April 24, 2022

THIS WEEK IN HUMAN RIGHTS NEWS

Reproductive rights for disabled people lack visibility

Sources: European Council Commissioner for Human Rights, Taylor & Francis, Human Rights Watch,  UN, Center for American Progress 

Reproductive rights for disabled people, especially women, lack visibility due to systemic oppression and social resistance.

The European Council Commissioner for Human Rights reported that one fifth of the world’s women are dually marginalised because of their gender and disabilities. This inequality also increases the likelihood of experiencing violence and having lower incomes.  

Research has indicated that some factors constraining reproductive rights for disabled women include assumptions that disabled people are asexual, systemic difficulty in obtaining information and services, and ‘social resistance’ towards disabled women reproducing and being parents.

The social resistance is also situated in the context of a long and painful history of eugenics and forced sterilisation upon disabled people, which is still ongoing. According to Human Rights Watch, many countries even justify forced sterilisation of disabled people as being “in their best interest”, despite the human right to reproduction being initially established within the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  

The Center for American Progress also noted that ‘a lack of data and research on the intersection of disability, gender, and race has impeded the creation of comprehensive reproductive policies’. 

Bringing visibility to the systemic and social barriers to reproductive rights for disabled people is crucial for creating better policy and access to care.