Committee on the rights of persons with disabilities and its take on sexuality

Abstract

After analysing the concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, hereafter referred to as the Committee, this paper examines how the Committee has sustained a protective, medical, and gender binary model to address the sexual and reproductive rights of persons with disabilities. To break away from this narrow approach to sexuality, I call for an understanding of sex/gender that is more fluid and shifting, recognising the ability of persons with disabilities to express and act upon desire consensually, and bringing into the discussion issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.