ENIL has submitted its contribution to the zero draft guidelines of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on intersectional discrimination against women, calling for the final text to better reflect the realities of women, adolescents and girls with disabilities.
Intersectional discrimination is not just about experiencing different forms of discrimination separately. For many disabled women and girls, gender, disability, age, poverty, institutionalisation and other factors interact and create specific barriers to freedom, safety, participation and independent living.
The contribution welcomes the development of the guidelines and highlights several areas where the text could be strengthened. This includes clearer references to women and girls with disabilities, as well as the involvement of women’s rights organisations, women’s rights activists and representative organisations of persons with disabilities in decision-making processes.
One key concern is institutionalisation. Institutionalisation is not gender-neutral. Women and girls with disabilities placed in psychiatric or social care institutions can face higher risks of violence, abuse, coercion and loss of autonomy. These settings often create strong power imbalances, making it harder for women and girls to make decisions freely or challenge violations of their rights.
The contribution also calls for stronger language on bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive rights. Women, adolescents and girls with disabilities continue to face coerced sterilisation and other non-consensual medical interventions, especially in institutional and residential settings. Consent cannot be considered free and informed when it is shaped by pressure, misinformation, threats of institutionalisation or withdrawal of support.
Access to justice is another major issue. The final guidelines should include free legal aid, procedural and reasonable accommodation, accessible information and communication, and better training for police officers, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, healthcare professionals, shelter staff and other relevant actors. These professionals must be able to recognise the intersection of gender and disability, avoid harmful stereotypes, respect legal capacity and provide trauma-informed support.
Social protection systems can either support or undermine independent living. States should remove discriminatory rules that reduce or deny disability-related benefits, services or support because of employment, marriage, partnership or family status. Such rules can trap women with disabilities in economic dependency and make it harder to live independently.
The contribution also points to barriers in education and employment. Women and girls with disabilities are often pushed towards traditionally “female” fields of education and work, limiting their future opportunities and reinforcing lower income levels. The final guidelines should encourage access to STEM fields, leadership roles and male-dominated sectors on an equal basis with others.
The rise of algorithmic systems, including generative artificial intelligence, is another area of concern. These technologies can reproduce and amplify existing discrimination if they are not designed and monitored through a gender-responsive and disability-inclusive approach.
Finally, better data is essential. States should collect data disaggregated by sex, age, disability and other relevant characteristics. Without this, the experiences of women and girls with disabilities remain invisible, and policies risk leaving them behind.
Through this contribution, ENIL calls for guidelines that do more than recognise intersectional discrimination. They must help States take concrete action to end institutionalisation, protect bodily autonomy, guarantee access to justice, strengthen social protection, and make independent living a reality for all women and girls with disabilities.
Read the full text here: https://enil.eu/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Contribution-ENIL_Inter-discrimination.docx
