WEI Submission to the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Killing on a Gender- and Disability-Sensitive Approach

January 30, 2017

Women Enabled International (WEI) welcomes the opportunity to engage with the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Killing (Special Rapporteur) as she considers integrating a gender-sensitive approach to extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary killing into her work. WEI advocates and educates for the human rights of all women and girls, emphasizing women and girls with disabilities, and works to include women and girls with disabilities in international resolutions, policies, and programs addressing women’s human rights and development.

According to the World Health Organization and the World Bank, women and girls with disabilities constitute 19.2% of women worldwide, making up a substantial portion of the global population. Due to discrimination based on both their gender and disability, women with disabilities experience violations of their rights that are distinct from those experienced by other women. In particular, women with disabilities experience gender-based violence, including domestic violence, at higher rates than other women, and the violence they experience also has unique forms, causes, and consequences. Girls with disabilities are also more frequently victims of infanticide in circumstances where their lives are devalued as a result of stereotypes on the basis of both their gender and disability.