The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is due to examine from Wednesday the implementation by France of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CIDPH), a text ratified in March 2010. Defender of Rights Claire Hédon , independent authority in charge of its follow-up, devotes a report to it, made public on Tuesday.
"While undeniably much progress has been made in recent years, significant gaps remain," said the Defender.
"There are still today many obstacles to the independence and inclusion of people with disabilities," she wrote in this report with many recommendations.
Discrimination against women with disabilities is "particularly visible in the field of employment where they face a double exclusion, disability and gender".
The Defender also notes that "despite progress, the findings on violence against women with disabilities remain alarming".
She deplores “the lack of knowledge and statistical data in this area”.
"Obstacles" in access to justice and the law
It recognizes that access to employment is "a major axis" of disability policies, but "the low level of qualification of people with disabilities is the main obstacle to their access and retention in employment".
Claire Hédon welcomes "the major advance that constitutes the full recognition by law, for all protected adults, of the right to vote, to marry, to pacser and to divorce without prior authorization from the judge".
But children with disabilities "still struggle to fully access their rights."
The report points to "obstacles" in access to justice and the law, in particular due to the insufficient accessibility of buildings housing the courts, or even "deficiencies in access to health care" for detained disabled people.
In 2020, disability was, for the fourth consecutive year, the first reason for referral to the Defender of Rights in matters of discrimination with 21% of complaints.