Article 6: How Human Rights Instruments Can Support Movements and Build Bridges

One of the pressing questions of current times is how international human rights instruments can achieve true equality for groups who are multiply marginalized. The majority of disabled people experience at least one additional form of marginalization – be that based on sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual characteristics; based on race, ethnicity, or migration status; or based on class, economic status, age, or other factors. Meeting the needs of these populations can be challenging, particularly given that human rights instruments are often siloed and focused on a specific issue or group. Some treaties have inserted provisions in recognition of specific forms of multiple marginalization, in order that rights of specific groups are not overlooked. One example is that of Article 6 of United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which acknowledges the rights of women and girls with disabilities, alongside the convention including gender equality as a guiding principle in order to ensure the rights of women and girls with disabilities are not overlooked. This was fought for and pushed through by feminist disability rights activists during the negotiation of the convention. While this is only one group of multiply marginalized persons, it does provide a template for how human rights instruments can meet the needs of specific groups. Beyond the question of how rights instruments can address these intersections, is how these rights can be realized for specific groups. For much of the world, a state committing to and ratifying a convention in and of itself does not guarantee the full realization of rights. The domestic implementation of these rights relies on advocacy within the state, and the development and proliferation of social movements in order to achieve change. While rights instruments struggle to meet the needs of populations, the social movements which advocate for the rights of specific groups or on specific issues are often similarly siloed. This is true of feminist advocacy and disability advocacy. The CRPD Article 6, and related provisions, provides a common language with which to build a bridge between these movements. It also provides a framework to address what are often seen to be conflicts between the disability rights movement and the feminist movement. We also see the expansion of feminist organizations of persons with disabilities such as Article Six in Poland, Disabled Women Ireland on the island of Ireland, the Indonesian, sisters of Frieda in England, network of women with the development and expansion of these groups, is a significant shift in the disability rights movement. This chapter will examine how the acknowledgment of intersecting forms of marginalization can support social change movements with a specific focus on UN CRPD.