VIEW FROM THE CWP CHAIRPERSON
ADVANCING WOMEN AND GIRLS WITH A DISABILITY
Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Chairperson, Hon. Shandana Gulzar Khan, MNA, National Assembly of Pakistan The headlines on a normal day are never: “One in five women live with a disability globally; An estimated one in four households has a person with disabilities; Women are more likely than men to become disabled throughout the course of their lives; Women comprise up to three-quarters of persons with disabilities in low and middle-income countries; Prevalence of disability is higher among marginalised populations and people in rural areas.”1 In developing countries in the Commonwealth, three out of four disabled people are women. But why is that never the in the headlines in our mainstream media? This means that one fifth of the world’s population is bound to one or another piece of medical equipment for survival. Instead, I am rather perplexed to see huge advertising billboards in Times Square, Oxford Street, the Champs Elysees and many other places showing young, emaciated girls wearing eight-inch heels and we are supposed to take a worldly or liberal view - as the ultimate symbol of emancipation and of woman’s power. How sensible, how civilized, how depressing. Other than the broken chair outside the UN HQ in Geneva paying tribute to disabled/wheelchair bound victims of landmines, where is the global hue and cry for recognising that there are those amongst us that do not see disabled persons as people, they are just extras in the ‘game of life’ as we know it. But back to the basics, why do we use the word ‘disability’? Are we differentiating the world between the able and the unable? And if so, to what end? Ironically, the realisation of the issues faced by both women and girls with disabilities is linked to SDG 5, part of the UN’s Agenda2030, as it seems to be the only avenue where we have a solid chance to both gather data and figure out how each one of the goals will contribute towards the agenda.
• 23.7% of persons with disabilities (aged 16 to 64) were at risk of financial poverty vs. 15.3% of persons without disabilities (Goal 1). • Only 20.5% of persons with some or severe activity limitation (aged 16 years or over) had a very good or good self-perceived health vs 84.1% of persons without disabilities (Goal 2). • 29.4% of women with disabilities (aged 16 or over) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion vs. 27.5% of men with disabilities. • Employment rate of women with disabilities (aged 20 to 64) was 47.8% vs. 54.3% employment rate of men with disabilities. (Goal 5)3 The text of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs can be interpreted through the lens of the UN CRPD in the following ways:4 • All references to ‘equal’ must be underpinned by CRPD article 5, which promotes equality of opportunity and nondiscrimination of persons with disabilities. • References ‘for all’ include all persons with disabilities - people with different types of impairments and support requirements; women with disabilities (CRPD article 6) and children with disabilities (CRPD article 7). • All references to ‘access’ or ‘inclusion’ can be fulfilled by article 9 of the CRPD on accessibility which requires governments to take action to ensure persons with disabilities have the right to independent living and participate in all aspects of life. • All references to ‘those in vulnerable situations’ include the right of protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies (CRPD article 11). • All progress made by the SDGs must be monitored through disability disaggregated data (CRPD article 31). • All references to ‘development and/or least developed countries’ relate to international cooperation and partnerships (CRPD article 32).
What links disability and the Sustainable Development Goals? The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) came into force as late as 2006 and is one of nine core international human rights treaties, including 33 core articles covering all areas of life. Today, the Convention has 164 signatories and 182 ratifications or accessions. Whereas the optional protocol has 94 signatories and 96 Ratifications/Accessions.2 Agenda 2030 or the SDG’s as they are widely known, have 11 explicit references to persons with disabilities, and disaggregation of data by disability is a core principle. By way of example, in 2018:
Women and Girls: SDG 5 Equality and empowerment “Jane Eyre, after marrying the blind and crippled (one hand has been amputated) Rochester exclaims to the reader that she became his vision and never did I weary of gazing for his behalf … never did I weary of reading to him; of doing him what he wished to be done.” “Ayaconara, the heroine of Charles Kindsley’s novel Westward Ho! (1855) throws herself on her knees at the feet of her blinded hero, sobbing that she cannot bear to see him weep and begging him. Only let me fetch and carry for you, tend you, feed you, lead
332 | The Parliamentarian | 2021: Issue Four | 100 years of publishing
