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Your excellencies, States continue to fall short in upholding rights at the intersection of gender and disability. Nearly 20 years since the CRPD, 30 years since the Beijing Platform, and almost 40 years since CEDAW, human rights violations against women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities remain persistent and widespread, and access to justice is limited.
Ashrafun Nahar Misti, Founder/Executive Director Women with Disabilities Development Foundation (WDDF) Misti delivered the statement on behalf of feminist with disabilities and allies
This comes amid a growing global backlash against human rights, gender equality, and racial equality that is impacting persons with disabilities who face multiple and intersecting forms of marginalization – including LGBTQIA+ communities. At the same time, our work as feminist-led organizations of persons with disabilities is increasingly difficult, as funding for that work becomes scarce. Also, we are extremely worried about the security and the most difficult conditions of women and girls with disabilities in Palestine, as well as in many sides of conflict and war worldwide.
Opportunities
Women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities are still largely invisible in policy, funding, and representation in decision-making and meaningful participation, and disproportionately impacted by denial or reduction of legal capacity. This is particularly the case for those with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities, deafblind people, Autistic people, those from Indigenous or minority communities, and LGBTQIA+ communities, developing countries, amongst others. This invisibility has to end.
Thus, we welcome recent efforts to guide States to ensure rights at the intersection of gender, disability, ethnicity, class, age, culture, religion and others. These include
The CRPD Committee’s upcoming General Comment on the right to participate in political and public life and Guidelines on diverse Women and Girls with Disabilities.
We also applaud the African Union’s February adoption of a new Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls, a landmark instrument with explicit protections for diverse women and girls with disabilities.
Likewise, we welcome the CEDAW Committee’s General Recommendation No. 39, which specifically addresses the rights of indigenous women and girls with disabilities to protection from violence, and No. 40, which took a disability inclusive intersectional approach to advancing gender equality in decision-making spaces.
Regarding funding, we echo the Global Disability Summit’s call for 15% of global funding for the 15% of the world’s population of people with disabilities. But let us be clear: this commitment will mean little if the 15% continues to ignore the diversity within our own community. This funding must prioritize the leadership, needs, and rights of those most impacted by the current global context –in particular, people with disabilities who face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.
We, as disability rights and justice movement actors, then need to also change our ways of working, to reach across movements and act in solidarity to advance rights for all. This solidarity is particularly needed with those in humanitarian settings, facing war, conflict and genocide, and with those experiencing transphobia, ableism, racism, colonialism, and other systems of oppression.
Call to action
Urgent action is needed to uphold the rights at the intersection of gender and disability, ethnicity, class and age and to resist the global rise of authoritarianism, anti-rights, and anti-gender forces.
We call on Governments to center gender equality and disability rights in all laws and policies, and fund comprehensive implementation of the CRPD.
We urge the creation and public reporting of accountability mechanisms including disaggregated data, gender- and disability-responsive budgeting, and meaningful participation benchmarks to ensure States and donors deliver on their commitments.
We also call on civil society and OPDs to deepen cross-movement collaboration and amplify diverse voices of the most impacted communities.
Finally, we call on donors and development actors to walk the talk in staffing, design, and funding, while strengthening feminist and disability-led leadership.
Endorsed by
Women Enabled International
Humanity & Inclusion
National Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal (NIDWAN)
Asia Pacific Indigenous Women and Girls with Disabilities Network (AIPWDN)
Women with Disabilities Development Foundation (WDDF)
Minority Rights Group
Disabled Women in Africa (DIWA)
International Disability Alliance
International Women’s Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW Asia Pacific)
Institute Black with Disabilities Lives Matter Brazil (Instituto VNDI)
Diverse Empowerment Foundation (DEF, Uganda )
Disability Rights Fund
Nationwide Organization of Visually-Impaired Empowered Ladies (NOVEL) – Philippines
Transgender people with disabilities are an integral part of the disability community. Trans people are more likely to have a disability than cisgender people: For example, the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found that 39% of respondents reported a disability, as compared to 15% of the general U.S. population.[1] Like all disabled people, trans disabled people deserve the right to bodily autonomy, self-determination, and equitable access to health care, including gender-affirming care. However, in recent years, anti-trans lawmakers have escalated their attacks on transgender people’s access to health care, with many explicitly targeting disabled transgender people and using ableist rhetoric to justify restrictions on gender-affirming care. These attacks threaten the dignity of transgender people with disabilities—and the rights of all disabled people.
Attacks On Access to Gender-Affirming Care Have Proliferated Nationwide.
Digital illustration of a group of diverse people of various ages, genders, and ethnicities, including a person in a wheelchair, standing together against a light background. Below them is the text ‘THE FUTURE OF DISABILITY RIGHTS IS FEMINIST.’ and the logo ‘WOMEN ENABLED INTERNATIONAL.
Gender-affirming care is best practice care that is medically necessary for the wellbeing of many transgender people. This often life-saving care is individualized, age-appropriate, and provided according to well-established standards of care. Every major medical organization in the United States—representing over 1.3 million doctors—calls for access to gender-affirming care for transgender people.[2] Numerous studies document the benefits of gender-affirming care, including increased quality of life and wellbeing, decreased depression and anxiety, and decreased suicidality.[3]
Despite the well-established benefits of gender-affirming care, extremists across the country have advanced laws and policies aimed at banning gender-affirming care. Since 2022, hundreds of bills attacking health care for transgender people have been introduced in legislatures across the country,[4] and 26 states have passed such bills into law.[5] On the federal level, the Trump Administration has launched an unprecedented attack on transgender people’s access to care,[6] while numerous bills targeting this care have been introduced in Congress.[7] And in September 2024, Attorneys General in 17 states filed a lawsuit to prevent transgender people experiencing gender dysphoria from receiving protection under Section 504, while simultaneously asking the court to declare Section 504 itself unconstitutional and challenging the right of people with disabilities to receive services in integrated settings.[8]
Ableist Justifications for Limiting Access to Gender-Affirming Care Are Deplorable.
Many proponents of gender-affirming care bans have singled out transgender people with disabilities in both their policies and their rhetoric. For example, policymakers have tried to justify restrictions on gender-affirming care by pointing to the higher prevalence of disabilities among transgender people, suggesting that the presence of a disability should call into question transgender people’s capacity to make decisions about their care. There are a range of factors that contribute to the higher rates of disability among transgender people—but contrary to the claims of anti-trans policymakers, having a disability can never justify being denied basic rights and access to care. As disability advocacy organizations, we know that all disabled people, including those who are transgender, can and should make decisions about their bodies and health care.
Proponents of anti-trans policies have shown flagrant disregard for this principle, repeatedly targeting disabled transgender people. For example, some proposals have sought to impose heightened restrictions on access to gender-affirming care for disabled people. Many state lawmakers have introduced or passed bills in recent years that explicitly use disability to justify their restriction of gender-affirming care. Several states have enacted laws banning care for trans youth that include findings that trans people are more likely to have psychiatric or developmental disabilities and suggesting that they should face additional hurdles to the care they need.[9] Some states have also passed laws that make it easier to sue providers of gender-affirming care for malpractice if their patient has a mental health disability.[10]
This trend of ableist justifications for anti-trans discrimination has also made its way to the courts. Recently, plaintiffs represented by a single law firm have filed lawsuits across the country accusing doctors, nurses, and health care clinic staff of fraud and malpractice for providing gender-affirming care to people with disabilities. These cases also accuse therapists of malpractice for not using a patient’s disability as a basis for dismissing their gender identity or discouraging them from seeking gender-affirming care.
In addition, lawsuits seeking to punish health care professionals for offering gender-affirming care to trans patients with disabilities or to punish mental health professionals for affirming a trans disabled patient’s identity are extremely dangerous: they threaten providers with lawsuits and a loss of their license for the provision of medically necessary health care. A rise in medical malpractice lawsuits could create a chilling effect or even discourage providers from providing gender-affirming care to trans patients with disabilities altogether, especially to people with mental health, intellectual, developmental, or cognitive disabilities.
These discriminatory bills and lawsuits weaponize ableism to justify anti-trans policies and seek to strip trans people with disabilities of autonomy over their own bodies and decision-making. Proponents of these policies falsely claim that people with disabilities lack the mental capacity to recognize and assert their gender identity. These claims—and the assumptions they betray about disabled people’s dignity and humanity—are an affront not only to trans disabled people, but to the entire disability community.
Transgender People with Disabilities Must Have the Freedom to Make Self-Determined Decisions About Their Health Care For Disability Justice to Be Achieved.
People with disabilities are no strangers to baseless and harmful judgments about their capacity to make self-determined decisions. In the United States, disabled people have been systematically denied the right to make decisions about their bodies, lives, and futures because of state-sanctioned forced sterilization, limits on marriage, restrictive guardianships, “ugly laws,” forced institutionalization, and paternalistic attitudes. Attempts to ban or restrict access to gender-affirming care because of a patient’s disability are yet another attack on disabled people’s autonomy and self-determination. They are both dangerous and deplorable.
Assumptions that disabled trans people—including those with mental health, intellectual, and developmental disabilities—cannot make decisions about their health care is discrimination based on disability. This type of discrimination can be a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Disabled people should be presumed to have the capacity to make healthcare decisions, including the decision to access gender-affirming care. Healthcare providers can and should ensure that disabled people get meaningful access to gender-affirming care and offer appropriate support for patients with intellectual, developmental, and mental health disabilities when needed. This support may include reasonable accommodations like effective communication measures or supported decision-making,[11] as well as providing the disabled individual with the necessary information in an accessible format and giving them additional time to make a decision.[12] These best practices stand in stark contrast to the anti-trans claim that providers should question a person’s gender identity or even deny them gender-affirming care on the basis of their mental health, intellectual, or developmental disabilities.
Disability justice principles remind us that cross-movement solidarity and collective liberation are the only ways to achieve our shared aims. As disability rights and justice advocates and organizations, we urge policymakers at all levels to reject anti-trans policies and rhetoric and, instead, enact comprehensive measures that ban discrimination and promote equality, nondiscrimination, and accessibility for all. As disability advocacy organizations, we call for policies that embrace disabled trans people, respect their self-determination, and celebrate their power.
[Signed Disability Advocacy Organizations]
Access Ready, Inc.
American Association of People with Disabilities
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Autistic People of Color Fund
Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
CommunicationFIRST
CUNY School of Law
Detroit Disability Power
Disability Rights California
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF)
Family Voices NJ
Justice in Aging
National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy
National Disabled Legal Professionals Association
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Women’s Law Center
Network of Women with Disabilities NOW
Northern Justice Project, LLC
Positive Women’s Network-USA
TakeRoot Justice
US Gender and Disability Justice Alliance
Women Enabled International
[1] Sandy E. James et al., The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey 57 (Dec. 2016),https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS-Full-Report-Dec17.pdf. See also Abigail Mulcahy et al., Gender Identity, Disability, and Unmet Healthcare Needs Among Disabled People Living in the Community in the United States, 19 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2588 (Feb. 23, 2022),doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19052588.
[3] See, e.g, Kellan E. Baker, et al., Hormone Therapy, Mental Health, and Quality of Life Among Transgender People, 5 J. of the Endocrine Society 4-12 (2021) (collecting studies)https://academic.oup.com/jes/article/5/4/bvab011/6126016?login=false; see also Zoe Aldridge et al., Long Term Effect of Gender Affirming Hormone Treatment on Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Transgender People: A Prospective Cohort Study, 9 Andrology 1812 (Nov. 2021),https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32777129;Diana M. Tordoff, et al., Mental Health Outcomes in Transgender and Nonbinary Youths Receiving Gender Affirming Care, 5 JAMA Network Open e220978 (Feb. 25, 2022) https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2789423.
[4] Tracking the Rise of Anti-Trans Bills in the U.S.,Trans Legislation Tracker,https://translegislation.com/learn (last accessed Feb. 24, 2025).
[11] Nicole Agaronnik, et al., Communicating with Patients with Disability: Perspectives of Practicing Physicians, 34(7) J. Gen. Intern. Med. 1139 (Jul 2019); Support Without Courts, https://supportwithoutcourts.org/; American Civil Liberties Union, Supported Decision-Making Resource Library,https://www.aclu.org/documents/supported-decision-making-resource-library.
Women Enabled International would like to honor the extraordinary life and legacy of Elaine Nonneman, whose unwavering support for nearly a decade has profoundly shaped WEI. Through her personal contributions and the dedication of the Channel Foundation, Elaine championed our mission to amplify the voices of women and girls with disabilities worldwide.
Elaine’s impact is immeasurable. Her belief in our vision created opportunities that broke down barriers and inspired systemic change across the globe, leaving a legacy that will continue to resonate for years to come.
We are forever grateful for her partnership. We carry her spirit forward as we continue our work to build a world where all women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities, can thrive.
Un legado de generosidad: En honor a Elaine Nonneman
Women Enabled International honra la vida y el legado extraordinario de Elaine Nonneman. Durante casi una década, el inquebrantable apoyo de Elaine ha moldeado a WEI. A travé de su contribuciones personales y la dedicación de la Fundacción Channel, Elaine defendió y trabajó amplificando nuestra misión, elevando las voces de las mujeres y niñas con discapacidad en todo el mundo.
El impacto de Elaine es inconmensurable. Su firme convicción en nuestra visión creó oportunidades que rompieron barreras e inspiraron cambios sistémicos alrededor del mundo, dejando un legado que tiene eco en el futuro.
En WEI estamos profundamente agradecidas por su colaboración. Inspiradas en su espíritu, continuamos con nuestro trabajo para construir un mundo donde todas las mujeres, niñas y personas de género diverso con discapacidades puedan prosperar.
Q&A with Virginia Ossana, Senior Program Officer, Movement and Capacity Strengthening at WEI, who served as liaison with AWID Forum, and member of the AWID Accessibility Committee.
Q: Tell us about your role at WEI?
Well, I do a lot of different things. For instance, I recently completed a research project on activists working to advance disability and gender justice in the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe and how funders can support them. I advance WEI’s movement strengthening work with the disability and gender movements, including supporting the Latin American Collective of Women with Disabilities for Human rights. And I advise organizers of feminist conferences and gatherings on how to make them accessible for people with disabilities.
Q: What is AWID? How did WEI partner with them? AWID is the Association for Women’s Rights in Development, a global, feminist, membership organization working to achieve gender justice and women’s human rights. AWID organizes a conference––the AWID Forum––once every few years to bring together feminist leaders and activists from around the world. In the lead up to the December 2024 AWID Forum in Bangkok, WEI was invited to be a part of the Accessibility Committee to advise on how to make the event accessible. It wasn’t just accessibility for people with disabilities like myself and members of the WEI community, but also a broader scope, including the LGBTQI community, sex workers, people living with HIV, and people who use drugs. The Committee met regularly for almost two years, including an in-person meeting in February 2024 in Bangkok, where we discussed and strategized around all things accessibility and conducted an accessibility audit of the conference venue and related spaces, including hotels.
Q: What were some of the accessibility wins at AWID?
A huge win was that people who needed a support person could bring them at no extra cost. People who were part of the Access Fund, which is basically a scholarship, had their plane tickets paid for and all of their participation was covered by the fund. That ensured that a lot of people with disabilities could attend.
Content-wise, it was really gratifying to see accessibility and women with disabilities center stage at the Forum, not just at WEI events or those hosted by our partners. The Accessibility Committee––and AWID’s commitment to accessibility––was held up as a tenet of the Forum, and women with disabilities were among the opening and closing plenaries. WEI’s Executive Director Maryangel García-Ramos and Board Member Niluka Gunawardena absolutely rocked the closing plenary. It was incredible to listen to them and cheer for them in front of a crowd of thousands. It was like a cherry on top of dessert––a crowning moment to almost two years of work.
Q: Can you describe what it felt like to be at AWID? It’s global, it’s multicultural, it’s multilingual. You’re meeting all of these people, working across every issue––racial justice, climate change, trans rights––and you’re trying to listen and learn and attend as many different events as you can. The vibe is more grassroots, more informal and intimate than other conferences––despite the thousands in attendance.
There was also a lot of joy and celebration throughout. One surprise––that speaks to both accessibility and joy––was that when we went to get our meals, there was an accessible buffet so people with disabilities could serve themselves, and for me, there was a person who assisted me so I could choose whatever I wanted to eat. Usually what happens in those spaces is someone will get a plate for you––and you just try to make it easy for them and eat whatever they bring. We’re disabled folks, we’re used to it being that way. It may sound like a small thing, but it changes how you show up in a space when you’re able to make your own decisions. I literally saw people, including one of WEI’s partners, taking pictures and videos because they were so surprised and happy to see this happen.
Q:What are some takeaways for future feminist forums? We need to go a step further in budgeting for accessibility when it comes to sign language interpreters. In a sprawling event like this where there are 20 sessions every hour, it’s not possible to have interpreters everywhere. My advice is to ask conference attendees in advance who needs an interpreter and then budget for them to bring as their support person, including paying for their fees. In the end, it would be more cost-efficient––and avoid the scramble of having to try to find interpreters on the spot.
Overall, we’ve come a long way. Feminist movements are learning to be more inclusive and take advantage of resources and the expertise of traditionally marginalized communities. They are signing on and implementing the Feminist Accessibility Protocol and putting appropriate measures in place. We need to keep pushing for the mainstreaming of disability in these spaces and in conversations that are not disability-specific––because as Maryangel said at AWID’s closing plenary “every issue is a gender, race, and disability issue.”
We are starting to see small sprouts from the seeds we’ve planted, but there’s a lot more watering to do.
Virginia Ossana, a disabled Argentinian woman, is Senior Program Officer, Movement and Capacity Strengthening at WEI.
“Tenemos que seguir trabajando para que se incorpore el tema de discapacidad en estos espacios…”
Entrevista con Virginia Ossana, Oficial Senior de Programas, Movimientos y Fortalecimiento de Capacidades en WEI, quien sirvió como enlace con el Foro de AWID y miembro del Comité de Accesibilidad de AWID.
P: ¿Háblanos de tu trabajo en WEI (por sus siglas en inglés)?
Bueno, hago muchas cosas distintas. Por ejemplo, hace poco termine un proyecto de investigación sobre activistas que trabajan para promover la justicia sobre la discapacidad y el género en Medio Oriente, Asia Central y Europa del Este, y sobre cómo pueden apoyarlos los financiadores. Promuevo el trabajo de fortalecimiento de movimientos de WEI, específicamente con los movimientos de discapacidad y de género, incluido el apoyo al Colectivo Latinoamericano de Mujeres con Discapacidad por los Derechos Humanos. Y doy consultoría a los organizadores de conferencias y encuentros feministas sobre cómo hacerlos accesibles para las personas con discapacidad.
P: ¿Qué es AWID (por sus siglas en inglés)? ¿Cómo se asoció WEI con ellos?
AWID es la Asociación para los Derechos de las Mujeres y el Desarrollo, una organización internacional y feminista, que trabaja para lograr la justicia de género y los derechos humanos de las mujeres. AWID organiza un Foro, cada tres o cuatro años, para reunir a líderes y activistas feministas de todo el mundo. Previo al Foro de AWID, que tuvo lugar en diciembre de 2024 en Bangkok, WEI fue invitada a formar parte del Comité de Accesibilidad para asesorar sobre cómo hacer que el evento fuera accesible. No se trataba solamente de la accesibilidad para las personas con discapacidad, como yo y los miembros de la comunidad de WEI, sino también de un alcance más amplio, que incluía a la comunidad LGBTQI, a les trabajadores sexuales, a las personas que viven con VIH y a las personas que consumen drogas. El Comité se reunió periódicamente durante casi dos años, incluida una reunión presencial en febrero de 2024 en Bangkok, en la que debatimos y elaboramos estrategias en torno a todo lo relacionado con la accesibilidad y llevamos a cabo una auditoría de accesibilidad del lugar de la conferencia y de los demás espacios involucrados, incluidos los hoteles.
P: ¿Cuáles fueron algunas de las victorias en cuestiones de accesibilidad en AWID?
Una gran victoria fue que las personas que necesitaban una persona de apoyo podían llevarla sin costo adicional. A las personas que formaron parte del Access Fund (Fondo de Apoyo), que es básicamente una beca, se les pagaron los boletos de avión y toda su participación fue cubierta por el fondo. Eso garantizó que muchas personas con discapacidad pudieran asistir.
En cuanto al contenido, fue realmente gratificante ver la accesibilidad y a las mujeres con discapacidad en el centro del Foro, no solo en los eventos de WEI o en los organizados por nuestros socios. El Comité de Accesibilidad, y el compromiso de AWID con la accesibilidad, se tuvo como un principio del Foro, y las mujeres con discapacidad estuvieron entre las sesiones plenarias de apertura y de cierre. Maryangel García-Ramos, Directora Ejecutiva de WEI y Niluka Gunawardena, Miembro de la Junta Directiva, sacudieron absolutamente la sesión plenaria de cierre. Fue increíble escucharlas y animarlas frente a una multitud de miles de personas. Fue como la cereza del pastel, el broche de oro que culminó casi dos años de trabajo.
P: ¿Puedes describir cómo te sentiste al estar en AWID?
Es global, es multicultural, es multilingüe. Te reúnes con todas estas personas, trabajas en todos los temas (justicia racial, cambio climático, derechos de las personas trans) y tratas de escuchar, aprender y asistir a tantos eventos diferentes como puedes. El ambiente es más comunitario, más informal e íntimo que en otras conferencias, a pesar de les miles de asistentes.
También hubo mucha alegría y celebración en todo momento. Una sorpresa, que habla tanto de la accesibilidad como de la alegría, fue que cuando fuimos por nuestra comida, había un buffet accesible para que las personas con discapacidad pudieran servirse, y para mí, había una persona que me ayudó para que pudiera escoger lo que quería comer. Por lo general, lo que sucede en esas situaciones, es que alguien te lleva un plato, y tú te conformas y comes lo que sea que te traigan. Somos personas con discapacidad, estamos acostumbrados a que sea así. Puede parecer algo pequeño, pero el poder tomar tus propias decisiones, cambia la forma en la que existes en un espacio. Literalmente vi a la gente, incluida una de las socias de WEI, tomando fotos y videos porque estaban muy sorprendides y felices de ver que esto sucediera.
P:¿Cuáles son algunas de las conclusiones para futuros foros feministas?
Tenemos que dar un paso adelante e invertir en la accesibilidad en lo que respecta a los intérpretes de lengua de señas. En un evento tan extenso como éste, donde hay 20 sesiones por hora, no es posible tener intérpretes en todas partes. Mi consejo es preguntar con anticipación a los asistentes a la conferencia sobre quién necesita un intérprete y luego presupuestar para que lo traigan como su persona de apoyo, incluyendo el pago de sus honorarios. Al final, sería más rentable y evitaría la lucha de tener que tratar de encontrar intérpretes en el momento.
En general, hemos recorrido un largo camino. Los movimientos feministas están aprendiendo a ser más inclusivos y a aprovechar los recursos y la experiencia de las comunidades tradicionalmente marginadas. Están firmando e implementando el Protocolo Feminista de Accesibilidad y poniendo en marcha las medidas adecuadas. Tenemos que seguir presionando para que se incorporen los temas sobre discapacidad en estos espacios y en las conversaciones que no son específicamente sobre la discapacidad, porque como dijo Maryangel en la sesión plenaria de clausura de AWID, “todo es un tema de género, raza y discapacidad”.
Estamos empezando a ver pequeños brotes de las semillas que hemos plantado, pero hay mucho más riego por hacer.
Virginia Ossana, mujer argentina con discapacidad, Oficial Senior de Programas, Movimiento y Fortalecimiento de Capacidades en WEI.
2023 was a transformational year for Women Enabled International. This report highlights pivotal moments in our work and provides a preview of what’s next for us as the only global organization dedicated to advancing rights at the intersection of gender and disability.
In her first full year as Executive Director, Maryangel brought to bear her lived experience, business acumen, and movement roots as founder of a national disabled feminist rights group in Mexico, to lead WEI through a dynamic and participatory strategic planning process that has put us on a path to continued success and sustainability.
WEI’s new 5-year Strategic Plan, which will guide our work 2024-2028, articulates our unique role as a connector of intersecting global movements, a thought leader on key issues, an influencer of narratives and decision-makers, and an amplifier of advocacy efforts driven by disabled feminist leaders in every country and community.
While planning and structuring for a sustainable future, the WEI team had incredible impact in real time. We deepened partnerships, bolstered movements, increased representation in key advocacy spaces, and created innovative, research-based approaches to improving access to essential rights-based programs and services. We also strengthened WEI from the inside, expanding policies and practices that promote solidarity, joy, care, and rest.
As a valued member of the WEI community —along with our committed staff, board, partners, and funders— you contributed to this powerful progress. We hope you share our pride in these accomplishments and join us in solidarity with disabled feminists and allies worldwide until equality and justice are enjoyed by all.
We recognize the pressing challenges gender and disability rights are facing today, and now more than ever, we are convinced that the future of disability rights is feminist, and the future of gender equality is inclusive.
MENSAJE DE LA DIRECCIÓN EJECUTIVA Y LA JUNTA DIRECTIVA
Estimade amigue,
2023 fue un año transformador para Women Enabled International (WEI). Este informe destaca los momentos fundamentales de nuestro trabajo, y proporciona un adelanto de lo que sigue para nosotras, siendo la única organización dedicada a avanzar los derechos en la intersección de género y discapacidad.
En su primer año entero como Directora Ejecutiva, Maryangel echó mano de su experiencia de vida, su visión empresarial y su liderazgo activo en movimientos sociales –en México fundó un grupo que trabaja por los derechos de las mujeres con discapacidad–, para guiar a WEI a través de un proceso de planificación estratégica dinámico y participativo, que nos ha puesto en el camino hacia el éxito y la sustentabilidad.
El nuevo plan estratégico de cinco años de WEI guiará nuestro trabajo de 2024 a 2028. En él se detalla nuestro rol único conectando movimientos globales y amplificando los esfuerzos de incidencia impulsados por líderes feministas con discapacidad en el mundo. El plan estratégico también delinea nuestro posicionamiento como líder de opinión en temas clave, y como una organización que marca la agenda en cuanto a narrativas e influye en las personas que toman decisiones.
Durante este tiempo de planeación para un futuro sustentable, el equipo de WEI tuvo un impacto increíble en tiempo real. Profundizamos nuestras alianzas, fortalecimos movimientos, aumentamos la representación en espacios de incidencia clave, y creamos abordajes innovadores basados en la investigación para mejorar el acceso a los programas y servicios esenciales. Además, trabajamos para fortalecer a WEI internamente por medio de la expansión de políticas y prácticas que promueven la solidaridad, la alegría, los cuidados y el descanso.
Como un miembro importante de nuestra comunidad –junto con nuestro equipo, junta directiva, alianzas y fondeadores– has contribuido a este progreso contundente. Esperamos que compartas nuestro orgullo en dichos logros, y te unas a nosotras en solidaridad con las feministas con discapacidad y aliades alrededor del mundo, hasta que todes podamos disfrutar de la igualdad y de la justicia.
Reconocemos los retos apremiantes enfrentados por los derechos de género y de la discapacidad hoy en día, y más que nunca estamos convencidas que el futuro de los derechos de la discapacidad es feminista, y el futuro de la igualdad de género es incluyente.
The AWID International Forum is a global community event and a space of radical personal transformation. A one-of-a-kind convening, the Forum brings together feminist, women’s rights, gender justice, LBTQI+ and allied movements, in all our diversity and humanity, to connect, heal and thrive.
Women Enabled International will be an active participant at AWID, engaging through different events and experiences, under the theme: Rising Together – The Future of Gender Equality is Inclusive.
See below for where you can find us and come and say hi! Please note that this page will be updated as more information is confirmed.
Súmate a Women Enabled International en este Aquelarre FemiDisca, en dónde vamos celebrar nuestra comunidad, nuestra alegría, y lo que significa para nosotres estar juntes. Queremos celebrar nuestros cuerpos y ocupar espacio como mujeres y personas de género diverso con discapacidad y aliades. Hagamos espacio para la solidaridad entre movimientos a través del baile y la música. ¡Ven a mover el bote con nosotres!
Join Women Enabled International in this party for Feminist Disabled Revelry! We want to celebrate our community, our joy, what it means for us to be together. We want to celebrate our bodies and take up space as women and gender-diverse people with disabilities and allies. Let’s create space for cross-movement solidarity through dance and music!
¡Aliades sin discapacidad son bienvenides a unirse a la fiesta y al movimiento! | Non-disabled allies welcome and encouraged- join the party and the movement!
Resourcing the gender and disability justice movement in the Middle East and Eastern Europe
Dec. 3, 2024 | 11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. | Room 106
Disability-Inclusive Feminist Funding. This joint UAF-WEI event is aimed at increasing funding for OPDs, particularly grassroots OPDs in the Global South. Fondos feministas incluyentes de la discapacidad. Este evento conjunto de UAF y WEI tiene como objetivo aumentar los fondos para las OPDs, específicamente aquellas OPDs con trabajo de base en el sur global.
Feminist digital realities: humanizing alternatives that equate life and disability Realidades digitales feministas: alternativas humanizantes que equiparan la vida y la discapacidad Dec. 3, 2024 | 2:30-3:15 p.m. | Plenary room, Hall 4
Host: IGEC in collaboration with WEI
Disability Justice Space: The Future of Gender Equality is Inclusive Espacio de Justicia de la Discapacidad: El futuro de la igualdad de género es inclusivo Dec. 4, 2024 | 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Disability Justice Space
An actual physical space, this is an experience designed to be a space for the disability community to gather and network.
Un espacio físico y una experiencia diseñada para que nuestra comunidad se encuentre y construya redes.
As a member of the Accessibility Committee, WEI is co-leading the organization of this space with AWID. | Como miembro del Comité de Accesibilidad, WEI está co-lidereando la organizaciónde este espacio junto con AWID.
Closing Plenary Session: Rising Together for the Futures of Accessibility, Justice, Intersectionality. Dec. 5, 2024 | 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. | Hall 4, G Floor, Plenary room
The final day, *Rising Together*, reaches the peak of inspiration and solidarity. The Forum will be closed with a strong plenary celebrating the collective journey of the participants over the last three days. WEI’s Executive Director, Maryangel García-Ramos Guadiana, will participate in the session “Futures of Accessibility, Justice, Intersectionality”, speaking on the importance of ensuring accessibility, disability justice and rights, as well as a way forward to achieve this. Durante el último día, nuestro tema de *Elevarnos juntes*, alcanza la cumbre de la inspiración y la solidaridad. Cerramos el foro con sesiones plenarias que celebran nuestro camino en estos días juntes. Maryangel García-Ramos Guadiana, Directora Ejecutiva de WEI, participará como ponente en la sesión de “Futuros de la accesibilidad, la justicia y la interseccionalidad”, donde hablará sobre la importancia de garantizar accesibilidad, la justicia de la discapacidad y los derechos de la discapacidad, y cómo podemos trabajar para alcanzarlas.
Calling all members of the disability community! Your experiences matter, especially when it comes to accessing abortion services. The Disability and Abortion Access Survey is here to gather your insights on what’s working and how services can be improved.
The Disability and Abortion Access Survey asks people with disabilities about their experiences getting abortion services. The questions will ask for your stories of receiving abortion services and the ways services could be better. There are currently no comprehensive studies in the United States about how disabled people access abortions and the problems they face. The data and quotes from this survey will help Women Enabled International (WEI) and the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) develop tools and resources for people who provide abortion services. These resources can improve abortion accessibility to better serve the disability community.
Women Enabled International is excited to announce an extraordinary one-time donation from MacKenzie Scott, a philanthropist dedicated to advancing gender equality globally. This grant is a testament to our organization’s longstanding and steadfast dedication to advancing human rights and justice at the intersection of gender and disability, from a global perspective.
MacKenzie Scott’s generous support underscores the urgent need for increased funding in this critical area to address the inequality experienced by women with disabilities around the world, who represent one in five women globally.
“Funding at this intersection is not niche given that women with disabilities are leading some of the most impactful work on gender equality,” WEI Board President Catherine Hyde Townsend says. “This donation from MacKenzie Scott sets an important precedent, acknowledging that intersectional funding strategies are vital to advancing gender equality worldwide”.
This investment also comes at a pivotal moment for WEI, as we are poised to launch our new strategic plan. “This funding honors the fight for gender and disability rights and justice and enables us to deepen our impact, broaden our reach, and strengthen our global and local partnerships with the worldwide gender and disability movement,” says WEI Executive Director Maryangel Garcia Ramos. “It also validates our new bold strategic vision where we firmly believe the future of gender equality is inclusive and the future of disability rights is feminist.”
Women Enabled International recibe una donación sin precedentes de $5 millones de dólares de MacKenzie Scott
Women Enabled International se complace en anunciar una extraordinaria donación única de MacKenzie Scott, una filántropa dedicada a promover la igualdad de género a nivel mundial. Esta inversión es un testimonio de la dedicación firme y duradera de nuestra organización para promover los derechos humanos y la justicia en la intersección del género y la discapacidad, desde una perspectiva global.
El generoso apoyo de MacKenzie Scott subraya la urgente necesidad de aumentar los fondos en esta área crítica para abordar la desigualdad que viven las mujeres con discapacidad en el mundo, las cuales representan una de cada cinco mujeres a nivel global.
“La financiación en esta intersección no es de nicho dado que las mujeres con discapacidad están encabezando algunos de los esfuerzos más impactantes alrededor del trabajo por la igualdad de género”, dice la Presidenta de la junta Directiva de WEI, Catherine Hyde Townsend. “Esta donación de MacKenzie Scott sienta un precedente importante, reconociendo que las estrategias de financiación interseccional son vitales para promover la igualdad de género en todo el mundo”.
Esta inversión también llega en un momento crucial para WEI, ya que estamos preparadas para lanzar nuestro nuevo plan estratégico. “Este financiamiento honra la lucha por los derechos y la justicia de género y discapacidad y nos permite profundizar nuestro impacto, ampliar nuestro alcance y fortalecer nuestras alianzas globales y locales con el movimiento alrededor del mundo en género y discapacidad”, dice la Directora Ejecutiva de WEI, Maryangel García-Ramos. “También valida nuestra nueva audaz visión estratégica donde creemos firmemente el futuro de la igualdad de género es inclusivo y el futuro de los derechos de las personas con discapacidad es feminista“.
Women Enabled International (WEI), the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), Legal Voice, and Covington & Burling LLP filed an amicus brief on behalf of thirteen disability rights organizations and scholars in the United States Supreme Court, advocating for the Court to uphold the federal protections of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) and allow doctors to provide necessary abortions in the case of medical emergencies, which Idaho’s abortion ban currently criminalizes. The brief highlights that people with disabilities will suffer disproportionate harm if Idaho is permitted to criminalize health-preserving and life-saving abortion care.
About the case
Idaho legislators passed an abortion ban in 2020, prior to the end of the federal right to an abortion under Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health. After Dobbs, Idaho’s law took effect and the most current version of the law (amended in 2023) criminalizes nearly all forms of abortion, except those that are “necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman,” termination of an ectopic pregnancy, or abortions that resulted from rape or incest in extremely limited circumstances.
This Idaho law directly conflicts with the well-established federal law, EMTALA, which requires hospitals to treat patients experiencing an emergency medical condition with stabilizing care. EMTALA applies not only when a patient has a life-threatening condition but also when a patient has a condition that places their health “in serious jeopardy” that threatens “serious impairment to bodily functions” or “serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.” Pregnant disabled people can experience a range of conditions that threaten their lives or health; in such circumstances, EMTALA may require hospitals to provide abortion care as necessary stabilizing treatment.
The conflict between Idaho’s abortion ban and EMTALA’s requirement for stabilizing medical care put healthcare providers in an impossible position. If they provide health stabilizing care, they could face criminal prosecution under Idaho’s ban, but if they withhold care, they leave patients in crisis and violate EMTALA. Because of this conflict, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit in a federal district court challenging the Idaho abortion ban to the extent that it conflicts with federal law.
On January 5, 2024, the United States Supreme Court announced that it would hear the case. The Supreme Court will determine whether the federal law of EMTALA preempts the Idaho abortion ban, in which case the federal law would take precedence over the narrow exceptions of Idaho’s abortion ban. If the Supreme Court does not hold that EMTALA protects health-preserving abortion care in medical emergencies, emergency medical care will be denied to those who most need it and are least likely to be able to access it.
About the amicus curiae brief
An amicus curiae (“friend of the court,” in Latin) is a person or organization with a strong interest in the issues brought up in a case to which they are not a party. The amicus curiae may submit a written brief stating its interpretation of the law or arguments relating to the facts under consideration by the Court.
WEI, DREDF, Legal Voice, and Covington & Burling LLP have filed an amicus brief with thirteen other disability rights organizations and scholars including:
The American Association of People with Disabilities
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center
Disability Rights Advocates
Disability Rights California
Disability Rights Washington
Katherine Pérez, Director of the Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy, and Innovation, and Visiting Professor of Law at Loyola Law School*
The National Council on Independent Living
National Health Law Program
Professor Robyn M. Powell, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Oklahoma College of Law*
Ruth Colker, Distinguished University Professor and Heck Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law at Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University
Tony Coelho, former U.S. Congressman, Founder of the Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy, and Innovation
* Participating in their individual capacity, not as representatives of their institutions. Institutions are listed for affiliation purposes only.
The amicus brief highlights the barriers to accessing medical care and the increased likelihood of medical complications for people with disabilities, both of which make it more likely that disabled people will need the emergency abortion care that EMTALA protects, but that is criminalized under Idaho’s abortion ban. It argues that upholding the Idaho ban’s narrow exceptions for only life-saving care will prevent Congress’s core purpose in enacting EMTALA: to ensure that hospitals provide emergency medical care to those who most need it and are least likely to be able to access it.
WEI, DREDF, and Allen & Overy’s amicus brief argues the following key points:
Congress enacted EMTALA to ensure that at-risk people—including people with disabilities—receive stabilizing medical treatment in emergency situations. It is clear from the legislative history of EMTALA and other health care legislation that Congress intends for disabled people to have full access to all health care services without discrimination.
Disabled people are particularly likely to need the stabilizing abortion care guaranteed under EMTALA. People with disabilities are more likely to have serious pregnancy-related health complications and less likely to have access to regular prenatal and primary care. This makes it more likely that disabled people will need health-preserving, stabilizing care in hospital emergency rooms.
Without EMTALA’s protections, state abortion bans will undermine the medical system in important ways, causing additional harm to people with disabilities. Idaho’s ban has driven qualified health care providers from the state with the fear of prosecution, leading to a significant gap in obstetric care. Disabled people without financial resources face logistical barriers—including transportation barriers—to access essential medical care.
New amicus curiae brief before the United States Supreme Court
Women Enabled International (WEI), the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), and Allen & Overy LLP filed an amicus brief on behalf of twelve disability rights organizations and scholars in the United States Supreme Court, advocating for a return to the use of updated regulations for mifepristone, a drug used to carry out medication abortion, that improved access to safe abortion. The brief highlights the disproportionate impact that medically unnecessary restrictions on medication abortion have on people with disabilities.
About the case
Medication abortion is the most commonly used method of abortion in the United States, accounting for more than half of all abortions. Mifepristone is part of a two-drug regimen for medication abortion and was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2000. Since its approval, the drug has established a well-documented safety record, as demonstrated by hundreds of high-quality studies and its real-world use by more than five million people.
This lawsuit—filed by anti-abortion advocates against the FDA and the manufacturer of mifepristone, Danco Laboratories, in November 2022—challenges the FDA’s initial approval of mifepristone as well as its more recent actions to increase access to the drug. The Fifth Circuit, a U.S. Court of Appeals, did not block the FDA’s 2000 initial authorization of mifepristone in its ruling, it reinstated burdensome restrictions on the drug from before 2016. These restrictions included: ending the ability of certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe mifepristone; reinstating in-person dispensing requirements for prescriptions; and stopping a new pharmacy certification process, which enabled retail pharmacies to dispense mifepristone directly to patients.
In December 2023, the United States Supreme Court announced that they would hear the case on appeal from the Fifth Circuit’s decision. The Supreme Court will be determining if the FDA’s 2016 and 2021 changes to mifepristone regulation should be reinstated.
If the Supreme Court does not reverse the Fifth Circuit’s decision, access to the most common medication abortion regimen used in the U.S. would be limited across the country—even in those states where abortion rights are protected.
About the amicus curiae brief
An amicus curiae (“friend of the court,” in Latin) is a person or organization with a strong interest in the issues brought up in a case to which they are not a party. The amicus curiae may submit a written brief stating its interpretation of the law or arguments relating to the facts under consideration by the Court.
WEI, DREDF, and Allen & Overy LLP have filed an amicus brief with twelve other disability rights organizations and scholars including:
The American Association of People with Disabilities
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center
Disability Rights Advocates
Disability Rights New York
The National Council on Independent Living
Katherine Pérez, Director of the Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy, and Innovation, and Visiting Professor of Law at Loyola Law School*
Professor Ruth Colker, Distinguished University Professor and the Heck Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law at the Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University*
Professor Robyn M. Powell, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Oklahoma College of Law*
Tony Coelho, former U.S. Congressman
* Participating in their individual capacity, not as representatives of their institutions. Institutions are listed for affiliation purposes only.
The amicus brief outlines how reinstating outdated restrictions on medication abortion disproportionately burdens pregnant people with disabilities, who face more barriers to accessing care. The amicus brief urges the United States Supreme Court to reverse the Fifth Circuit’s decision which rolled back the clock on medication abortion access.
WEI, DREDF, and Allen & Overy’s amicus brief argues the following key points:
Restricted access to mifepristone creates a healthcare crisis that disproportionately harms people with disabilities. People with disabilities are more at risk for severe maternal morbidities and maternal mortality during their pregnancies than non-disabled people and pregnancy can worsen disability-related health outcomes.
Unnecessary restrictions to mifepristone exacerbate the harms that people with disabilities already encounter in terms of physical barriers to accessing abortion care (such as inaccessible medical clinics and non-existent adaptive equipment). Telehealth abortion appointments and mailed prescriptions give people with disabilities the option to access care without the delays of navigating inaccessible facilities.
Without expanded options for medication abortion care, people with disabilities will continue to experience transportation and logistical barriers to reproductive health care that raise privacy, abuse, and coercion concerns. Inaccessible travel options and logistical barriers like transportation reliance on third parties place people with disabilities at risk for reproductive coercion and compromise their medical privacy.
Regulation of mifepristone that is not supported by medical research further harms people with disabilities who already face disproportionate financial barriers and medical system discrimination.
