EMPOWERED, VISIBLE AND DIVERSE WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES
ASSERT OUR RIGHT TO A LIFE FREE FROM VIOLENCE!
25th November 2021
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
Today, 25th November 2021, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, recalling that:
- the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Violence against Women places an obligation on States parties, by virtue of article 15, to accord women equality with men before the law, identical legal capacity and the same opportunities to exercise that capacity;
- the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, by virtue of article 13, places an obligation on States parties to ensure effective access to justice for persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others, including through the provision of procedural and age-appropriate accommodations, in order to facilitate their effective role as direct and indirect participants, including as witnesses, in all legal proceedings, including at investigative and other preliminary stages;
- the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, through Sustainable Development Goal 16, seeks to promote peaceful and inclusive societies, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels with a view, among other targets, to reducing all forms of violence and related death rates;
- the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) obliges states to take the necessary legislative and other measures to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, punish and provide reparation for acts of violence covered by the scope of the Convention. Moreover, states must also ensure victims enjoy the right to legal assistance and to free legal aid under the conditions provided by their internal law.
- The European Union recognises the principles of equality before the law, non-discrimination and equality between women and men in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (articles 20, 21 and 23) and has committed to combat violence against women by signing the Istanbul Convention. Moreover, it has obligations to take measures to combat violence against persons with disabilities as Party to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- The European Union Directive 2012/29/EU of 25 October 2012, establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, requires targeted and integrated support for victims with specific needs, such as victims of sexual violence and victims of gender-based violence, and further calls for due consideration of the specific needs of victims with disabilities in communications and specific protection needs assessments;
- The European Commission’s ‘A Union of Equality: Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025’ recognises that women with health issues and with disabilities are more likely to experience various forms of violence and commits the Commission to developing and funding measures to tackle abuse, violence, forced sterilisation and forced abortion.
- The European Commission’s ‘Union of Equality: Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030’ commits to pay particular attention to women with disabilities who are two to five times more likely to face violence than other women and to ensure mainstreaming of disability-related aspects of violence and abuse into relevant future EU policies.
The European Disability Forum condemns the situation in which thousands of women with disabilities find themselves in the European Union as victims of male violence against women or at serious risk of falling victim to it. Furthermore, these women with disabilities encounter innumerable barriers when claiming their rights in the face of the law and are left unprotected by a justice system which purports to guarantee rights but which, nevertheless, excludes precisely those who are most vulnerable and, therefore, run a greater risk of falling victim to violence.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to increased exclusion, more violence and greater social inequalities in all European Union Member States, emergency public policies to combat violence against women have, once again, overlooked women with disabilities in access to justice, an essential instrument to be able to exercise rights effectively, compensate victims and take a stand against discrimination and violence.
As women with disabilities, we come up against an appallingly patriarchal and ableist justice system in all European Union Member States. In practise, women with disabilities are denied access to justice not only due to obstacles to accessibility and a lack of procedural accommodations within the justice system and the fact that legal assistance is unaffordable, but also, and what is most hurtful, because of the unwillingness, stereotypes and prejudices shown by the judiciary, prosecutors, legal experts and law enforcement agencies towards the few women with disabilities who dare to report violations of their human rights.
In fact, those within the judicial system are often reluctant to give credence to the testimonies offered by women with disabilities and they often fail to bring cases involving violent acts against women with disabilities because more resources are required due to the need to prove the victim’s ability to give consent and testify, or because of their linguistic or cultural identity, such as women who are Deaf or deafblind. The few court rulings involving women with disabilities, rather than protecting them, fail to respect fully their human rights. Excessive formalism in proceedings and a different, specific language with which most citizens are unfamiliar, serve to make legal proceedings incomprehensible to ordinary women with disabilities and in particular those with an intellectual or psychosocial disability or other limitations in accessing communication and information.
Although the right to free legal aid is recognised in some European Union countries to those who can demonstrate insufficient means to bring cases, women victims of violence and other social groups, it is necessary to extend this right to all women with disabilities who are victims of multiple or intersectional discrimination due to their gender and disability.
There are many issues which, on a day against violence such as today, lead us to speak out and CALL FOR the following:
- The European Union must urgently ratify the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention).
- The European Union must adopt laws and policies to combat violence against women, including an EU Directive criminalising all forms of male violence against women and girls (including forced sterilisation), and providing assistance and support to all women and girls victims, and add gender-based violence to the list of EU crimes.
- A Europe-wide, large-scale survey on violence against women with disabilities in order to determine the real situation and be able to develop and implement suitable public policies in response to this serious issue.
- Steps to ensure in all European Union Member States full inclusion and accessibility in all specialised programmes and services for women victims of violence, as well as training on the specific characteristics of disability in relation to male violence against women.
- Measures to promote and guarantee access to justice for women with disabilities, including those who are under substituted decision making mechanisms (such as guardianship or curatorship), while ensuring the full accessibility of all procedural safeguards, including through the provision of age-appropriate procedural accommodations, access to information and communication and human and technology-based support chosen by women with disabilities themselves in their dealings with the justice system.
- Cross-institutional operating protocols at national level involving law enforcement agencies, members of the judiciary, prosecutors, lawyers and all other concerned actors to guarantee women with disabilities enjoy full access to justice.
- The European Union and its Member States must promote training programmes aimed at all stakeholders within the justice system to eradicate symbolic obstacles, prejudices and pre-conceived ideas about women with disabilities.
EMPOWERED, VISIBLE AND DIVERSE WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES
ASSERT OUR RIGHT TO A LIFE FREE FROM VIOLENCE!