The Global Forum on the Leadership of Women with Disabilities (GFLWD) joins the international community in marking the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, a worldwide campaign dedicated to ending violence in all its forms—especially for women and girls who face intersecting layers of discrimination.
Women and girls with disabilities experience some of the highest rates of gender-based violence, yet their voices remain underrepresented in global advocacy spaces. GFLWD is committed to ensuring that their leadership, perspectives, and lived experiences guide global efforts toward justice, safety, and equality.
A campaign theme for GFLWD focusing on empowerment and inclusion.
Here, ACTIVISM represents the values GFLWD uplifts during the 16 Days campaign:
A – Accessibility
Ensuring all movements, policies, and platforms are inclusive and barrier-free.
C – Collective Action
Strengthening solidarity among women with disabilities worldwide.
T – Transformative Leadership
Promoting women and girls with disabilities as leaders shaping policy and change.
I – Inclusion
Embedding disability and gender equality in all development processes.
V – Visibility
Amplifying voices, stories, and lived realities of women with disabilities.
I – Intersectionality
Recognizing race, gender, disability, class, and geography as interconnected factors.
S – Safety & Support
Championing rights-based protection and access to justice.
M – Mobilization
Uniting global partners, advocates, and institutions for collective progress.
This framework guides GFLWD’s messaging and programming throughout the campaign.
The Global Forum is a powerful collective of established and emerging women leaders with disabilities. It is the result of decades of advocacy by self-advocates who have long been marginalized in both disability and gender equality movements. The Forum serves as a transformative platform where women with disabilities globally can mobilize, build solidarity, and lead change.
GFLWD places a strong emphasis on perspectives from the Global South, uplifting leadership from developing countries, and centering the lived experiences of Black, Indigenous, and other historically excluded women with disabilities.
With support from UNITAR, UN Women, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), and the University of Tokyo KOMEX, GFLWD is building a global movement that brings together:
This diverse network works collaboratively to advance the full and meaningful participation of women and girls with disabilities at every level—local, national, regional, and global.
The Global Forum serves as a vehicle for integrating disability and gender perspectives into the global policy landscape. Beyond being a platform for and of women leaders with disabilities, GFLWD also:
As the world observes the 16 Days of Activism, GFLWD reaffirms its commitment to ensuring that women and girls with disabilities—who are often the most impacted by gender-based violence—are not only protected but recognized as leaders, experts, and essential contributors to global change.
