KWDI Korean Women’s Development Institute

Abstract

A Study on Discrimination Experiences and Human Rights Promotion in Sexual and Reproductive Areas of Women with Severe Disabilities

Dongsik Kim

Youngtaek Kim

Cheyon Tong

Youngjeong Na

 

 

The guarantee of sexual and reproductive health and rights, such as the right to sexual self-determination and enjoyment of persons with disabilities and the right to access to medical care for safe pregnancy and childbirth, is covered by 『Welfare of Persons with Disabilities Act』, 『Act on Guaranteeing the Right to Health and Access to Medical Care of Persons with Disabilities』, 『Prohibition of Discrimination and Relief of Rights of Persons with Disabilities』 and so on. However, in our society, people with disabilities are still considered to be asexual being. Their autonomy is denied, their sexual and reproductive behaviors are controlled, and access to and use of information, education, and medical and welfare services necessary for sexual and reproductive health and realization of rights tend to be restricted easily. In October 2018, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women issued a joint statement calling for the guarantee of sexual and reproductive health and rights for women with disabilities, and in October of that year, the Nairobi Principles were presented. This principle points out that ensuring sexual and reproductive health and rights guarantees access to all forms of health care, including the right to autonomy, respect for privacy and confidentiality, informed consent and explanation. In particular, this principle emphasizes that the government should introduce an effective method to make autonomous decisions regarding the sexual and reproductive health of women with disabilities, and support access to accurate information based on scientific evidence. In addition, the Principles also suggest the elimination of laws, policies and social practices and norms that perpetuate ingrained stereotypes and stigma against women with disabilities.

 

So far, there have been many issues raised about the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women with disabilities, but the policy basis has been very limited. In particular, in the case of women with severe disabilities, who have difficulty expressing their opinions proactively due to their severe disabilities, their opinions are further excluded and placed in a blind spot in policies. In addition, a study aimed at identifying issues related to rights and human rights in the field of sexual and reproductive matters and reviewing improvement tasks for those involved in medical and welfare facilities that directly and indirectly support the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women with severe disabilities was lacking.

 

Accordingly, this study identified the actual state of discrimination against women with severe disabilities in their sexual and reproductive areas, and suggested policy directions and sought improvement tasks to guarantee sexual and reproductive health and rights as human rights.

 

The main topics of policy tasks based on the results are as follows. [1] Securing sexual and reproductive rights - (1) The effectiveness of policies must be strengthened by examining policies that are inconsistent with the laws related to sexual and reproductive health and rights of persons with disabilities and identifying the causes; (2) Legal systems that cause discrimination in the sexual and reproductive areas of persons with disabilities and violate human rights must be reformed; (3) The Basic Act on Sexual and Reproductive Health must be enacted and related basic plans must be prepared so that both non-disabled and disabled people can enjoy sexual and reproductive health and rights.

[2] Ensuring the right to education - (1) Sex education in schools - ① Strengthen internalization of sex education in special schools by considering the type and characteristics of disabilities; ② School sex education should be changed from sexual violence prevention-centered to comprehensive sex education. (2) Sex education in social welfare and health care facilities - ① Disability sensitivity and gender sensitivity education should be strengthened for social welfare and health care service workers; ② In order to enhance gender sensitivity and disability sensitivity in the field, professional instructors equipped with both must be trained and a human resource pool must be established. (3) Development of educational materials and related manuals - ① The National Institute of Special Education and the Institute for Gender Equality Education should develop and distribute educational materials on sexual human rights in consideration of the types and characteristics of disabilities from the perspective of disability and gender; ② It is needed to develop and disseminate educational materials on human rights of persons with disabilities that are suitable for service workers with disabilities; ③ It is necessary to check the overall sexual rights education materials for disabled and non-disabled people, and promote changes to disability-friendly educational materials; ④ Sex education and sexual human rights-related manuals considering the types and characteristics of disabilities should be distributed to residential facilities for the disabled; and ⑤ It is necessary to establish a cooperative system between the disabled and support organizations for the disabled, such as the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.

[3] Ensuring the right to access information and the right to self-determination - (1) Social awareness needs to be improved to guarantee the communication rights of the disabled; (2) Accessible information and communication channels considering the type and characteristics of the disabled should be prepared; (3) The use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) should be diversified to guarantee information and communication rights in the sexual and reproductive areas of persons with disabilities; (4) The Communication Rights Promotion Center for the Disabled should be established and its functions expanded; (5) Experts such as sign language interpreters who can support communication of the disabled should be placed in national and public medical institutions, and service links with other institutions should be strengthened; (6) Accessibility for the disabled should be strengthened by establishing a communication support system for the disabled to respond to emergencies; (7) Sexual human rights education should be conducted at schools for the deaf through sign language experts; and (8) The right to self-determination of women with severe disabilities must be guaranteed in all areas of life.

[4] Guarantee of independent living and labor rights - (1) The scope of work of activity supporters should include the practice of sexual and reproductive rights, and support policies should be discussed; (2) Childcare support services for severely disabled caregivers with children should be strengthened.

[5] Guarantee of right to health - (1) Disability-friendly obstetrics and gynecology operations should be promoted, and improvement measures should be prepared through continuous monitoring; (2) Residential facilities and supportive housing for the disabled should be included in connection with community resources for maternal health for women with disabilities, and public support should be strengthened to ensure the rights and sexual and reproductive health of residents living there; (3) Accessibility to disability-friendly health examination services should be increased, and the right to health, including sexual and reproductive examination items, should be guaranteed; (4) The commissioned doctor system of residential facilities for the disabled should be used to monitor and supervise violations of residents' sexual and reproductive health and rights; (5) Efficiency should be improved by regularizing the evaluation of state-run medical service institutions for the disabled; (6) A medical environment that can be easily used by all persons with disabilities, regardless of the type of disability, must be created; (7) Economic support should be strengthened to reduce the burden of medical expenses for pregnant women with severe disabilities; (8) Access to medical care by disability type should be increased, and information and service support should be strengthened.

[6] Sexual rights - (1) Develop and distribute usable sex products for sexual enjoyment according to the type and nature of the disability; (2) Videos considering the type of disability should be produced and provided so that all persons with disabilities can enjoy the right to sexual enjoyment; and (3) A comprehensive approach should be attempted by expanding the subjects and contents of sexual rehabilitation services at the National Rehabilitation Center.

[7] The right to participate - (1) Data related to sexual reproduction of persons with disabilities must be accumulated by adding items to investigate sexual and reproduction in nationally approved statistics for persons with disabilities; (2) Surveys on the actual conditions of discrimination and human rights violations in the field of sexuality and reproduction of persons with disabilities should be regularized; (3) Public-private partnership research should be promoted to ensure the sexual and reproductive health and rights of persons with disabilities; and (4) A practical system for ensuring sexual and reproductive health and rights for the socially underprivileged, including the disabled, must be established so that they can participate in quantitative and qualitative research.

 

Research areas: Health / Reproductive Rights, Law, Gender-based Violence / Safety, Low Fertility？Aging

Keywords: Disability, Women with Severe Disabilities, Sexual Human Rights, Sexual and Reproductive Rights, Sexual and Reproductive Health