...Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, CRSV may fall under the scope of violence against children and child abuse; Under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRSV may amount to violence against persons with disabilities; Under the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention), CRSV may be a form of domestic violence. Note to reader In the Guidebook, references to......Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women have stated that gender equality and disability rights ‘are mutually reinforcing concepts’, and that referring to disability rights to restrict or prohibit women’s access to safe abortion ‘constitutes a misinterpretation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’.65 In the unlikely event that a conflict cannot be resolved, a possible approach is to apply the......Human Rights Law At the international level (encompassing the Genocide Convention, the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Convention against Torture, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) At the regional level (including the Council of Europe system, the Inter-American Human Rights system, and the......disabilities. Over one billion people worldwide are living with some form of disability.48 Persons with disabilities face discrimination and barriers every day that restrict them from participating in society on an equal basis with others. For example, they are commonly denied their rights to be included in school and the workplace, to live independently in the community, to vote, to participate in sport and cultural activities, to enjoy social protection, to access justice, to consent......or refuse medical treatment or to enter freely into legal commitments such as opening a bank account, and inheriting or buying property.49 Once an armed conflict breaks out, persons with pre-existing disabilities are frequently unable to access ‘the basic necessities for survival, such as food, water, sanitation, shelter, healthcare and humanitarian aid’. Fearing for their lives and security, when many are forced to flee their homes, persons with disabilities are often left behind, or simply...

...as taking an outdated, medicalised approach to persons with disabilities that solely views them as ‘sick and wounded’. Critics have argued that IHL conflicts with the contemporary social model of disability propounded by the Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). This model does not characterise disabilities merely as a medical condition, and instead recognises that systemic and structural barriers significantly interfere with persons with disabilities’ participation in society on an equal basis......may take include: Issuing advance warnings before attacks in an accessible format so that persons with disabilities have the time needed to vacate or be evacuated from a certain area;109 Removing persons with disabilities under the control of a party to the conflict from the vicinity of military objectives to protect against the effects of attacks;110 Prioritisation of persons with disabilities in humanitarian relief efforts.111 Prioritisation includes ensuring that water and sanitation facilities are physically accessible,......must take to safeguard persons with disabilities from CRSV, but it does highlight that they are a particularly at risk section of the population ‘as a result of the breakdown in access to – and accessibility of – support structures’ in times of conflict.97 Persons with disabilities, who already face discrimination and stigma in peacetime, often face even greater harm in armed conflicts – including being directly targeted or indiscriminately attacked. Women and girls with disabilities......face an increased risk of sexual violence, while boys and men with disabilities are forcibly recruited or mistakenly targeted as members of parties to the conflict. Institutions housing or caring for persons with disabilities have been targeted or used as human shields.98 In an IAC, persons with disabilities who do not participate in hostilities must enjoy the same general protection as that accorded to the ‘sick and wounded’. States must endeavour to conclude agreements to......have them removed from besieged or encircled areas,99 while taking into account and accommodating their specific needs.100 Further, States must give persons with disabilities priority in receiving relief by virtue of the ‘medical assistance or care’ they may require.101 Under rule 138 of the Customary IHL Study, States must provide persons with disabilities affected by armed conflict with special respect and protection, which also applies in a NIAC. A disability-inclusive understanding of IHL. IHL has been repeatedly criticised...

...African descent’21 and all other persons experiencing racial discrimination who may face multiple,22 ‘intersectional forms of discrimination’,23 including women,24 children,25 persons with disabilities and/or who identify as LGBTQI+,26 persons living with HIV, migrants27 and persons living in rural areas,28 among others. III.7 Special protection against CRSV is owed to migrants🔗 Under article 5, States should protect migrants, in particular refugees and asylum seekers, from all forms of violence.29 They should: Extend the area set aside for refugee camps ‘in order to reduce overcrowding and......Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children;65 The 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness;66 The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; The Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on a Communications Procedure; The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol; The International...

...interventions in health-care facilities, which are forms of torture and ill-treatment. Forced interventions, wrongfully justified by theories of incapacity and therapeutic necessity, are alleged as being in the ‘best interest’ of the person concerned;85 Involuntary commitment to psychiatric institutions. States should investigate torture and ill-treatment of persons with disabilities in institutions, and initiate social reforms and alternative community-based support systems in parallel with deinstitutionalisation of persons with disabilities.86 Ethnic minorities. Ethnic minorities are particularly at risk......with disabilities. Persons with disabilities face multiple and intersecting barriers that may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. Many are neglected or detained in psychiatric and social care institutions, psychiatric wards, boot camps and medical or other settings where they are subjected to severe abuses amounting to torture or ill-treatment, including mental and physical abuse and sexual violence.81 In the case of children with disabilities in health-care settings, an......people with disabilities without their consent on the basis of their ‘best interests’, and masking serious violations and discrimination against them as health professionals’ ‘good intentions’;83 Solitary confinement and prolonged restraint of persons with disabilities in psychiatric institutions. Both prolonged seclusion and restraint may constitute torture and ill-treatment. Seclusion and restraint may also lead to other non-consensual treatment, such as forced medication and electroshock procedures;84 Forced interventions, including forced sterilisation, involuntary treatment and other psychiatric...

...cooperation with persons with disabilities through their representative organizations’.62 III.7 States must allow persons with disabilities to participate in the eradication of CRSV🔗 States must ‘closely consult with and actively involve persons with disabilities, including children with disabilities, through their representative organizations’, ‘in the development and implementation of legislation and policies to implement the [CRPD], and in other decision-making processes concerning issues relating to persons with disabilities’.63 The phrase ‘issues relating to persons with disabilities’......or degrading treatment or punishment), 16 (on the right of persons with disabilities to be free from exploitation, violence and abuse) and/or 17 (on protecting the integrity of persons with disabilities). A failure to address CRSV is a failure ‘to ensure and promote the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all persons with disabilities’.7 II. Legal Framework🔗 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Optional Protocol to the Convention on......practices in places of detention’.53 III.6 States must educate the population on CRSV and persons with disabilities🔗 Under article 8(1), to create an environment that welcomes and protects persons with disabilities, States undertake to adopt immediate, effective and appropriate measures: To raise awareness throughout society, including at the family level, regarding persons with disabilities, and to foster respect for their rights and dignity; ‘To combat stereotypes, prejudices and harmful practices relating to persons with disabilities,......To promote awareness of the capabilities and contributions of persons with disabilities. Measures to this end include: Initiating and maintaining effective public awareness campaigns designed ‘to nurture receptiveness to the rights of persons with disabilities’, ‘promote positive perceptions and greater social awareness towards persons with disabilities’ and ‘promote recognition of the skills, merits and abilities of persons with disabilities’. States should ‘eliminate the use of offensive and pejorative language when reference is made to persons......reform emergency response plans and protocols, in consultation with organizations of persons with disabilities, to make them inclusive of and accessible to persons with disabilities in their design and implementation’.72 Post-conflict, persons with disabilities are ‘largely excluded from peacebuilding efforts, often owing to prejudice’. The Conference of States Parties has stated that persons with disabilities ‘must be intentionally included in peace processes to enable them to actively participate in the formulation and implementation of agreements,...

...and freedoms enshrined in the ECHR. The ECtHR has found that under article 1, read together with article 3, States must ensure that individuals within their jurisdiction are not subjected to torture or ill-treatment,30 including that perpetrated by private individuals.31 States should prevent ill-treatment of which the authorities had or should have had knowledge, and provide effective protection, ‘in particular of children and other vulnerable persons’.32 In the case of vulnerable persons, including persons with disabilities, States...

...Sheet. Stopping the Use of Rape as a Tactic of War: A New Approach‘ (Global Justice Center, June 2014) Lisa Davis, ‘Dusting Off the Law Books: Recognizing Gender Persecution in Conflicts and Atrocities‘ (2021) 20(1) Northwestern Journal of Human Rights 1 Grant Shubin, ‘Gender Norms as a Tool for Wartime Torturers – A Look at Sexual and Gender-Based Violence under International Humanitarian Law‘ (Just Security, November 2022) ICRC, ‘Persons with Disabilities in Armed Conflict‘ (ICRC,......Conflict Related Rape and Their Mothers: Joint Statement by CEDAW and CRC‘ (19 November 2021) Marion Bethel, ‘Conflict-Related Sexual Violence as Gender-Based Violence against Women and Girls: CEDAW Convention, General Recommendations (Nos 35 and 30) and Practice of the Committee with Recommendations and Guidance to State Parties to the Convention‘ (OHCHR, September 2022) Conference of States Parties to the CRPD, ‘Protecting the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Armed Conflict and Humanitarian Emergencies’ (30 March...