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Back to: Working Text list by Article
Article 23
Respect for home and the family
1. States Parties shall take effective and appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against persons with disabilities in all matters relating to
marriage, family and personal relations, and shall ensure that national laws,
customs and traditions relating to marriage, family and personal relationships
do not discriminate on the basis of disability so that3 :
(a) Persons with disabilities have the equal opportunity to [experience their
sexuality,] have sexual and other intimate relationships and experience parenthood;
(b) The right of all persons with disabilities who are of marriageable age
to marry and to found a family on the basis of free and full consent of the
intending spouses is recognized;
(c) The rights of persons with disabilities to decide freely and responsibly
on the number and spacing of their children and to have access to age-appropriate
information, reproductive and family planning education, the means necessary
to enable them to exercise these rights and the equal opportunity to retain
their fertility.
2. States Parties shall ensure the rights and responsibilities of persons with
disabilities with regard to guardianship, wardship, trusteeship and adoption
of children, or similar institutions where these concepts exist in national
legislation; in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount.
States Parties shall render appropriate assistance to persons with disabilities
in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities.
3. States Parties shall ensure that children with disabilities have equal rights
with respect to family life. With a view to realising these rights, and to
prevent concealment, abandonment, neglect and segregation of children with
disabilities, States Parties shall undertake to provide early and comprehensive
information, services and support to children with disabilities and their families.
4. States Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his
or her parents against their will, except when competent authorities subject
to judicial review determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures,
that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child. In no
case shall a child be separated from parents on the basis of a disability of
either the child or one or both of the parents.
5. States Parties shall undertake that where the immediate family is unable
to care for a child with disabilities, to take every effort to provide alternative
care within the wider family, and failing that, within the community in a family
setting.
Footnotes:
3. The Ad Hoc Committee notes that this article is not intended to affect the ability of States Parties to determine their own policies and legislation on marriage, the family and personal relationships. Rather, the effect of this article is to oblige States Parties to ensure that where freedoms or restrictions on those issues exist, they are applied without discrimination on the basis of disability.