International Women’s Day 2020

Today we join the celebration of the International Women’s Day and the global movement towards realising the rights of all women. We also want to remind society that women with disabilities experience double disadvantages, those associated with gender as well as disability. For instance, women with disabilities have significantly less access to employment. This low employment rate is directly connected with a poorer access to education for girls with disabilities compared to boys with disabilities, the United Nations Development Programme statistics show that in developing countries the literacy rate for adults with disabilities is 3%, and just 1% of women with disabilities are literate.

Article 6 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) recognizes that women and girls with disabilities face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. The CRPD draws particular attention to the susceptibility of women and girls with disabilities to violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation. 

All women should have access to the highest standard of education, as well as accurate and truthful information about their rights. Reproductive and sexual healthcare is usually surrounded by stigma, specially when it comes to women with disabilities. For that reason, IF Global Prevention Initiative launched  “Folic acid – What every woman needs to know before becoming pregnant“ an informative leaflet on the importance of folic acid to give babies the best start in life and to reduce the risk of neural tube defects. In order to reach as many women as possible, the leaflet is already translated into 7 languages, and more will come soon! 

We should continue joining forces to ensure that the rights of women and girls with disabilities are respected and that they have the tools to achieve any goal in life, equal to anyone else!