face multiple and intersecting barriers in the exercise of their SRHR, such as limited access to RH
information, services, and commodities; varied forms of stigma and discrimination; and exclusion
from decision-making, particularly from decisions that affect their day-to-day lives. The CEDAW
Committee made reference to the said findings in their Concluding Observations for the
Philippines in 2016,5 and underscored the need to: improve women with disabilities’ access to
justice through institutionalizing accessibility measures and raising awareness; collection of data
on gender-based violence against women with disabilities; and ensuring their participation in
legislative, administrative, and judicial bodies. The CRPD Committee reiterates the same in its
Concluding Recommendations to the Philippine Report to CRPD (2018). 6
The findings surfaced in the 2016 National Inquiry led to a series of initiatives of the CHRP for
women with disabilities. In 2017, it launched an education and awareness raising program that
ran for three months. The program was on basic human rights, and access to justice of women
with disabilities. A training of trainers (ToT) was conducted with women with disabilities,
followed by a roll-out of trainings for women with mobility impairment, women who are hardof-hearing and deaf, and women with visual impairment. A total of 30 women with disabilities in
Quezon City were trained by the peer action groups during these roll-out sessions.
The module used by women with disabilities in the roll-out went through a series of
consultations, and was enhanced into a manual in 2018. The manual serves as a training,
facilitation, and advocacy reference for trainers and advocates.
In 2019, another National Inquiry on reproductive health and rights was launched by the CHRP.
This time, the inquiry was focused on women with disabilities’ lived experiences, contexts, and
realities. This report details the said National Inquiry’s objectives and strategies; findings and
analysis; and conclusions and recommendations.
5
UN CEDAW Committee. Concluding observations on the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of the
Philippines. (25 July 2016). CEDAW/C/PHL/CO/7-8
6 UN CRPD Committee. Concluding observations on the initial report of the Philippines. (16 October 2018).
CRPD/C/PHL/CO/1
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