The Fight for Women’s Rights Needs to be Disability Inclusive: Disability Rights Director at Human Rights Watch Explains Why…

TW: This article contains descriptions and references to rape and ableism 

At the heart of the message “women’s rights are human rights” is an assertion of the dignity of all people regardless of gender. One in seven of us lives with a disability, and many women are sisters, mothers, daughters or caregivers of people with disabilities. Therefore the fight for dignity must include women with disabilities to be truly inclusive. 

I had the privilege of participating in negotiations establishing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and saw this fight for dignity firsthand. Hundreds of people with different disabilities from around the world came to the UN headquarters in New York to engage in the talks on this landmark treaty. They shared their experiences of discrimination and indignity, advocating for their rights under the mantra “Nothing about us without us.” Government delegates listened, and then responded, and the treaty is stronger because of it. Yet at the time that the treaty was adopted in 2006, disability rights were not integral to the human rights agenda. Human Rights Watch hired me as its first disability rights researcher in 2010, and soon after, we became the first mainstream human rights organization to have a dedicated team on the issue.

The intersection between women’s rights and disability rights became a top priority. Partnering with other organizations of people with disabilities, Human Rights Watch investigated the challenges facing women with disabilities in Argentina in accessing sexual and reproductive health care. We documented violence and discrimination against women with disabilities in northern Uganda, and exposed how shelters for domestic abuse survivors in Turkey were not accessible to women with disabilities. I have visited institutions, care homes and mental health facilities in more than a dozen countries and have seen women with disabilities laying half naked on the floor, some in their own excrement, with flies hovering over them.

HRW research reveals that women and girls with disabilities face a higher risk of violence and abuse, and the need for policymakers to address the barriers and stigma they face. A 26-year-old woman with a psychosocial disability I met in Kolkata, India, summarised this all too well when she told me about being sedated and raped by four male neighbors. After she reported it to the police, they said, ‘She’s mental, why should I pay attention to her?’”. Women with disabilities battle double discrimination, on gender as well as disability, and struggle to be heard even within their own community. Following the release of our report on barriers to accessing justice for women and girls with disabilities in India, the Delhi police held its first ever training on people with disabilities; and the training was led by two women with disabilities.

Strong women-led organizations of women with disabilities have made strides in Australia, Canada and Uganda. In 2008, I helped convene a global summit of women with disabilities in Montreal, which led to the creation of the International Network of Women with Disabilities. This virtual network, along with new coalitions in India and across the African region, support women with disabilities to empower themselves in their fight for equality and inclusion. When people ask what motivates me to be an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, I think of the courageous people with disabilities in the halls of the UN. And I also think of the many who are isolated and hidden away in institutions, whom I’ve met as part of our research. They trust me with their stories and I feel the immense responsibility of sharing them to bring about change.

Women with disabilities cannot be left out of the mainstream women’s rights agenda. There have been important breakthroughs: the Association for Women's Rights in Development, which works on gender justice and women’s rights in 180 countries, which is now led by Nidhi Goyal, a woman with disability from India. The Women’s Refugee Commission has a focus on disability inclusion. UN Woman has a strategy to empower women with disabilities. Still, many mainstream women’s rights groups, embattled daily with rollbacks towards gender equality, have yet to fully incorporate the rights and needs of women with disabilities as part of their work. It is an omission with grave consequences for a movement that needs to be inclusive to succeed. The fight for dignity, respect and justice should include us all.

Shantha Rau Barriga is the founding Director of the Disability Rights Division at Human Rights Watch.