On Wednesday 4 December, the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) held a hearing on the constraints faced by disabled women in the areas of health, employment and social participation. This discussion took place as part of European Disability Rights Week and just after the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, celebrated every 3 December.
Multiple discrimination. The speakers, representing a range of organisations, gave a worrying overview of the systemic discrimination suffered by disabled women in Europe.
The Vice-President of the European Disability Forum (EDF) and Chair of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Ana Peláez Narváez, has reported that around 29% of women in the European Union live with a disability.
In her view, these women face disproportionate obstacles, particularly in access to reproductive health, often marked by practices such as forced sterilisation, which she described as crimes requiring reparation and explicit condemnation in European legislation.
The Chair of the EDF’s Women’s Committee, Pirkko Mahlamäki, presented the results of a survey revealing that 70% of the disabled women questioned find it difficult to access medical care and that only 20% of them are in full-time employment, compared with 48% of women without disabilities.
She also condemned the lack of appropriate measures in European strategies on gender equality and the rights of people with disabilities.
The decisive issue of political participation. Deza Nguembock, founder of the NGO Ahadi in France, presented her programme aimed at training disabled women in leadership skills to strengthen their place in the economic and political sectors. Nadia Haddad, co-chair of the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL), called for concrete mechanisms, such as personal assistance, to enable disabled women to live independently and access essential services.
On the MEP side, Mélissa Camara (Greens/EFA, French) stressed the importance of involving women with disabilities in the development of public policy and removing barriers to their participation.
Katrin Langensiepen (Greens/EFA, German), the only disabled MEP, denounced the stereotypes surrounding maternity for disabled women and regretted the lack of action in the face of the specific violence they suffer.
Abir Al-Sahlani (Renew Europe, Swedish) called for the horizontal anti-discrimination directive (see EUROPE 13436/24), which has been blocked for years in the EU Council, to be unblocked in order to guarantee genuine equal rights.
All the participants agreed on the need for the European Union to guarantee effective implementation of its human rights and gender equality commitments. Concrete actions, starting with a review of European strategies and better allocation of funds to meet the specific needs of women with disabilities, were called for in particular. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)