WEI Submission for OHCHR Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health

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Women Enabled International Submission for OHCHR Report on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

October 16, 2017

Women with disabilities in particular are discriminated against based on both their gender and disability in many aspects of their lives. In particular, women with disabilities face specific forms of discrimination in health care settings, including when accessing sexual and reproductive health information, goods, and services, frequently finding that these services are unavailable, unaffordable, and/or inaccessible or that health care workers have particular prejudices against them. Furthermore, women and girls with disabilities are frequently denied the opportunity to make their own decisions about their health, including sexual and reproductive health, leading to forced medical interventions that violate not only their right to health but also their rights to be free from violence, exploitation and abuse and to be free from torture or ill-treatment. In order to ensure that the right to health is realized for all in the implementation of the SDGs, States must address the specific barriers women with disabilities face in accessing sexual and reproductive health services, as well as the abuses they experience in those settings.

This submission outlines two common areas where women with disabilities experience violations of their sexual and reproductive rights and suggests measures States can take to address these violations through the implementation of the SDGs. This submission first outlines violations of the right to health and other related rights when women and girls with disabilities are denied informed consent for medical treatments, including current human rights and medical ethics standards requiring free and informed consent for reproductive health procedures. Secondly, the submission outlines violations women with disabilities experience concerning the accessibility of sexual and reproductive health information, goods, and services, as well as discrimination experienced in health care contexts that limits their access. Each section concludes with suggested recommendations that OHCHR should make to States and other UN agencies to ensure that they implement and monitor the SDGs with the right to health for women and girls with disabilities in mind.

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