Protecting Women and Girls with Disabilities from Violence and Upholding Their Rights: Making It Work Methodology

The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) marked a milestone in recognizing women and girls with disabilities as full rights holders and in explicitly identifying the multiple discrimination they are subjected to, including gender-based violence. Nevertheless, advancing these rights has posed significant challenges due to the lack of comprehensive disability laws and policies addressing them, or protecting women’s rights. The Making It Work (MIW) methodology, applied to the initiative to prevent, eliminate, and respond to violence against women and girls with disabilities, has shown that placing persons with disabilities, particularly women with disabilities, as central actors in the implementation and monitoring of the CRPD, is a successful road for their empowerment and key to upholding their rights. It has also proven to be a useful tool for mainstreaming disability in the broader women’s rights movement.