Joint Submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Review of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

By: Women Enabled International and Sisters of Frida

January 28, 2019

During its previous review of the UK in 2013, the CEDAW Committee made several recommendations to the UK about the rights of disabled women. It expressed particular concern about austerity measures and their impact on disabled women, calling on the UK to ‘measur[e] and balanc[e] the impact of austerity measures on women’s rights.’ The Committee further expressed concern about the low rates of employment for disabled women and recommended that the UK ‘[c]reate greater opportunities for women with disabilities to gain access to employment.’ It called on the UK to ‘strengthen the implementation of programmes and policies aimed a providing effective access to health care for women, especially women with disabilities…’ and ‘pay special attention to the health needs of women with disabilities, ensuring their access to prenatal care and all reproductive health services.’ The Committee also called on the UK to take measures to ensure the representation of disabled women in Parliament and the judiciary.

As this submission documents, these recommendations have gone largely unaddressed. This submission first illustrates how human rights abuses against disabled women manifest in the UK, including related to gender-based violence, economic rights and social protection, and access to maternal health care. This submission then provides suggestions for questions and recommendations for the CEDAW Committee to direct towards the UK about these issues during its review in February 2019.