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Activists call for better legal support for victims of sexual violence with disabilities
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On the heels of World Disability Day this month, communities and organizations advocating for people with disabilities are calling for better access to justice to end violence against women with disabilities.
(Shutterstock/File)
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n the heels of World Disability Day this month, communities and organizations advocating for people with disabilities are calling for better access to justice to end violence against women with disabilities.
In observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Dec. 3, the United Nations brought together children with disabilities and organizations at an event in South Jakarta titled “Creative Week for People with Disabilities” from Dec. 6 to 10.
The gathering showcased over 70 works by people with disabilities and included a discussion on how to ensure their rights were upheld following a series of cases of violence against women with disabilities.
Representatives from several UN agencies and communities spoke of how vulnerable many people with disabilities were to violence and noted that women with disabilities were particularly likely to be victims.
“Women are generally prone to being victims of violence, but other groups of women are more at risk, such as women with disabilities,” Yuni Asriyanti, a consultant at UN Women, said at the discussion on Dec. 7.
The National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) recorded 79 cases of violence against women with disabilities in 2022, with 27 cases involving women with more than one disability. This marked an increase from the 35 cases recorded in 2021.
The commission said the figure was only the tip of the iceberg. The actual number of cases could be higher, it said in a recent statement, as women with disabilities tended to be unaware about reporting gender-based violence to law enforcement.
