Women Enabled International (WEI) strongly condemns the continued police violence and murder of members of the Black community in the United States that has led to days of protests across the country and around the world.
The racist murders of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Nina Pop, and numerous other men, women, trans and non-binary persons—with and without disabilities—is a human rights violation of the highest order.
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Please visit our NEW blog for news and recent publications
Rewriting the Narrative with WEI is a blog space dedicated to uplifting and centering the stories of women and girls with disabilities and disability justice allies around the globe.
Here’s to rewriting the narrative, one story at a time!
WEI Responds to the COVID-19 Pandemic
the latest news
- WEI Submission on Domestic Violence and COVID-19 at the Intersection of Gender and Disability to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women June 30, 2020
Several actors have identified that, alongside the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a simultaneous "hidden pandemic" of domestic violence as a result of COVID-19 mitigation measures that is impacting the health and safety of particularly women and girls around the world. In response to a call for information from the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women about this hidden pandemic, WEI reported information from its own research and that of organizations of women with disabilities around the world to illustrate how factors related to both gender and disability are creating a greater risk of domestic violence for women, girls, non-binary, trans, and gender non-conforming persons with disabilities during this global crisis.
- WEI and Nairobi Principles Working Group (NPWG) Respond to U.N. Special Procedures Questionnaire on COVID-19 and Human Rights June 22, 2020
- COVID-19 at the Intersection of Gender and Disability: Findings of WEI's Global Human Rights Survey May 20, 2020
WEI, as a member of the Nairobi Principles Working Group, submitted information to several U.N. human rights experts on the situation of rights related to gender, disability, and sexuality during the COVID-19 crisis. This information will be used to inform the global human rights response to this pandemic. Read the submission
- Our statement on COVID-19 and Women with Disabilities April 8, 2020
Women, girls, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming persons with disabilities must not be left behind in efforts to respond to COVID-19.
Declaración sobre los derechos en la intersección de género y discapacidad durante COVID-19 disponible en español y inglés.
In March 2020, Women Enabled International identified a gap in initial global responses to COVID-19. WEI's published report pulls together responses to our global survey of women, non-binary, and trans persons with disabilities. It seeks to provide the guidance States, U.N agencies, and others need to respond to this crisis in a way that protects rights at the intersection of gender and disability. Read the full report
Tools, Guidelines and Key Publications
Abortion and Disability: Towards an Intersectional Human Rights-Based Approach
WEI’s new publication, Abortion and Disability: Towards an Intersectional Human Rights-Based Approach, marks a ground-breaking effort to bring the voices of women with disabilities into ongoing debates between the reproductive rights and disability rights movements around abortion on the basis of fetal impairment.
Women and Young Persons with Disabilities: Guidelines for Providing Rights-Based and Gender-Responsive Services to Address Gender-Based Violence and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
This 2018 publication by WEI and the U.N. Population Fund aim to provide practical and concrete guidelines for making GBV and SRHR services more inclusive of and accessible to women and young persons with disabilities and for targeting interventions to meet their disability-specific needs. Available in Spanish, English, French, and Easy Read Formats.
WEI accountABILITY Toolkit
WEI presents this free toolkit to empower organizations that advocate for the rights of women with disabilities and assist them in using available U.N. human rights mechanisms. The guides are available in English and Spanish PDFs and accessible Microsoft Word formats. In addition, accompanying Fact Sheets are available in Chinese and Arabic.
WEI Fact Sheets
Each fact sheet is an overview of frequent violations of the rights of women and girls with disabilities, and examples of what governments must do to realize these rights.
- Right to Education for Women and Girls with Disabilities
(English and Easy Read) - Access to Justice for Women and Girls with Disabilities
(English and Easy Read) - Legal Capacity of Women and Girls with Disabilities
(English, Spanish and Easy Read) - Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Women and Girls with Disabilities
(English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and Easy Read) - The Right to be free from Gender-Based Violence
(English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and Easy Read) - Information about the United Nations for Women and Girls with Disabilities
(EasyRead)
New! ACCESS: Good Practices
WEI has created overviews of good practices for organizations and individuals for including Women with Disabilities in their social media communities and when planning international meetings. More topics to come! Available as Accessible PDFs.
WEI's Interactive Map of Global Advocates
A groundbreaking interactive map of organizations that advocate for the rights of women and girls with disabilities. Released on International Women's Day in 2016, it has grown to include 690 organizations.
Find organizations in most countries worldwide working for the rights of disabled women and girls and aligned women’s rights organizations, disability rights organizations, academic institutions and more!
Updated November 22, 2019
Our Mission:
Women Enabled International
advances human rights at the intersection of gender and disability to: respond to the lived experiences of women and girls with disabilities; promote inclusion and participation; and achieve transformative equality.
Our Vision:
We envision a world where women and girls with disabilities claim human rights, act in solidarity and lead self-determined lives.
Learn more about our approach
and strategic goals
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