Re(al)productive justice: gender and disability perspectives

Disabled people are often denied the right to make reproductive decisions, including decisions about fertility, contraception, pregnancy, childbirth and parenting. In many countries, there are specific laws criminalising sex with disabled people. There are also higher rates of sterilisation and forced abortion among women and girls with disabilities compared with non-disabled women.

I will explore the legal regulation and the real-life experiences of disabled people in Ireland in making reproductive decisions. As part of this project, disabled people will be invited to tell their stories of making, or being denied the opportunity to make, reproductive choices for themselves. The experiences shared in this project will be used to develop a toolkit for health and social care practitioners that will encourage good practice in respecting the rights of disabled people to make reproductive decisions, and providing appropriate support so they can make informed choices.