CRPD/C/GC/5 of standards of universal design in a variety of sectors and the establishment of accessibility standards for housing. 79. States parties must take into account in advance the obligation to provide support services to persons with disabilities in all disaster risk management activities (art. 11) and make sure that they are not left behind or forgotten. It is also important that barriers are not rebuilt after situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies or the occurrence of a natural disaster. Reconstruction processes must ensure full accessibility for the independent life in the community of persons with disabilities. 80. Equal recognition before the law (art. 12) ensures that all persons with disabilities have the right to exercise their full legal capacity and therefore have the equal right to exercise choice and control over their own lives by choosing where, with whom and how they want to live and to receive support in accordance with their will and preferences. To fully realize the transition to supported decision-making and implement the rights enshrined in article 12, it is imperative that persons with disabilities have the opportunity to develop and express their wishes and preferences in order to exercise their legal capacity on an equal basis with others. To achieve this, they have to be a part of the community. Furthermore, support in the exercise of legal capacity should be provided using a community-based approach which respects the wishes and preferences of individuals with disabilities. 81. Access to justice as enshrined in article 13 is fundamental to ensure full enjoyment of the right to live independently in the community. States parties must ensure that all persons with disabilities have legal capacity and standing in courts. States parties must furthermore ensure that all decisions concerning living independently in the community can be appealed. Support to enable living independently in the community shall be enforceable as a right and an entitlement. To ensure equal and effective access to justice, substantial rights to legal aid, support and procedural and age-appropriate accommodations are essential. 82. Involuntary institutionalization on the grounds of impairment or associated circumstances such as presumed “dangerousness” or other factors as elaborated by the Committee in its guidelines on article 14 is often caused or increased by a lack of disabilityspecific support services. Implementing article 19 thus will ultimately prevent violation of article 14. 83. It is of paramount significance to ensure that support services leave no space for potential abuse or exploitation of persons with disabilities or any violence against them (art. 16). Disability-, gender- and age-sensitive monitoring, legal remedies and relief must be available for all persons with disabilities who use services prescribed in article 19 and who may face abuse, violence and exploitation. Since institutions tend to isolate those who reside within them from the rest of the community, institutionalized women and girls with disabilities are further susceptible to gender-based violence, including forced sterilization, sexual and physical abuse, emotional abuse and further isolation. They also face increased barriers to reporting such violence. It is imperative that States include these issues in their monitoring of institutions and ensure access to redress for women with disabilities who are exposed to gender-based violence in institutions. 84. Without support for personal mobility (art. 20), barriers to living independently in the community continue to exist for many persons with disabilities. The provision of affordable and available quality mobility aids, devices, assistive technologies and forms of live assistance and intermediaries, as enshrined in article 20, is a precondition for the full inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities in their respective communities. 85. Persons with disabilities have the right to access all public information in accessible formats and to seek, receive and express information and ideas on an equal basis with others (art. 21). Communication can be provided in forms and formats of their choice, including Braille, sign language, tactile and Easy Read formats and alternative modes, means and formats of communication. It is important that communication and information flow in both directions and that services and facilities are accessible for individuals who use different ways of communicating. It is of particular importance that information about support services and social protection schemes, including disability-related mechanisms, is 15