{"id":2303,"date":"2025-10-25T15:29:54","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T15:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.shakesolutions.net\/diwa\/?p=2303"},"modified":"2025-10-25T15:29:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T15:29:54","slug":"diwa-contributes-to-advisory-opinion-on-disability-and-femicide-at-the-pan-african-lawyers-union-in-abidjan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.shakesolutions.net\/diwa\/diwa-contributes-to-advisory-opinion-on-disability-and-femicide-at-the-pan-african-lawyers-union-in-abidjan\/","title":{"rendered":"DIWA Contributes to Advisory Opinion on Disability and Femicide at the Pan-African Lawyers Union in Abidjan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Abidjan, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire \u2013 October 2025<\/strong><br>Disabled Women in Africa (DIWA) joined legal experts, feminist advocates, and human rights defenders at the Pan-African Lawyers Union (PALU) meeting in Abidjan, contributing to the development of an Advisory Opinion on Disability and Femicide in Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The engagement, convened under the auspices of the African Union\u2019s human rights framework, sought to provide legal clarity and policy guidance on how African States can prevent, investigate, and respond to femicide, particularly where women with disabilities are disproportionately affected by gender-based violence, institutional neglect, and impunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Bringing a Disability Lens to Africa\u2019s Legal Discourse<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Represented by Ruth Mkutumula, Executive Director of DIWA who engaged in person, and Madam Adelaide Nyigina, Chairperson of DIWA from Burundi, who participated virtually, DIWA provided expert input on the intersection of disability, gender, and justice, highlighting the invisibility of women with disabilities within legal and policy responses to femicide across the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cFemicide is not only a gender issue \u2014 it is also a disability rights issue,\u201d<\/em> said Ruth Mkutumula. <em>\u201cAcross Africa, women and girls with disabilities are killed in silence, their deaths uncounted, their stories untold. This Advisory Opinion is an opportunity to ensure that the African human rights system recognizes their experiences and demands justice.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Madam<strong> Adelaide Nyigina<\/strong>, in her virtual remarks, commended the Pan-African Lawyers Union for opening space for cross-movement dialogue and stressed the need for inclusive jurisprudence that recognizes multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cWhen courts, lawyers, and policymakers understand the realities of women with disabilities, the justice system becomes a true instrument of equality,\u201d<\/em> Madam Nyigina observed. <em>\u201cThis Advisory Opinion will guide our continent toward justice that leaves no woman behind.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DIWA\u2019s submission drew on findings from its <strong>r<\/strong>egional work on ending violence against women and girls with disabilities (EVAWG) and national evidence from Malawi, Rwanda, and Kenya, demonstrating how stigma, inaccessible legal systems, and weak enforcement mechanisms continue to deny justice to victims and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Influencing Legal and Policy Change<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pan-African Lawyers Union (PALU), in collaboration with regional experts and civil society partners, is developing the Advisory Opinion for submission to the African Court on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights (AfCHPR). The opinion will serve as an interpretive tool for States, guiding the domestication of regional and international obligations under instruments such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights, the Maputo Protocol, and the African Disability Protocol (ADP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DIWA\u2019s contribution emphasized that future legal instruments and national laws must:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Recognize femicide against women with disabilities as a distinct and aggravated form of gender-based violence;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensure accessible reporting, investigation, and prosecution mechanisms;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Integrate reasonable accommodation and support measures for survivors and witnesses; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mandate inclusive data collection and accountability systems to monitor trends and patterns of violence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A Call for Continental Accountability<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DIWA\u2019s participation in Abidjan reinforces its growing leadership in regional and continental legal advocacy, building on engagements with the African Commission on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights, the African Union Committee on Gender and Disability, and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By contributing to PALU\u2019s Advisory Opinion, DIWA reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that continental human rights frameworks reflect the lived realities of women with disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cOur contribution ensures that Africa\u2019s evolving jurisprudence reflects every woman\u2019s reality,\u201d<\/em> Ruth concluded. <em>\u201cWhen women with disabilities are seen in the law, protected by the law, and empowered through the law, that is when justice becomes real.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>About the Pan-African Lawyers Union (PALU)<\/strong><br>The Pan-African Lawyers Union (PALU) is the continental body of lawyers and law societies in Africa, promoting justice, good governance, and the rule of law. PALU works with regional courts, AU organs, and civil society partners to advance human rights and legal reform across the continent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Abidjan, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire \u2013 October 2025Disabled Women in Africa (DIWA) joined legal experts, feminist advocates, and human rights defenders at the Pan-African Lawyers Union (PALU) meeting in Abidjan, contributing to the development of an Advisory Opinion on Disability and Femicide in Africa. The engagement, convened under the auspices of the African Union\u2019s human rights framework, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.shakesolutions.net\/diwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.shakesolutions.net\/diwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.shakesolutions.net\/diwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.shakesolutions.net\/diwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.shakesolutions.net\/diwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2303"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dev.shakesolutions.net\/diwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2305,"href":"https:\/\/dev.shakesolutions.net\/diwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2303\/revisions\/2305"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.shakesolutions.net\/diwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.shakesolutions.net\/diwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.shakesolutions.net\/diwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.shakesolutions.net\/diwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}