Submission to the Australian Government’s Fifth Report under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)

The Committee Against Torture is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) by its State parties. All States parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on how the rights are being implemented. Australia’s fifth report to the Committee Against Torture is due in August 2012. In late 2011, WWDA was invited by the Australian Government to submit initial views on information we believe should be included in the Australian Government’s report. This document is WWDA’s brief submission to the Australian Government and focuses on forced sterilisation of women and girls with disabilities in Australia – a continuing state sanctioned practice which clearly gives rise to torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. WWDA’s Submission is supplemented by an international briefing paper ‘Sterilization of Women and Girls with Disabilities’, published in October 2011 and prepared by WWDA, Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Open Society Foundations, and the International Disability Alliance (IDA) as part of the Global Campaign to Stop Torture in Health Care. Copyright WWDA November 2011.