International Day of Persons with Disabilities

What is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities?

Every year on 3 December, we observe the International Day of Persons with Disabilities to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in every aspect of society.

At Equality Now, we use this day to spotlight the systemic barriers and violence faced by women and girls with disabilities, and to call for urgent legal and policy reform that ensures they are treated with dignity, equality, and justice.

Women and girls with disabilities are disproportionately affected by sexual violence and discrimination, and are often denied access to protection, services, and justice.

What’s the issue?

Disability and gender-based discrimination are deeply interconnected.

Across the world, women and girls with disabilities are:

• Up to 10 times more likely to experience sexual violence and abuse, often from caregivers, family members, or institutional actors, than women and girls without disabilities
• More likely to face disbelief and stigma when reporting sexual violence offences
• Frequently excluded from legal systems that are inaccessible or unresponsive to their needs
• Often denied their right to make decisions about their own bodies and lives, including in cases of forced sterilisation or guardianship

These harms are compounded by ableism, poverty, and a lack of inclusive policies, especially in countries where legal systems do not outline specific protection or access measures for survivors of sexual violence with disabilities.

In Kyrgyzstan, for example, a report by Equality Now and partners exposed how women and girls with disabilities who survive sexual violence often encounter widespread barriers to reporting and prosecution. These include:

• Inaccessible police stations and courtrooms
• Negative attitudes and bias among law enforcement
• Lack of inclusive legal procedures, including support for survivors with hearing, visual, or cognitive impairments
• Inadequate training for prosecutors and judges on disability rights and gender-based violence

Why does it matter now?

Without inclusive legal reform, justice remains out of reach for many.

While international law recognises the rights of persons with disabilities, including under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), implementation remains patchy and often ignores the specific needs of women and girls from marginalised groups.

We are also seeing:

• Slow progress in adapting national sexual violence legislation to be inclusive of gender and disability
• Insufficient training of justice sector actors to respond to the needs of survivors
• Underfunded support services, especially in rural or lower-income settings

With only five years to go to meet SDG 5,  achieving gender equality, we must centre the experiences of the most marginalised, including women and girls with disabilities.

What is Equality Now doing?

At Equality Now, we work to advance legal equality for all women and girls, including those with disabilities, by advocating for more inclusive sexual violence laws that shift accountability focus to the alleged perpetrator, examine the willingness to participate in sexual acts free from coercion, and allow equal access to justice for all survivors.  

Our work includes:

• Documenting legal and institutional barriers, as seen in our research on Kyrgyzstan
• Advocating for national reforms to ensure disability-inclusive laws, justice procedures, and survivor support services
• Partnering with local disability rights organisations to amplify lived experiences and survivor voices
• Engaging with international human rights mechanisms, including CEDAW and the CRPD, to hold states accountable
• Developing tools and training for justice actors on inclusive legal practices
• Providing platforms for survivors with disabilities to share their experiences

We believe that no one should be excluded from justice because of their disability.