On 1st March 2024, EUD attended the launch event of the European Disability Forum’s (EDF) third manifesto on the rights of women and girls with disabilities, “Empowerment and Leadership”. The manifesto calls for specific actions from decision-makers to tackle the systemic marginalisation of women and girls with disabilities – 25.9% of the population of women in Europe. It outlines ways to empower women and girls with disabilities and ensure their leadership over their lives and issues that affect them.
The manifesto focuses on 4 specific areas – political participation, which is very apt given the upcoming European elections; combatting violence against women; leadership; visibility and empowerment. EDF also produced a corresponding factsheet of statistics on women and girls with disabilities in the EU based on a survey they disseminated to draft their manifesto.
We congratulate EDF on the launch of this important work and join their call to the EU and Member States to mainstream the rights of women and girls with disabilities, including deaf women and girls, in all aspects of society. Indeed, the guiding motto of the Disability Movement – ‘Nothing about us without us’ – cannot be realised without taking action accordingly.
During the launch event, a number of excellent speakers discussed the situation of women and girls with disabilities with regards to leadership and empowerment. For instance, Ms Aoife Price, Research Executive at the Disability Law and Policy School in NUI Galway, highlighted the power of visibility of women with disabilities in politics to shift false public perceptions of the disability community. Ms Pirkko Mahlamaeki emphasised the importance of accessibility and reasonable accommodation as key to equal participation.
The launch of the manifesto is timely as EUD is due to publish its report on “Combatting Gender-based Violence and Discrimination against Deaf Women and Girls in the EU” this month. Moreover, on 8th March 2024, we will celebrate the occasion of International Women’s Day.
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