1. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In
particular, no one shall be subjected without his or her free consent to medical or scientific
experimentation.
2. States Parties shall take all effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent
persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others, from being subjected to torture or cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 16
Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse
1. States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social, educational and other
measures to protect persons with disabilities, both within and outside the home, from all forms of
exploitation, violence and abuse, including their gender-based aspects.
2. States Parties shall also take all appropriate measures to prevent all forms of exploitation, violence
and abuse by ensuring, inter alia, appropriate forms of gender- and age-sensitive assistance and
support for persons with disabilities and their families and caregivers, including through the provision of
information and education on how to avoid, recognize and report instances of exploitation, violence and
abuse. States Parties shall ensure that protection services are age-, gender- and disability-sensitive.
3. In order to prevent the occurrence of all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse, States Parties
shall ensure that all facilities and programmes designed to serve persons with disabilities are effectively
monitored by independent authorities.
4. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to promote the physical, cognitive and
psychological recovery, rehabilitation and social reintegration of persons with disabilities who become
victims of any form of exploitation, violence or abuse, including through the provision of protection
services. Such recovery and reintegration shall take place in an environment that fosters the health,
welfare, self-respect, dignity and autonomy of the person and takes into account gender- and agespecific needs.
5. States Parties shall put in place effective legislation and policies, including women- and child-focused
legislation and policies, to ensure that instances of exploitation, violence and abuse against persons
with disabilities are identified, investigated and, where appropriate, prosecuted.
Article 17
Protecting the integrity of the person
Every person with disabilities has a right to respect for his or her physical and mental integrity on an
equal basis with others.
Article 18
Liberty of movement and nationality
1. States Parties shall recognize the rights of persons with disabilities to liberty of movement, to
freedom to choose their residence and to a nationality, on an equal basis with others, including by
ensuring that persons with disabilities:
(a) Have the right to acquire and change a nationality and are not deprived of their nationality
arbitrarily or on the basis of disability;
(b) Are not deprived, on the basis of disability, of their ability to obtain, possess and utilize
documentation of their nationality or other documentation of identification, or to utilize relevant
processes such as immigration proceedings, that may be needed to facilitate exercise of the right to
liberty of movement;
(c) Are free to leave any country, including their own;
(d) Are not deprived, arbitrarily or on the basis of disability, of the right to enter their own country.
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