The European Union, through the EUROsociAL+ Programme, together with the Monitoring Mechanism of the OAS’s Belén do Para Convention, promotes the visibility of the additional difficulties faced by women with disabilities, victims and survivors of violence, in accessing Justice.
With the support of EUROsociAL+, the first meeting of international experts on the main barriers in accessing justice for women victims or survivors with disabilities was held in Washington (United States). This first meeting is part of an action undertaken by EUROsociAL+ and MESECVI to define a roadmap that guarantees the right to a life free of violence for women with any type of disability.
The Gender, Governance and Social Policies areas of the EUROsociAL+ Programme have facilitated the presence of institutions, civil society organisations and experts from Europe and Latin America as part of the exchange of good practices, and will provide technical assistance throughout the action for the preparation of the report of recommendations on the actions to be taken by the signatory States party to the Inter-American Convention to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Violence against Women, which was adopted in Belém do Pará, Brazil, in 1994.
The meeting of experts constitutes a first milestone, promoting a diagnosis that supports a general recommendation of the MESECVI on the incorporation of the disability perspective in the standards already developed to bring into being the Convention of Belém do Pará. Also, to identify and prioritise work areas where there are the greatest deficiencies and obstacles in the state response to violence and discrimination against girls, young women and women with disabilities, and to form a team of experts, representatives of international organisations, civil society organisations, activists currently working on issues of disability and gender, barriers on accessibility or violence against women, to become a consultation group for the Inter-American Commission of Women CIM-MESECVI on matters related to women with disabilities.
During the conference session at the OAS and at the George Washington University and in the meeting of experts, the following took part: Alejandra Mora Mora, executive secretary of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM); Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian, director of the Department of Social Inclusion of the Organisation of American States (OAS); Sylvia Mesa, president of the MESECVI Committee of Experts (CEVI); María Soledad Cisternas, special envoy of the United Nations Organisation on Disability and Accessibility; Ester Mancera, operational coordinator, Sordas Sin Violencia, Argentina; Andrea Parra, Advisor of Incidence of Synergies, Strategic Alliances of Colombia; Patricia Sanz, president of the Equal Opportunities Observatory of the ONCE Social Group of Spain, and; Charlotte McClain-Nhlapo, Global Disability Advisor, World Bank, Rosa Celorio, associate dean for International and Comparative Legal Studies, George Washington University; Mar Cabrejas Guijarro, member of the General Council of the Judiciary, Spain; Suzannah Phillips, vice president of Women Enabled; Luz Patricia Mejía Guerrero, technical secretary of the MESECVI; Ana Pérez Camporeale and Carmen Miguel Juan as representatives of EUROsociAL+, among others.
