A/HRC/56/51 and girls and women and girls of African descent, whose lives have been shaped by histories of oppression, enslavement, exclusion, racial discrimination, forced assimilation and apartheid, linked to conquest and colonization, as well as systematic violence and disregard for their culture, spirituality and traditions. Many have been systematically subjected to reproductive violence, including forced pregnancy and sterilization, and have been separated from their children.60 42. Compounded discrimination also affects their experience of the world of work. For example, for Roma women in many parts of Europe, lack of access to education, coupled with residential segregation and discrimination, exclude them from the formal labour market, forcing them to engage in precarious and low paid work, creating a poverty trap.61 (b) Women and girls with disabilities 43. The Working Group finds that women with disabilities are often seen as weak or in need of protection. Consequently, they may be confined in institutions or their homes and may be deprived of legal capacity. Girls with disabilities are more likely to experience confinement in the family context, associated with fears that they might be prone to sexual abuse, combined with panic about girls’ sexuality.62 They are also more likely to be excluded from education and employment, as compared with both men with disabilities and women without disabilities.63 44. Furthermore, in crisis responses, the needs of women and girls with disabilities, for example, the need for reasonable accommodations, such as the installation of ramps and the provision of portable beds and wheelchairs, are often not specifically taken into account. Information is usually not available in accessible formats, which leads to difficulties in seeking services and communicating with staff. Negative stereotypes linked to their sexual and reproductive health status can lead to the further marginalization of their needs and concerns in situations of crisis.64 (c) Older women 45. The Working Group has highlighted that poverty and inequality influence the lives of older women, who are perceived in some societies as dangerous and in need of control. In certain communities, these women may experience non-judicial confinement and banishment from their homes because of accusations of witchcraft. Moreover, older women without resources or livelihoods may find themselves involuntarily isolated in the home or in a care facility.65 (d) Girls and adolescent girls 46. The Working Group has highlighted that girls and adolescent girls are at increased risk of sexual violence, child, adolescent and unplanned pregnancy, coerced sex and harmful practices because of, inter alia, lack of access to sexual and reproductive information, goods and services, combined with pervasive stereotyping and taboos. During crises, arranged and forced marriages increase in frequency, driven by harmful traditional practices in the context of aggravated poverty. Nevertheless, child marriage and adolescent girls’ sexual and reproductive health needs remain largely unaddressed in humanitarian settings. 66 Girls and adolescent girls also face barriers in participating in public and political life, an issue to which the Working Group devoted one of its thematic reports.67 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 GE.24-07559 Ibid., para. 63. A/HRC/44/51, para. 17. A/HRC/41/33, para. 44. A/HRC/44/51, para. 17. A/HRC/47/38, para. 59. A/HRC/41/33, paras. 28 and 55. See also A/HRC/53/39. A/HRC/47/38, paras. 55 and 56. A/HRC/50/25. 11

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