Ending forced sterilisation of women with disabilities: Alternative pathways to the decriminalisation of EU criminal offences through anti-discrimination law and conditionality of funds - Related Opinions

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has issued an own-initiative opinion on the European Citizens' Initiative "My Voice, My Choice: for safe and accessible abortion". The EESC has expressed full support for the initiative and calls on the European Commission to submit a proposal for financial support for Member States that would allow anyone in Europe who still lacks access to safe and legal abortion to safely terminate a pregnancy, in accordance with national law. The EESC further stresses that denial or obstruction of abortion care constitutes institutional gender-based violence.

In this exploratory opinion, requested by the European Commission, the EESC outlines priority actions and flagship initiatives for the 2025–2030 period. It urges the Commission to quickly develop its next action plan with meaningful consultation of persons with disabilities and their organisations and calls for stronger, more binding measures than those from 2021–2025, with direct impact and dedicated funding in the next Multiannual Financial Framework to ensure effective implementation and support.

This own-initiative opinion stresses that any kind of violence against women is a violation of women’s human rights. The EESC believes Directive 2024/1385/EU on combating violence against women and domestic violence should address all forms of violence against women and calls for sexual violence and rape to be included as a form of violence and criminalised based on the absence of consent. Highlights that any kind of violence against women is a significant public and clinical health concern, while stressing the multiple and intersectional discrimination suffered by women with disabilities.

The revision of the Victims' Rights Directive aims to ensure that victims' rights are ensured, easier to access and improved for all victims' of crimes throughout the Union. The EESC welcomes this proposal and supports the following: improving the individual assessment of victims' needs, paying particular attention to more vulnerable or marginalised groups; improving guidelines and training so that such assessments are done correctly; enhancing the victim's right to information and having the right to review a decision during court proceedings; strengthening compensation schemes for victims.

In this opinion, the EESC suggests several changes to the Commission's proposal, to make the text fully compliant with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Namely, the Committee suggest that if the adoption of a legal measure against a vulnerable person clearly violates human rights and international law, a Member State should be obliged not recognise such a measure.

Women with disabilities constitute 16% of the total population of women in Europe, which means in the EU there are approximately 40 million women and girls with disabilities.
Women with disabilities face intersectional discrimination in all areas of life, including, socio-economic disadvantages, social isolation, violence against women, forced sterilisation and abortion, lack of access to community services, low-quality housing, institutionalisation, inadequate health care and denial of the opportunity to contribute and engage actively in society.