General News
Special Rapporteur underscores the need to address violence against women with disabilities
The Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Ms Rashida Manjoo, presented her second annual report to the General Assembly on 24 October 2012 ( http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/67/227 ). The report focused on violence against women with disabilities. Ms Manjoo stressed the need to recognise that violence against women takes a unique form when gender and disability intersect. She further stressed that despite normative frameworks concerning both the human rights of women and of persons with disabilities, violence against women with disabilities remains largely unaddressed. All States that participated in the dialogue expressed appreciation for the efforts of the Special Rapporteur in combating violence against women and shared their deep concern over the pervasiveness of violence against women with disabilities.
During the interactive dialogue, several States attempted to link the discussion to recent events by acknowledging that women with disabilities face additional challenges during periods of transition. The UK, EU and Liechtenstein in particular emphasised that women with disabilities in post-conflict situations are often not included in the reconstruction process and requested the Special Rapporteur to advice on how the national and international community can ensure that these women are better included. Ms Manjoo noted that women with disabilities in conflict or post-conflict regions are at a greater risk of violence, stressing that narrow conceptions of citizenship understand ‘accommodation' as merely physical accommodation, resulting in further isolation and invisibility of women with disabilities. She further stated that when conflict is a cause of disabilities, the major challenge in addressing violence against women with disabilities is in terms of humanitarian assistance.
Switzerland raised the issue of sexual and reproductive health, drawing attention to the practice of forced sterilisation of women with disabilities in some countries and the need for all women and girls to have full access to sexual and reproductive health. Ms Manjoo emphasized that women with disabilities are often treated as if they have no control, or should have no control over their sexual and reproductive health. She underscored the need to counter this through awareness programmes and legal protection.
In addition to the focus on women with disabilities, the Special Rapporteur's report also summarised her activities in the past year, including the thematic report A/HRC/20/16 ( http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session20/A.HRC.20.16_En.PDF ) she presented to the Human Rights Council in June 2012, which focused on the issue of gender related killings of women, and her country visits to Jordan, Somalia and Italy. Jordan critiqued the assertion that refugees were denied access to healthcare and public education in Jordan and argued that the report ignored that citizenship of Palestinians should be considered within the Middle East peace process. Jordan further rejected the claim that its constitutional amendments encouraged a traditional view of women as people in need of protection. Ms Manjoo responded by offering to meet with Jordan one-on-one to address these concerns.
Additional Information
Country: Antarctica
Website: http://www.ishr.ch/general-assembly/1404-special-rapporteur-underscores-the-need-to-address-violence-against-women-with-disabilities?utm_source=ISHR+Publications+and+News&utm_campaign=d99352d444-RSS_Email_Campaign_General_Assembly&utm_medium=email
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Source: AsiaPacificDisability@yahoogroups.com
When: 13/11/2012
