CEDAW/C/GC/36
impacting the access of these groups to education include poverty, discrimination and lack
of cultural relevance, and instruction often delivered in the majority language resulting in
lower educational achievement, higher drop-out rates, loss of heritage languages and lower
self-esteem.
42.
Refugee, asylum seekers, stateless, undocumented, internally displaced and
migrant girls and women. When forcibly uprooted, girls and women in these situations end
up in camps with no schools or makeshift schools with limited capacity, without curricula or
instruction in relevant languages. Displacement causes particular barriers to learning: human
resources may be lost and physical infrastructure destroyed; and, during flight children may
lose state-mandated documentation thereby preventing them from enrolling in new schools.
Girls can be particularly affected during displacement because the increased insecurity causes
some parents to keep girls home.
43.
Girls and women with disabilities. Millions of girls and women with disabilities are
deprived of the right to education as a result of multiple discrimination based on gender and
disability. According to UNESCO, a third of out-of-school children worldwide are children
with disabilities.11
44.
Although many governments officially promote inclusive education, in practice,
children with disabilities, especially girls, are either excluded or segregated in special
schools. Low attendance rates of children with disabilities, particularly girls, have similar
causes globally: lack of physical accessibility, refusal of teachers or school principals to enrol
such children, lack of accommodation of their needs in school curricula and teaching
materials, and more generally, stigma and lack of awareness among parents and communities
that yield negative attitudes about the learning capacities of women and girls with disabilities.
Additionally, the number of teachers trained to address students with special needs, is often
inadequate.
45.
Lesbian, bisexual transgender and Intersex (LBTI) students. Bullying,
harassment and threats against these students by fellow students and teachers constitute
barriers to the right to education for LBTI girls and women. Schools perpetuate and reinforce
social prejudices often due to poor implementation of policies by school governance bodies
as well as by irregular enforcement of non-discrimination policies by teachers, principals,
and other school authorities. Limited education and cultural taboos are among factors that
prevent LBTI students from achieving social mobility and increases their vulnerability to
violence.
46.
The Committee recommends that States parties take all appropriate measures to
ensure the right of all categories of disadvantaged and marginalised groups to education
by eliminating stereotyping and discrimination, removing barriers to access, and
implementing the following measures:
a)
address stereotyping particularly of minority and indigenous girls and
women, that put them at risk in accessing education, exposes them to violence in the
school and the community and on their way to and from schools especially in remote
areas;
b) address the low socio-economic status and living conditions, particularly
of minority and indigenous girls and women that are barriers to accessing education,
particularly in light of male preference for schooling in situations of scarce financial
resources;
c)
ensure, when necessary, in collaboration with donors and humanitarian
agencies, that adequate provision is made for the education and safety of all
disadvantaged groups of girls and women;
d) ensure that the application of a mandatory dress code and banning of
specific clothing does not hamper access to inclusive education, particularly for those of
migrant background;
11
10
UNESCO. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/inclusiveeducation/single view/news/equal_right_equal_opportunity_inclusive_education_for_a/