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Human rights toolkit for women and girls with disabilities

WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES AUSTRALIA
December 2016

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HUMAN RIGHT TOOLKIT FOR WOMEN AND GIRL WITH DISABILITIES

 

International human rights law recognises women and girls with disability as women and girls with rights, able to make decisions about our own lives. The Australian government has agreed to take action to make sure all women and girls with disability enjoy all the human rights described in the Conventions, Treaties, Covenants and Declarations it has agreed to or supported. Yet, very few of us know about our rights. Importantly, very few of us know how they are relevant to our life, and the lives of our families, friends, and communities. Learning about our human rights – what they are and how to have our rights respected – is important to achieve positive and lasting change for all women and girls with disability. We need to take action, individually and together, so that all of us can demand and enjoy our human rights.

If you are a woman or girl with disability and would like to learn more about your human rights and how they can be used to achieve change in your life or the lives of other women and girls with disability, this Toolkit is for you.

WWDA Position Statements

Explore WWDA’s Position Statements on the priority issues that women and girls with disability have told us are most important to them. Position statements include: violence; decision-making; participation; and, sexual and reproductive rights.

WWDA Human Rights Toolkit

Explore and download WWDA’s Human Rights Toolkit for Women and Girls with Disability, including resources for leading change.

WWDA Human Rights Videos

What do human rights mean to you? We asked some of our members to talk about what human rights mean to them, and about their views on the key human rights issues facing women and girls with disability.

Graphics & Media

WWDA developed a series of infographics for distribution across social media to promote the WWDA Human Rights Toolkit and Position Statements. Download graphics and share from here.

 

Human rights toolkit for women and girls with disabilities. First edition.

Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA)
October 2016

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A Toolkit for women or girls with disabilities to learn more about human rights and how this knowledge can be used to achieve change in their own lives or the lives of others. Following an introduction about why this Toolkit is needed,  a brief overview of five key human rights issues that women and girls with disability in Australia have identified as most important to them is provided. Section 3 provides information about what human rights are and also gives a brief overview about Australia’s international human rights obligations. Sections 4 and 5 focus on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), examining the main ‘Article’ from each, that deals with the important urgent issues that have been identified by women with disability in Australia, which are: Violence; Decision-Making; Participation; Sexual and Reproductive Rights; and, Employment. For each of these issues, the words of the main Article (as it appears in the CRPD and CEDAW) are provided and explained in practical terms, and examples are given of what governments have to know and do. Information from WWDA members and supporters about some of the key changes which need to happen is given. Different ideas of what women and girls with disability can do to help achieve change and promote the rights of all women and girls with disability are given and some sample letters and ‘talking points’ for phone calls to a local Member of Parliament, or a government Minister or advisers are provided.   

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