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The member of the RA NA delegation Hripsime Grigoryan gave a speech at PACE Autumn Session. At October 11 sitting the deputy noted:

“Thank you, Mr. President.

On behalf of the SOC group, I want to recognize the excellent, extensive work and contribution of the Rapporteur, Ms. Beatrice Fresco-Rolfo towards 1. Raising awareness and 2. Calling for action on the issue of this debate.

The very theme of this report is highly complicated and sensitive. As very rightfully stated in the report, Women with disabilities are under disproportionate risk of discrimination. Moreover, they are under the risk of multiple discrimination as women, as women with disabilities, that is already a double discrimination, and even intersectional discrimination – as women with disabilities having an affiliation to a certain minority group.

If we add to these factors such as conflict times, they even further aggravate the risks of violence against Women with Disabilities. The report presents the case of Ukraine, where the majority of residents in institutions are women and girls with disabilities. Another very fresh example is a huge group of disabled persons - 9,000 - having been subject to forced displacement from Nagorno-Karabakh - among them many women, including elderly women.

The report comprehensively covers the measures that should to be undertaken to both prevent and combat violence against Women with disabilities. Preventing and combating any phenomena, requires knowledge and data about it.

So one of essential points is the need to have relevant disaggregated data, disability-sensitive data in order to understand the specificities, the scale, structure of the issue in a given society to make it possible to efficiently struggle against it. But even before that, the decision to make the inclusion of persons with disabilities a priority on a state level, a thing we can see that Denmark has done, can be one effective way to address the whole issue. Once prioritized and then mainstreamed the chances to achieve positive results in shorter times are higher.

Looking at very many of the obstacles faced by women with disabilities – another greatly elaborated section in the Explanatory memorandum by the Rapporteur – it is easy to observe the huge extent of socially constructed obstacles – vulnerability as a notion essentialising women with disabilities, the huge extent of stereotypical views of women with disabilities, their treatment as persons of a lesser value or unequal.

I firmly believe that these kind of socially constructed obstacles have very strong correlation or even causal relation with the social norms of a given society. And here it is highly important to transform those norms.

And there comes my final point in this intervention - the core importance of inclusive education that cannot be underestimated.

A reality where persons with and without special needs are studying, playing, spending much time together from early years, developing norms and attitude of care and respect towards each other, where the diversity of disabilities, the multitude of realities, as the Rapporteur puts it, is recognized and comprehended by everyone. I believe that having this our coming generations will be much more successful in building and strengthening inclusive societies, where stereotypical views and discrimination will be far less common and violence unacceptable.

In all the complexity of the issue, the good news at least is that we are Parliamentarians, hence we do have means to act.

Huge thank you to Ms. Beatrice again. And calling on all of you, honorable colleagues, to vote for this report as the SOC group is going to do.

Thank you.”