Double standards still exist across the healthcare sector which expect women with disability to tolerate a level of violence in their own homes at higher rates than other women in Australia.
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The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability has heard about women and girls with disability being abused and actively denied their sexual and reproductive rights.
The evidence has been damning, and strong action must be taken to address the inequities that exist.
During the hearings we have heard heartbreaking accounts of the violations inflicted on women and girls with disability.
It is obvious that their sexual and reproductive rights have been ignored across the healthcare sector.
We have heard that children as young as seven were sterilised because of their disability, such as having vision impairments.
Others were told they were having their appendix taken out and didn't know they had been sterilised until they wanted to have children.
Their sexual and reproductive rights were taken away without their consent.
Reproductive coercion is a vast, yet hidden problem in Australia. It is any behaviour that has the intention of controlling or constraining another person's reproductive health decision-making, and can take a variety of forms.
Reproductive coercion includes forced sterilisation and forced contraception, and causes lifelong psychological harm for people with disability.
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Every person, regardless of age, deserves to have full autonomy of their sexual and reproductive health. People with disability have the right to choose if and when they experience menstruation, pregnancy, and various healthcare procedures.
For too long, the rights of people with disability have been ignored.
The royal commission is shining a light on the failures of the current systems in place.
The healthcare sector needs to consider if and when their actions could be coercive, because no one should have contraception or sterilisation forced upon them.
Clinical settings need sensitive inquiry mechanisms that enable us to prevent and respond to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.
We call for increased investment in clinical education and training to cover disability, bodily autonomy and informed consent. And we support the calls to provide redress for women and girls who were sterilised without their consent.
Redress for forced sterilisation is an important part of addressing the drivers of inequality that fuel disability discrimination.
It is timely and vital for those who have suffered violations which have had a long-term impact on their life and their sexual and reproductive rights.
- Jamal Hakim is managing director of Marie Stopes Australia.
