all areas of the lives of older women, in particular those with disabilities, and can result in physical violence as well as psychological, verbal and financial abuse. __________________ 11 12 13 14 15 8 Shelley Tremain, ed., Pushing the Limits: Disabled Dykes Produce Culture (Women’s Press, 1996). Women With Disabilities Australia, “Sterilization of women and girls with disabilities — an update on the issue in Australia” (December 2010). World Health Organization, Promoting sexual and reproductive health for Persons with Disabilities: World Health Organization/United Nations Population Fund Guidance Note (2009). Rannveig Traustadottir, “Obstacles to equality: the double discrimination of women with disabilities: overview article” (1990). Elizabeth Lightfoot, Katharine Hill and Traci LaLiberte, “The inclusion of disability as a condition for termination of parental rights”, Child Abuse and Neglect, vol. 34 (2010), pp. 927-934. 12-45120