Niger

(1 May 2019, CRPD/C/NER/CO/1, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 11 and 12)

“The Committee is concerned that:… (b)Children with disabilities lack access to social and health-care services and equal education opportunities, particularly inclusive education, and experience high levels of abuse and violence, including corporal punishment at home, in schools and in residential institutions;

“The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Adhere to the Convention in the implementation of targets 16.2 and 16.7 of Sustainable Development Goal 16;

(b) Adopt legislation and measures for children with disabilities to enjoy their rights and adequately protect them from abuse, violence and exploitation, and sanction perpetrators;

(c) Effectively implement the framework document for the protection of the child (2013), develop a national plan for the care of children with disabilities, mainstream disability rights in strategies and action plans regarding children, prohibit corporal punishment of children with disabilities in all settings and implement awareness-raising campaigns and education, especially in schools and at the community level to eliminate discrimination against children with disabilities…”

Rwanda

(3 May 2019, CRPD/C/RWA/CO/1, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 29 and 30)

“The Committee is concerned about:

(a)Prevailing violence, abuse and neglect against persons with disabilities, particularly women and children and persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities, within health-care and corrective institutions;

(b)The lack of effective measures to prevent violence, including sexual and gender-based violence, particularly in homes, institutions, communities and refugee camps where persons with disabilities live, and measures to monitor such prevention measures;

(c)The lack of effective protection and support services for persons with disabilities who are victims of exploitation, violence or abuse;

(d)The absence of concrete data on cases of violence and abuse against persons with disabilities;

(e)The lack of dedicated mechanisms for identifying, investigating and prosecuting instances of exploitation, violence and abuse against persons with disabilities;

(f)The lack of a direct ban on corporal punishment of children with disabilities in all settings.

“The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Take all necessary measures to prevent and eliminate all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse against persons with disabilities, particularly women and children ;

(b) Ensure that members of the police, judiciary and health and social services receive regular and mandatory training on the prevention of violence and abuse of persons with disabilities ;

(c) Adopt effective measures to ensure that persons with disabilities who are victims of violence have access to accessible services and information, including hotlines, shelters, victim support services, consultation and counselling;

(d) Collect and publish data, disaggregated by sex and age, on violence and abuse against persons with disabilities in all settings, including the number of prosecutions, convictions and sentences imposed on the perpetrators ;

(e) Establish accessible and inclusive complaints mechanisms that have a mandate, inter alia, to provide compensation and impose sanctions on perpetrators, in accordance with article 16 (3) of the Convention;

(f) Enact and enforce legislation to explicitly prohibit all corporal punishment of children, however light, in all settings, including in the home and in institutions, in accordance to target 16.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals, on ending violence against children.”

Saudi Arabia

(13 May 2019, CRPD/C/SAU/CO/1, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 11, 12, 27 and 28)

“The Committee is concerned about:

(a)The lack of specific protection for children with disabilities in legislation, implementing regulations and policies, including in the Child Protection Act and the Protection against Abuse Act;

(b)Corporal punishment, discrimination, stereotypes and marginalization concerning children with disabilities…

“The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Review the Child Protection Act and the Protection against Abuse Act to introduce specific provisions protecting the rights of children with disabilities, and mainstream the rights of children with disabilities, including the principle of the best interests of the child, into national policies, plans and programmes regarding children and young persons;

(b) Prohibit violence against children with disabilities, including corporal punishment, impose sanctions for perpetrators and adopt and implement a strategy to combat stereotyping of and discrimination against children with disabilities…”

“The Committee is concerned about:

(a)Violence against and abuse and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of persons and children with disabilities, including through corporal punishment, in homes, schools, day-care centres and alternative care settings…

“The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Adopt legislation that prohibits all forms of violence and corporal punishment in all settings, including in homes, schools, day-care centres and alternative care settings, train medical and research personnel on the human rights-based approach to disability and investigate, prosecute and punish perpetrators of violence and corporal punishment…”

Senegal

(13 May 2019, CRPD/C/SEN/CO/1, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 11, 12, 29 and 30)

“The Committee is concerned about:… (c)Reported cases of exploitation, violence and abuse against children with disabilities, including corporal punishment, in the home, in schools and in institutions, and exploitation through forced begging;

“The Committee recommends that the State party take into account the Convention in its efforts to achieve targets 16.2 and 16.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals and that it, in particular: … (c) Repeal all provisions that allow for corporal punishment, including article 285 of the Family Code, and adopt legislation and effective measures to ensure that children with disabilities are adequately protected from exploitation, violence and abuse, including exploitation through forced begging, and that perpetrators are sanctioned…”

“The Committee is concerned about: (a)The lack of specific legislation, policies and programmes to protect persons with disabilities, particularly women and girls with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities, persons with albinism and children with disabilities, from all forms of violence, abuse and economic exploitation…

“The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Adopt and implement legislation, policies and programmes to protect all persons with disabilities, particularly women and children with disabilities, persons with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities and persons with albinism, from all forms of violence and abuse, including corporal punishment;

(b) Promptly conduct investigations into cases of exploitation, violence and abuse against persons with disabilities, prosecute suspects, duly sanction perpetrators, ensure that victims are provided with effective redress, including compensation and rehabilitation, and ensure that child victims have access to age-appropriate reporting channels that respect privacy and to physical and psychological rehabilitation and health services, including mental health services…”

Vanuatu

(13 May 2019, CRPD/C/VUT/CO/1, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 28 and 29)

“The Committee is concerned about cases of violence against and abuse of persons with disabilities, especially women and children, both in the home and in the community. In particular, it is concerned that:

(a)The Family Protection Act, which is the legislative framework to protect victims of domestic violence, including persons with disabilities, is not aligned with the Convention;

(b)There are cases of violence against and abuse of children with disabilities, including corporal punishment;

(c)Complaint mechanisms are inaccessible;

(d)There is no mechanism for monitoring cases of violence against persons with disabilities and the State party’s intervention in cases of domestic violence against persons with disabilities largely depends on the Vanuatu Women’s Centre;

(e)Cases of violence against and abuse of persons with disabilities are not properly investigated and the perpetrators are not punished; for example, cases of sexual abuse of women with disabilities, especially women with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities, are dealt with through reconciliation in the women’s villages, whose authorities impose a fine as a sanction for the perpetrator.

“The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Amend the Family Protection Act (2008) in line with the Convention and improve the protection of persons with disabilities from violence and abuse;

(b) Protect children with disabilities from all forms of violence and abuse, including by expediting the enactment of the child protection bill, ensuring that it is in line with the Convention to prohibit corporal punishment in all settings;

(c) Establish accessible mechanisms for persons with disabilities to report violence and abuse against them and ensure that they know where to seek assistance;

(d) Strengthen the capacity of the Vanuatu Women ’ s Centre and the authorized persons and registered counsellors under the Family Protection Act (2008) to protect and provide support to persons with disabilities, and effectively monitor the situations of persons who are victims of violence, particularly women;

(e) Adopt measures to increase the capacity of the Family Protection Unit under the police to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of violence against persons with disabilities, in particular women and girls with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities.”