NGO Submission to the CEDAW Committee Pre-Sessional Working Group for Nigeria

By Women Enabled International (WEI), Advocacy for Women with Disability Initiative (AWWDI), Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), and Inclusive Friends Association

October 14, 2016

As the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Committee) recognized in its General Recommendation No. 18 on disabled women, states parties should take special measures to ensure that the rights of women with disabilities are respected, protected, and fulfilled and should report on those measures to the Committee. Despite the barriers women with disabilities face in exercising their rights in Nigeria, its state report to the CEDAW Committee fails to contain any specific references to women with disabilities or any measures that Nigeria has taken to ensure their rights. This reporting gap reflects the broader exclusion of women with disabilities from Nigeria’s state policies and programs designed to ensure human rights, including the rights of women and of persons with disabilities.

This submission focuses on rights violations that disproportionately or uniquely affect women with disabilities in Nigeria, both in times of conflict and relative peace. It includes background information about women with disabilities in Nigeria, including the legal and policy background that affects their rights. The submission then details the rights violations women with disabilities experience in Nigeria, including violence against women with disabilities and violations in accessing health care that impact their rights to health, including sexual and reproductive health, and to start a family. Finally, this submission offers suggestions to the CEDAW Committee for questions it should ask Nigeria about women with disabilities as part of the list of issues process, as well as recommendations to give to Nigeria during its state review in 2017.