18th March 2025

Submission to the UN Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women for reference to the draft General Recommendation on Gender Stereotypes

Equality Now made the below submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Committee ahead of its discussion on the draft General Recommendation on Gender Stereotypes in partnership with Validity, an international organization focused on people with mental disabilities and the Women’s Probono Initiative, based in Uganda.

What’s included in the submission?

The submission focuses on the intersectionality between gender and disability and how the overlapping identities of gender and disability generate multilayered discrimination, critically restricting women and girls’ ability to exercise their human rights.

It examines key issues such as:

  • Gender-based violence against women and girls with disabilities and their access to justice,
  • The link between stereotypes and the placement of women and girls with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities under guardianship or institutions,
  • The importance of adopting disability-inclusive language and promoting inclusive education, as seen through the submitting organizations’ projects, litigation, and legal advocacy work,
  • How systemic exclusion and exposure to violence experienced by women and girls with disabilities arise from entrenched gender disparities intertwined with societal prejudices tied to disability.
  • This layered marginalization underscores the critical need for CEDAW’s General Recommendation on gender stereotypes to integrate disability perspectives consistently.

Who’s it for?

  • UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Committee
  • Law and policymakers
  • Legal professionals
  • Government institutions
  • CSOs
  • Media and researchers

Key recommendations

We kindly asked the CEDAW Committee to add paragraphs to the General Recommendation with the following content:

  • State parties must take urgent measures to eliminate gender stereotypes that, both de jure and de facto, normalize and perpetuate violence against women and girls with disabilities, adopt comprehensive strategies to overcome negative gender and disability stereotypes, and foster a culture of zero tolerance for all forms of violence, thereby advancing gender equality.
  • State parties shall ensure that women and girls with disabilities have equal access to justice by providing gender, age, and disability-sensitive procedural accommodations at all stages of the justice system.
  • States should adopt inclusive legal frameworks, accessible complaint mechanisms, and procedural accommodations that address the unique challenges faced by women with disabilities in legal proceedings.
  • States must remove burdensome evidentiary standards and abolish discriminatory provisions that prevent women and girls with disabilities from enjoying legal capacity on an equal basis with others.

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Intervention on the Occasion of the 85th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Equality Now celebrates the Central African Republic’s ratification of the Maputo Protocol and urges its full implementation. We also call for the withdrawal of reservations by nine AU Member States and the swift enactment of Ghana’s Spousal Property Rights Bill to advance women’s rights across Africa.

Advancing digital rights and legal reforms to end technology-facilitated gender-based violence and protect women and girls in Southern Africa

Equality Now and AUDRi, in partnership with the Southern Africa Youth Forum, co-hosted a side event on Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) at the Southern Africa People’s Summit on 16 August 2025 in Antananarivo, Madagascar. The discussion centred on how advancing digital rights for women, girls, and other marginalised groups through legal reforms can help end TFGBV, with a particular focus on tackling online sexual exploitation and abuse.

Recommendations to SADC heads of State and Government on strengthening protection and support mechanisms for survivors of child marriage

Equality Now, together with the Stop Violence – Stop Child Marriage Project, YWCA Madagascar, Plan International, SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF), and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), convened a side event at the Southern Africa People’s Summit on 15 August 2025 under the theme “Strengthening Protection and Support Mechanisms for Survivors of Child Marriage.”

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