In April 2015, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will meet for its 13th session. As part of the session, the Committee is holding a Day of General Discussion on the Right to Education for Persons with Disabilities, to inform the development of a General Comment for CRPD Article 24 [The Right to Education]. WWDA was invited by the CRPD Committee to provide a written submission to contribute to this work. WWDA’s Submission considers Article 24 [the Right to Education for Persons with Disabilities], and the development of a General Comment for Article 24, in the context of the intersection of disability and gender. WWDA’s Submission argues that a General Comment on the Right to Education for Persons with Disabilities must include specific articulation, and embedding of, issues of intersectionality in recognition of the multiple and intersecting discrimination and disadvantage experienced by people with disabilities with multiple identity positions. This recognises that discrimination affects people with disabilities in different ways depending on how they are positioned within the social, economic and cultural hierarchies that prohibit or further compromise their ability to enjoy universal human rights. Importantly, it clarifies that multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination cannot be ‘disconnected’ from each other when endeavouring to ensure the right to an ‘inclusive education’ for people with disabilities. Copyright WWDA March 2015.
