Joint Submission to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review: India Third Cycle

September 2016

Authored by: Women Enabled International with input from Women With Disabilities India Network (WWDIN)

Women and girls with disabilities around the world face discrimination and human rights abuses based on both their gender and disability. Despite India’s international commitments to ensure the rights of women with disabilities, they experience human rights violations that are distinct from those experienced by other women. These human rights violations manifest in all areas of their lives but are particularly present when women with disabilities experience gender-based violence—by family members, partners, caregivers, and in state- and privately-run institutions—and in their exercise of sexual and reproductive rights, where they are disproportionately subjected to forced and coerced sterilization, contraception, and abortion. Women with disabilities also face barriers to accessing justice in India, compounding these rights violations.

During India’s previous Universal Periodic Reviews (UPRs) in 2008 and 2012, it did not receive any recommendations that specifically addressed the human rights abuses faced by women with disabilities. However, in 2012, India accepted recommendations to “improve measures to prevent violence against women and girls” and “[t]ake further measures to ensure that all women without any discrimination have access to adequate obstetric delivery services and sexual and reproductive health services, including safe abortion and gender-sensitive comprehensive contraceptive services.” As this submission shows, India has failed to implement these recommendations, particularly regarding women with disabilities.

The submission provides background on the situation of women with disabilities in India and summarizes specific human rights abuses they face, including gender-based violence, violations of sexual and reproductive rights, and barriers to accessing justice. This submission also provides suggestions for questions and recommendations to direct towards India during its third UPR.