Kesäkuussa pidettiin New Yorkissa järjestyksessään 16. YK vammaisyleissopimuksen sopimusosapuolten konferenssi (16th Session Of The Conference Of States Parties To The CRPD) eli COSP16. Kansalaisjärjestöjä Suomesta edusti Rusetin järjestöpäällikkö Anni Täckman. Annin tehtävänä oli pitää osapuolikokouksessa Suomen puheenvuoro pyöreänpöydänkeskustelussa, jonka aiheena oli vammaisten henkilöiden yhdenvertainen ja saavutettava pääsy seksuaali- ja lisääntymistervyden palveleuihin.
Ohessa Annin pitämä virallinen puhe ke 14.6.2023 (puhe vain englanniksi). Lisähuomiona, että puheen maksimipituus oli 3 min ja juuri hetkeä ennen pyöreänpöydän keskustelua puheenjohtaja ilmoitti puheenvuorojen pituudeksi 2 min. Joten puheta lyhennettiin ulkoministeriön edustajan kanssa hieman paikanpäällä.
COSP16 -konferenssista on tulossa erillinen raportti myöhemmin.
16th Session Of The Conference Of States Parties To The CRPD
14 June 2023, 10.00am to 1.00 pm
Matters related to the implementation of the Convention: (item 5 (b) (i): Roundtable 1. Ensuring equal access to and accessibility of sexual and reproductive health services for persons with disabilities
Speaker: Anni Täckman, Finland
Dear attendees and all the parties. I would like to thank the organizers for including this important topic in the discussion at the COSP16 conference. The sexuality of people with disabilities is still a taboo and we need to change that. Sexuality, sexual rights, and sexual services belong to everyone.
My name is Anni Täckman and I represent Finland and National Association for Women with Disabilities, Rosette. I speak here today with the voice of people with disabilities and especially with the voice of women with disabilities.
As we all know, the biggest obstacle to the realization of sexual rights is old-fashioned attitudes, lack of information, inaccessibility of sexual health and family services and ignorance of the professionals. The CRPD is an important tool for advancing sexual rights of people with disabilities. The challenge is that CRPD is not yet fully recognized in sexual and reproductive health services.
So, how can we promote sexual rights? Two examples of what has been done in Finland to promote this topic:
One of the most effective ways is to incorporate sexual rights of people with disabilities into national law. This year, for the first time, assistive devices for sexual life were recorded in Finland as part of the national guidelines for donating medical rehabilitation aids. This means Finland has recognized the sexuality of people with disabilities at the level of a law. In this way Finland has successfully promoted among professionals the awareness of the rights and needs of persons with disabilities to access to sexual and reproductive health services. This entry has been very well received by persons with disabilities in Finland.
Another effective way is to create a clear and accessible guidebook on the subject, for example, the motherhood of women with disabilities. Most countries, including Finland, have general guidelines and guidebooks about motherhood and pregnancy, but they rarely take account of disability characteristics. The guidebooks should be compiled in cooperation with professionals and people with disabilities to ensure that the guide serves everyone as efficiently as possible. In 2022, our organization Rosette published the first guidebook of this topic, which brings together all important information that should be taken into account when planning pregnancy, during pregnancy and when giving birth – Sidecar (Sivuvaunu). To date, more than 400 future maternity care professionals (midwives, public health nurses, social workers, etc.) have been trained with the help of this guidebook which is available to anyone who needs it for free.
Finally, we still have a lot of work to do, but we are on the right track towards equal sexual and reproductive health rights for all.
