HRC47: Interactive dialogue with the Working Group on discrimination against women & girls

July 6, 2021
7:04 pm

This joint statement was submitted to the 47th Session of the Human Rights Council Interactive dialogue with the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls on behalf of ARROW, Women with Disabilities Development Foundation (WDDF), RUTGERS and CHOICE. Watch a video of the statement.

We welcome the findings and recommendations contained in the Report of the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls and this statement is to highlight the perennial multiple and intersection forms of discrimination faced by young people, particularly young women and women and girls with disabilities, in accessing their sexual and reproductive health rights, comprehensive sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health services and information in the Asia-Pacific region.

While there has been some progress in the region with regards to access to maternal health, contraception and HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infection (STI) services, more contested services for instance gender-based violence, access to safe abortion and post-abortion care, comprehensive sexuality education and infertility services are not available to young people especially for women and girls with disabilities and the availability of such essential services are dependent on the prevailing legal and social environments^[1] which in most cases discriminate against young people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and disability among other social categorisations.^[2] Gender inequality, patriarchy, forced displacement, fundamentalism and increasing militarism limit the opportunities, available services and capabilities of nearly half of the population in Asia and the Pacific where women, girls and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, asexual people face multiple levels of marginalisation and constant threat of discrimination and/or sexual and gender-based violence. ^[3]

Women’s inequality before the law has resulted in the lack of equal opportunities for young women and those with disabilities in education, access to health, access to decision-making processes, nationality and legal capacity, as well as increased vulnerability to discrimination and violence.^[4] The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly exacerbated the underlying structural inequalities, socioeconomic and gender inequalities, and added accessibility barriers to sexual and reproductive health rights, services and information. There has been widespread increase in domestic and sexual and gender-based violence against young people and women and girls with disabilities as a result of lockdowns affecting their right to bodily autonomy, choice and consent. Lockdowns have massively disrupted routine health services, leading to a rise in unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortion, preventable maternal mortality across the region^[5] which is concerning given that countries in Asia and the Pacific region still have one of the highest fertility rates among adolescents. In 2020, Bangladesh had the highest number of births per thousand women aged between 15-19, with approximately 82.96 births per thousand adolescent women. The adolescent fertility rate for that year was lowest in South Korea, with 1.38 births per thousand women between 15 and 19 years.^[6]

We urge the States in the region to fulfil their obligation to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against young people and women and girls with disabilities by any person, organization or enterprise.^[7] We also urge the States to fulfil their international obligations and commitments to revoke laws that discriminate on the basis of sex and remove gender bias in the administration of justice, taking into account the fact that those laws violate the human right of young women and women and girls with disabilities to be protected against discrimination. ^[8]We also call for greater awareness raising on rights of young people and women and girls with disabilities and ensure full representation and full and equal participation of young people and women with disabilities in political, social and economic decision-making as an essential condition for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

Lastly, we emphasize on the need for comprehensive sexuality education and the need to integrate sexual and reproductive health and rights comprehensively in the digitisation of health services, in national health policies and strategies and in the programmes designed to attain universal health coverage for all and thereby conform to the UN Secretary-General’s Call to Action on the response to the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 where he stated that “Governments must ensure the continued delivery of sexual reproductive health services, such as access to contraceptives without prescription during the crisis.” ^[9] We also call upon States to allocate resources for expanding the reach of health service provisions and information through telemedicine, mobile clinics to benefit diverse populations including refugees, migrants and women and girls with disabilities living in rural and remote areas. The elimination of discrimination against young people and women and girls with disabilities requires the consideration of every individual’s specific socio-economic context, and understanding that laws, policies, customs and traditions that restrict equal access to full participation in development processes and public and political life are discriminatory to young people and women and girls with disabilities. ^[10]

Endorsed by: