Preventing and combating violence against women with disabilities
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 11 October 2023 (22nd sitting) (see Doc. 15828, report of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination,
rapporteur: Ms Béatrice Fresko-Rolfo). Text
adopted by the Assembly on 11 October 2023 (22nd sitting).
1. The issue of disability, which
encompasses a multitude of realities, is universal in scope. One
in five people in the world will experience a disability at some
point in their lives. The inclusion of persons with disabilities
in society, the main objective of the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, has made significant
progress in recent years. However, it has not yet been fully achieved
in Council of Europe member States.
2. The Covid-19 pandemic has led to greater isolation and increased
dependence among persons with disabilities. Opportunities for all
to participate in social, economic and political life remain limited,
and there are many obstacles to achieving inclusion. Persons with
disabilities, in all their diversity, remain particularly vulnerable
to violence and discrimination.
3. Gender-based violence against women and girls originates in
deeply entrenched gender inequalities. The invisibilisation of women
with disabilities and continued economic and social dependence create
a context of heightened vulnerability that compounds these inequalities.
In addition, violence against women with disabilities, whether physical,
sexual, psychological, structural or economic, remains a taboo subject,
despite the general increase in awareness of the urgent need to
prevent and combat sexual violence thanks to the #MeToo movement.
4. The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating
Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CETS No. 210, the
“Istanbul Convention”) states in Article 4.3 that the protection
and support provided under the convention are to be accessible to
all women without discrimination, including with respect to age,
disability, marital status, belonging to a national minority group,
migrant or refugee status, gender identity or sexual orientation.
The Parliamentary Assembly reiterates its unwavering support for
the Istanbul Convention and Assembly
Resolution 2479 (2023) “The Istanbul
Convention: progress and challenges”. Preventing and combating violence
against women with disabilities must become a political priority.
The accessibility of prevention campaigns, information for survivors,
legal aid and shelters must be guaranteed. The Assembly recognises
furthermore that there is an intersectional dimension to violence
against women and girls with disabilities. Due account must be taken
of the intersection of disability with gender, origin, sexual orientation,
gender identity, gender expression, sex characteristics, migration
status or religion.
5. Society infantilises women with disabilities by not allowing
them to make informed choices about their lives, including their
sexual and reproductive health and rights. Forced sterilisations,
which are still happening in Europe, are a reflection of society’s
validation of the “able-bodied” person as the social norm and of
the pre-eminence of the patriarchal system, and they increase the
risk of sexual violence. They are one of the forms of violence condemned
by the Istanbul Convention. The Assembly refers to its
Resolution 1945 (2013) “Putting an
end to coerced sterilisations and castrations” and reiterates its
call for these practices to be banned.
6. A society that isolates persons with disabilities is neither
fully democratic nor inclusive. The Assembly regrets the lack of
prioritisation of policies to support the inclusion of persons with
disabilities. The Assembly refers to its
Resolution 2431 (2022) “Deinstitutionalisation
of persons with disabilities”,
Resolution 2291 (2019) “Ending coercion
in mental health: the need for a human rights-based approach” and
Resolution 2258 (2019) “For
a disability-inclusive workforce”. It reiterates its call for the
deinstitutionalisation of persons with disabilities and stresses
that their participation in the social, economic and political life
of our countries is beneficial on multiple levels. It calls for
systemic change to achieve effective inclusion and prevent violence
against persons with disabilities, in all their diversity.
7. In the light of these considerations, the Assembly calls on
Council of Europe member States as well as observer States and all
States whose parliaments enjoy observer or partner for democracy
status, to:
7.1 ratify and implement,
if they have not already done so, the Council of Europe Convention
on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic
Violence;
7.2 prohibit, if they have not already done so, forced sterilisations
and forced abortions and ensure that those who have suffered violence
of this type receive compensation;
7.3 implement Recommendation CM/Rec(2012)6 of the Committee
of Ministers to member States on the protection and promotion of
the rights of women and girls with disabilities, which calls on
them to put in place appropriate measures to improve access to justice
for women with disabilities and to protect them from violence;
7.4 implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities and continue the process of deinstitutionalisation
of persons with disabilities, or initiate this process if it has
not yet started;
7.5 carry out disability-sensitive data collection on gender-based
violence and support research into gender-based violence against
women with disabilities.
8. With regard to preventing violence against women with disabilities,
the Assembly calls on these States to:
8.1 make the inclusion of persons with disabilities a priority
by supporting their access to education, employment and culture,
investing in accessibility and promoting their participation in
economic, cultural, political and public life, and supporting in
particular the empowerment of women with disabilities;
8.2 disregard the spouse’s income in determining eligibility
for disability allowance, thus reducing the financial dependence
of persons with disabilities;
8.3 adopt inclusive national strategies or action plans aimed
at preventing and combating gender-based violence, taking into account
disability and the intersections between gender, age, origin, sexual orientation,
gender identity, gender expression, sex characteristics, migration
status and disability, and ensuring the participation of members
of organisations representing persons with disabilities in the development
of such strategies or plans;
8.4 include a gender dimension in national disability policies;
8.5 run campaigns to prevent gender-based violence that are
inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities, and conduct
specific initiatives to prevent violence in facilities for persons
with disabilities;
8.6 provide healthcare professionals and social workers with
training on the rights, dignity, autonomy and needs of women with
disabilities, in all their diversity;
8.7 step up the monitoring of facilities for persons with
disabilities by independent bodies and ensure the protection of
staff members in such establishments who report cases of violence;
8.8 raise awareness of the issue of forced marriage concerning
women with disabilities, particularly in times of conflict;
8.9 provide information on sexual and reproductive rights
in accessible formats;
8.10 carry out awareness-raising campaigns on the issue of
violence within the family in order to prevent incest, in particular
against girls with disabilities, and support families and parents
financially and emotionally in their work to support girls and women
with disabilities;
8.11 run campaigns to combat stereotypes of persons with disabilities,
taking into account the diversity of disability.
9. With regard to support for survivors of gender-based violence
with disabilities, the Assembly calls on these States to:
9.1 provide inclusive and accessible
information on assistance and support services for survivors of violence;
9.2 provide training on disability mainstreaming and inclusion
for staff working in specialist services for survivors of gender-based
violence, and ensure that these structures, as well as helplines,
are accessible;
9.3 provide training for the police, prosecutors and judges
on the specific features of disability and international standards
on the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities, and
ensure that communication tools geared to persons with disabilities
are made available;
9.4 take the necessary measures to eliminate the obstacles
to access to justice faced by women with disabilities, ensuring
the provision of disability-appropriate procedures and arrangements,
as well as accessibility of all procedures;
9.5 ensure access to post-trauma care, including long-term
psychological support, for all survivors of gender-based violence,
taking into account the specific needs of survivors of sexual violence
with disabilities in times of conflict;
9.6 offer free legal aid, including primary and secondary
specialised legal aid, to all women with disabilities who are survivors
of violence, so that they can have access to well-trained, specialised lawyers;
9.7 ensure that all legal remedies are put in place to guarantee
access to compensation mechanisms for women with disabilities who
have been subjected to violence.
10. The Assembly encourages member States to provide financial
support to non-governmental organisations working to promote the
inclusion of persons with disabilities, prevent and combat gender-based violence
and support survivors.
11. The Assembly calls on national parliaments to ensure that
their structures and proceedings are accessible to persons with
disabilities, if this is not already the case, and on political
parties to encourage the participation of women with disabilities
in political life.
12. The Assembly calls on its members to hold debates in their
national parliaments on progress and challenges in achieving the
inclusion of persons with disabilities and on preventing and combating
violence against women with disabilities.
