Monitoring of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of Women with Disabilities
I. Introduction
Persons with disabilities make up around 15 per cent of the global population with the
majority living in developing countries.1 In the Philippines, the 2010 Census of Population and
Housing report shows that about 16 per thousand of the 92.1 million household population of
the country has disability; 50.9 percent of which were males while females comprised 49.1
percent. Women with disabilities in particular face significantly more difficulties in both public
and private spheres due to their gender and disability.
The Philippines signed and ratified eight core treaties namely the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (ICESCR), the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial
Discrimination (ICERD), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention
on the Rights of Person with Disabilities (CRPD), and the International Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (MCW). All these
treaties have an underlying principle that all human beings are equal in dignity and rights without
distinction of any kind.
The CEDAW and the CRPD oblige state parties to protect and promote in particular the
rights of women and girls with disabilities. The former provides for non-tolerance for any form of
discrimination against women on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and
fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. This
provision is elaborated by General Recommendation (GR) 18 which specifies that women with
disabilities are considered as a vulnerable group of which state parties should provide
information on the measures taken to deal with their particular situation to ensure they have
equal access to education and employment, health services and social security, and to ensure
that they can participate in all areas of social and cultural life. The latter in its Article 6, as
elaborated in its GR 3, states that women with disabilities face barriers in most areas in life that
expose them to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination including equal access to
education, economic opportunities, social interaction and justice, and equal recognition before
the law. With this they may experience limitations in access to health care, including sexual and
reproductive health services. The intersectional issues of gender and disability among others that
is faced by women with disabilities span the breadth of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
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Factsheet on Persons with Disabilities: https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/resources/factsheeton-persons-with-disabilities.html
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