The Inclusive Generation Equality Collective presents the Feminist Accessibility Protocol: What it is, why we need it, and how you can show your support
By Cristina Dueñas Díaz-Tendero and Estefanía Cubillos Nova
Este artículo está disponible en español aquí.
What is the Feminist Accessibility Protocol?
The Feminist Accessibility Protocol is a document aimed at States, feminist civil society, United Nations entities, among other actors, that seeks commitments to ensure that gender equality discussions and decision-making spaces are fully accessible to and inclusive of feminists with disabilities — women, girls, trans, intersex and nonbinary persons with disabilities.
The Protocol contains 13 accessibility measures that the signatory parties pledge to undertake to ensure the meaningful participation of feminists with disabilities in gender equality spaces. Each of these measures relates to a specific aspect of accessibility, in particular inclusion throughout event development processes, accessibility budgets, and communications.
More information on the measures contained in the Protocol can be found here.
To ensure a comprehensive view of accessibility from a feminist perspective, the Collective adopted a participatory approach to the creation of the Protocol, which included conducting focus groups, interviews and surveys with 109 women girls, trans, intersex and nonbinary persons with disabilities with various disabilities from at least 37 countries. These 109 people generously contributed their experiences, knowledge and ideas throughout the process. We extend our deep gratitude to each and every one of them.
I have participated in the gradual construction of the Feminist Accessibility Protocol. As a hard-of-hearing Latina, I admire the respect for the Linguistic Rights of the Deaf, the incorporation of subtitles, the consideration of our diversity in all meetings and interviews, the opportunities for collaboration, and the validation of accessibility experiences. All this with a common dream: The construction and implementation of a Feminist Accessibility Protocol. I express my deep gratitude for this [experience] and wish to continue being part of this Collective, which has empowered and transformed me.
Itzel Moreno Vite, member of the Inclusive Generation Equality Collective
Why do we need the Feminist Accessibility Protocol?
Gender equality spaces have been gaining ground in the public agenda and advancing rights, with highs and lows. However, the progress made has oftentimes left feminists with disabilities behind, which is worrying if we consider that women with disabilities are 1 in 5 in the world. In other words, we are 20% of the total population of women on the planet.
One of the spaces that most recently left feminists with disabilities behind were the Generation Equality Forums — global meetings held in 2021 that convened civil society, governments, activists and allies to advance gender equality.
Find out more about the forums in this fact sheet.
In these forums, feminists with disabilities were not able to participate actively in the debates due to accessibility barriers, including lack of closed captioning and Sign Language interpretation, and screen reader incompatibility. Instead, we had to focus our efforts on drawing attention to the barriers we faced and on highlighting that accessibility is a human right.
“As a screen reader user, I could not navigate the online platform to join the sessions I was interested in and wanted to participate in. I had to enlist the assistance of seeing counterparts to use the mouse to click for me. As such, when I did not have any sighted person around, I could not join the Forum.”
Alimata Abdul Karimu — Member of the Inclusive Generation Equality Collective
Find out more about the accessibility barriers we face and the measures we took in the blog post titled Generation Equality Forums: Leaving Feminists with Disabilities Behind.
Faced with these barriers, the Inclusive Generation Equality Collective — a group of feminists with disabilities and allies that advocate for gender and disability rights and justice — worked collaboratively on advocacy tasks, including the development of the Feminist Accessibility Protocol.
How can you show your support for an accessible and inclusive movement towards gender equality?
The Inclusive Generation Equality Collective invites States, feminist civil society organizations, and UN agencies to sign on to the Protocol.
If you know an organization that works for gender equality, invite them to sign onto the Protocol as well! You will contributing to reaching a true gender equality, one which does not leave anyone behind!
Your support is key. Together, we can do more.
About the authors:
The authors are activists for the rights of persons with disabilities and are active members of the Inclusive Generation Equality Collective. You can follow Estefania on Twitter with the username @estefaniacubill and Cristina with @cristinaddt18.
