WEI works at the intersection of women's rights and disability rights to advance the rights of women and girls with disabilities around the world. Through advocacy and education, WEI increases international attention to—and strengthens international human rights standards on—issues such as violence against women, sexual and reproductive health and rights, access to justice, education, legal capacity, and humanitarian emergencies. Working in collaboration with women with disabilities rights organizations and women's rights organizations worldwide, WEI fosters cooperation across movements to improve understanding and develop cross-cutting advocacy strategies to realize the rights of all women and girls. Our logo is the woman symbol ♀ with the letters 'WE' inside of the circle.
Women Enabled International proudly presents our new accountABILITY toolkit which empowers organizations who work on the behalf of women with disabilities and guides them in making use of available U.N. human rights mechanisms.
English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese,
and Easy Read formats.
An overview of common Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights violations and the right to be free from Gender-Based Violence for women and girls with disabilities, along with examples of what governments must do to realize these rights.
States that have ratified CEDAW and the CRPD—the two international human rights treaties that most directly address the rights of women and girls with disabilities—will soon elect a new set of experts to monitor these treaties. WEI sent out a questionnaire about women and girls with disabilities to all candidates for the CEDAW and CRPD Committees. Check out the results and learn more about these Committees at the links below:
WEI participated in the 62nd Annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62), "Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls, " which was held at the UN Headquarters in New York City, 12–23 March 2018. Pictured above (l-r) are Khawla Wakkaf, Juan Jaime Pardo, Si Kailian, Stephanie Ortoleva, Suzannah Phillips, Anastasia Holoboff, Amanda McRae, and Luci Prosapio. More information about WEI's participation and side events
Interactive Global Map of Advocates
Find women's and disabilities rights organizations near you!
WEI's Global Map of Advocates is a groundbreaking interactive map depicting organizations around the world that advocate for the rights of women and girls with disabilities. Initially released on March 8, 2016, International Women's Day, it has grown to include more than 600 organizations.
May 11, 2018 Disability rights groups call on States to increase disability representation on the CEDAW Committee. A coalition of disability rights groups, including Women Enabled International, have issued a joint statement calling on States to increase disability diversity on the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) by electing Ana Peláez. Peláez would be the first woman with a disability to serve on the CEDAW Committee, which monitors the women's rights records of States around the world. Read more.
Apr 30, 2018 WEI, Advocacy for Women with Disabilities Initiative, and Legal Defence and Assistance Project Shadow Letter on Nigeria to the Human Rights Committee for its development of a List of Issues in the Absence of a State Report.
WEI, AWWDI, and LEDAP submitted a shadow letter to the Human Rights Committee for its development of a list of issues on Nigeria, to be used in a future review of Nigeria’s human rights record under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The letter highlights that women and girls with disabilities in Nigeria face discrimination and stereotyping, are denied access to sexual and reproductive health services, and subjected to practices like forced sterilization and abortion. They are more likely to experience gender-based violence, especially in Nigeria's conflict zones, where they have little access to justice or services. Read the publication
Apr 20, 2018 WEI, Movimiento Estamos Tod@s en Acción and Mesa de Trabajo en Discapacidad y Derechos Humanos de Córdoba: Joint Shadow Letter to the CRC Committee / Carta sombra a al Comité de los Derechos del Niño
WEI jointly submitted a shadow letter on rights violations against girls and adolescents with disabilities in Argentina to the CRC Committee, focusing on sexual and reproductive health and rights and the right to live free from gender based and sexual violence.
WEI presentaron de manera conjunta una carta sombra sobre las violaciones del Estado Argentino a los derechos de niñas y adolescentes con discapacidad al Comité de los Derechos del Niño (el Comité), énfasis específicamente en sus derechos y salud sexual y reproductiva y al derecho a vivir libres de violencia sexual y de género. Read the publication (en espanol)
Mar 30, 2018 Women with Disabilities Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: The Right to Health
WEI and a coalition of women with disabilities organizations in India, Kenya, Nigeria, and Poland submitted information on sexual and reproductive health and rights to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for her upcoming report on the right to health.
Read the publication
Archived News and Publication Announcements 2011-2017
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Current opportunities with WEI
- Social Media and Press Relations Intern Spring/Summer 2018
- Ext. Funded Intl Legal Fellow Fall 2018
- Intl Legal Interns Summer 2018
Upcoming Events
Does your organization have a lecture, conference, day of recognition or related event you'd like to promote?Submit your event to WEI.
if you need an accessible version of any of our PDF documents. We can provide other formats, when available, for your personal use but ask that you do not distribute them.
Stephanie Ortoleva, Esq.,
President and Founder
+1.202.630.3818
