CRPD Guidelines on Addressing Discrimination Against Women and Girls with Disabilities

This submission has been made in response to the call for input by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on the Guidelines on Addressing Multiple and Intersectional Forms of Discrimination Against Women and Girls with Disabilities, focusing on experiences of LGBTIQA+ forcibly displaced women and non-binary people with disability.

Summary of recommendations:

In alignment with articles 5, 8, 9, 13,15,16, 21, 25, 31 and 33 of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, FDPN recommends that the CRPD’s Guidelines require States to:

1. Ensure mandatory collection and disaggregation of data on disability by sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, migration status, and other demographic characteristics,
2. Guarantee public reporting of such intersectional data to inform policy, monitor implementation of rights, and strengthen accountability.
3. Provide dedicated funding for intersectional research on disability, prioritising initiatives led by women, girls, non-binary, and gender-diverse people with disability, including those with lived experience of displacement.
4. Recognise that LGBTIQA+ forcibly displaced people with disability, regardless of gender identity, are at heightened risk of discrimination and must be identified as priority cohorts in prevention and response frameworks.
5. Recognise civil society organisations led by LGBTIQA+ forcibly displaced people as key stakeholders to establish meaningful and ongoing partnerships between them and governments.
6. End migration-related discrimination against refugees and migrants with disability.
7. Fund targeted awareness-raising and outreach designed for LGBTIQA+ forcibly displaced people with disability to improve their knowledge of rights, supports, and justice pathways.
8. Invest in specialist, culturally safe, and disability-inclusive services that respond to discrimination and violence against LGBTIQA+ forcibly displaced people with disability.
9. Provide adequate resourcing to mainstream women’s and GBV services to ensure that they are accessible, affordable, and inclusive of LGBTIQA+ displaced women and non-binary people with disability.
10. Resource and support Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) and networks of women and non-binary people with disability to lead prevention, advocacy, and gender equality initiatives.
11. Expand access to justice and support services for LGBTIQA+ survivors of violence, including those from forcibly displaced backgrounds, regardless of migration status.