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Women with Disabilities

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

General Information

• The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was adopted on December 13, 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and was opened for signature on March 30, 2007. As of August 1, 2010, 88 countries have ratified and 146 countries have signed the UN CRPD.
  
  
• The CRPD was developed through a series of meetings from 2002 to 2006 with strong input from international disability leaders and advocates.
  
  
• The United States signed the CRPD on July 30, 2009. It is the first Human Rights treaty signed by the U.S. in the new millennium. In order to ratify the CRPD, two-thirds of the Senate, or 61 Senators, must approve a bill calling for ratification.
  
  
• As a signatory of the UN CRPD, the U.S. is obligated not to violate the object and purpose of the Convention. For the complete text of the UN CRPD, please visit the UN Enable website.

Overview of the UN CRPD

• The CRPD generally is seen as a paradigm shift from viewing disability as a medical or social welfare concern to recognizing it as a human rights issue that needs to be addressed in all aspects of society.
  
  
• The CRPD notes that disability is an evolving concept that results from the interaction between a person's impairment and societal obstacles that prevent full participation in society.
  
  
• The CRPD takes a comprehensive view of disability and focuses on making all aspects of community life accessible to all people, including employment, education, housing, health, political participation, access to justice, and humanitarian emergencies.
  
  
• Article 32 of the UN CRPD specifically addresses the issues of international cooperation and states that international development must be inclusive and accessible to people with disabilities. The Article also encourages the facilitation and support of capacity building, the development of research, and the provision of technical assistance.
  
  
• The CRPD establishes a Monitoring Committee comprised of independent experts who will receive periodic reports from States Parties, or governments who have ratified the Convention, on their progress in implementing the Convention.
  
  
• The CRPD also has an Optional Protocol that allows individuals and groups to petition the Monitoring Committee if they feel that the CRPD is not being implemented appropriately or adequately within their respective country. As of August 1, 2010, 89 countries have signed and 54 have ratified the Optional Protocol. The United States is not a signatory of the Optional Protocol.

Women with Disabilities & the CRPD

• The CRPD recognizes that women with disabilities often face double discrimination based upon both gender and their disability. To promote equity among men and women with disabilities, the CRPD highlights gender issues throughout the convention and established a separate article, Article 6, on the rights of women with disabilities.
  
  
• Article 6 highlights the need for countries to take proactive measures to ensure the full and equal enjoyment by women and girls of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. It also states that countries must take appropriate measures to ensure the full development, advancement, and empowerment of women to have the same rights as others as set out in the CRPD.
  
  
• The Preamble of the CRPD also recognizes that women and girls with disabilities are often at greater risk, both within and outside the home, of violence; injury or abuse; neglect or negligent treatment; maltreatment; or exploitation.
  
  
• The General Principles of the CRPD includes equality between men and women as an important issue to be taken into consideration throughout all of the Convention.
  
  
• In addition to these measures, women and girls with disabilities are specifically mentioned and addressed in the following articles:

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