Objectives
The National Inquiry on Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights, through
written submissions, fact finding missions, and public hearings, sought to:
1. Document individual and/or systemic barriers to WWDs access to
sexual and reproductive health information, services, and commodities.
2. Document the barriers and problems experienced by service providers in
providing reproductive health information, services, and commodities to
women with disabilities;
3. Provide an analysis and to report on access to reproductive health by
WWDs in the light of the State’s obligations under CEDAW, the UN
CRPD, and the provisions of the MCW the RPRH Law;
4. Provide concrete recommendations to the State and the concerned
agencies to address individual and systemic/structural barriers to
women’s access to reproductive health services
Strategies and
Methodology
Led by the CHRP’s Center for Gender Equality and Women’s Human Rights
(CGEHWR) and its respective Regional Offices, the National Inquiry was
conducted in March to November 2019. The Inquiry employed data gathering
methods as follows:
1. Call for submissions from individuals and/or organizations of their
experience with respect to denial of/discrimination in/barriers to access
of reproductive health services for WWDs;
2. Survey of policies and/or programs for persons with disability
particularly focusing on WWDs and their access to reproductive health
services among National Government Agencies (NGAs) and Persons
with Disabilities Affairs Office (PDAO);
3. Conduct of fact-finding missions and public hearings in select regions
in the country namely: Region X (Cagayan de Oro, Malaybalay),
Cordillera Administrative Region (Baguio City, La Trinidad), CARAGA
Administrative Region (Butuan City, and nearby cities and municipality),
Region VII (Cebu City, Cordova), and National Capital Region (Manila,
Pateros);
4. Validation of Inquiry results with WWDs, women’s organizations, and
relevant NGAs.
The Inquiry was designed to allow women to tell the CHRP their stories. This is
made possible through the conduct of fact-finding missions prior to the Public
Hearing. In these fact-finding missions, women with disabilities are grouped
for the conduct of a focus group discussion. There is one group for women
with mobility impairment, one for blind and women with visual impairment,