Despite the above-mentioned international and domestic legal frameworks for reproductive health and rights and the rights of persons with disability, systemic and structural barriers continue to hinder enjoyment of these rights. Globally, women and girls with disabilities ‘face multiple barriers to realizing their rights: environmental, physical and informational accessibility issues, including lack of resources and inadequate access to services, as well as widespread discrimination, stereotyping and social stigma.‘3 These barriers were discussed in part during the Philippines’ review under UNCRPD (2018), and CEDAW (2016). They were also documented by CSOs working with women with disabilities. The recently conducted review of the Philippines by the Committee on UNCRPD reiterated continuing challenges and gaps with respect to access to reproductive health services of persons with disabilities. It observed continuing lack of data on persons with disabilities and of the need for government programming that takes into account the intersecting forms of discrimination that women with disabilities experience, including in access to information and services on responsible parenthood and reproductive health (RPRH) and gender-based violence. The Committee also expressed concern about the “limited sexual reproductive health education, services, and rights available to women and girls with disabilities” and on the “prejudice and discrimination of families, service providers and the wider public that prevent women and girls from accessing health care.”4 Even prior to the UNCRPD’s concluding observations in 2018, the UN CEDAW Committee and research from and with WWDs already surfaced intersecting and different forms of discrimination, othering, and exclusions. In 2016, the CEDAW Committee noted with concern how judicial and legal procedures are not sufficiently accessible to persons with disabilities,5 how programs and institutions fail to institutionalize accessibility for women with all forms of disabilities,6 and how the State failed to develop operational guidelines for Ibid. UN CRPD Committee. Concluding observations on the initial report of the Philippines’ (16 October 2018) CRPD/C/PHL/CO/1 5 UN CEDAW Committee. Concluding observations on the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of the Philippines. (25 July 2016). CEDAW/C/PHL/CO/7-8. para 14 6 Ibid., para 16 3 4 ‘high-quality, age-appropriate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights for all girls and boys, including those with disabilities’7 Research conducted with WWDs in the Philippines further support the observation that WWDs, because of the ‘intersectionality of prejudice and discrimination,’ are more likely to ‘experience violations of their sexual and reproductive rights, compared to women without disability.’8 For instance, interviews conducted with women with disabilities during a participatory action group research reveal numerous barriers to sexual and reproductive health; to wit: Findings from interviews with women with disabilities highlighted numerous barriers to sexual and reproductive health including limited availability of accessible services; women’s limited awareness about sexual and reproductive health and when and how to access appropriate information and services; negative attitudes of service providers and communities in relation to disability and sexual and reproductive health; and experiences of violence and abuse. Women with disabilities also wanted more information about sexual and reproductive health and greater access to services.9 These observations are consistent with the findings of the 2016 RH Inquiry of the Commission, supporting the need to further document the lived experiences of WWDs through a National Inquiry specifically focusing on the reproductive health and rights of WWDs. With funding support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Commission undertook a National Inquiry from March to October 2019. Ibid., para 16 Alexandra Devine, Raquel Ignacio, Krystle Prenter, Lauren Temminghoff, Liz Gill-Atkinson, Jerome Zayas, Ma Jesusa Marco & Cathy Vaughan (2017) “Freedom to go where I want”: improving access to sexual and reproductive health for women with disabilities in the Philippines, Reproductive Health Matters, 25:50, 55-65, DOI: 10.1080/09688080.2017.1319732 9 Ibid. 7 8