ABSTRACT
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (United Nations General Assembly, December 18, 1979) and the CEDAW Committee’s General Recommendation no. 19 (1992) on gender-based violence do not address women and girls with disabilities. However, the CEDAW Committee is updating its General Recommendation no. 19: “25 years of CEDAW General Recommendation No. 19 (1992): Accelerating efforts on gender based violence against women,” and invited interested parties to submit comments. In the first draft the CEDAW committee recognizes “that women affected by particular circumstances or who belong, or are perceived as belonging to certain groups, may be subject to specific and intersecting forms of discrimination.” At the same time the CEDAW committee is acknowledging, “that gender-based violence may affect some women to different degrees, or in different ways, than other women because they experience varying and intersecting forms of discrimination.” This chapter utilizes an intersectionality approach to analyze how gender-based violence against women and girls with disabilities is being addressed in the draft of General Recommendation no. 19. It then will explore the 77 submissions (60 NGO proposals and 17 from other stakeholders) to update General Recommendation no. 19 by focusing on those proposals that include specific recommendations to end violence against women with disabilities. The chapter’s objective is to demonstrate the need of a deeper understanding of an intersectionality analysis in human rights instruments to address multiple discrimination.
