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Preventing Violence Against Women
with Disabilities
Why is violence a top priority for the VWDN AIS?
Violence is a significant health issue for women in Victoria. Research undertaken in 2006 revealed intimate partner violence constitutes a significant risk to the health of women in Victoria. The study showed that intimate partner violence is a larger risk to health than other risk factors traditionally included in burden of disease studies, such as raised blood pressure, tobacco use and increased body weight (Vos, Astbury et al 2006).
Preventing violence against women with disabilities has been identified as a top priority for the VWDN AIS for 2007-2008. Research has established that women with disabilities experience violence at a higher rate (Chenowith 1996), for longer periods (Young, Nosek et al 1997), and are less likely to report the abuse (Hassouneh-Phillips & Curry 2002), than women without disabilities.
Women with disabilities experience the same types of violence as other women in the community, that is physical, sexual, emotional and financial abuse. Women with disabilities also experience forms of violence particular to their situation. Women with disabilities are often not respected or valued for who they are; in general they are poorer than other women; they experience more isolation and can be more dependent on partners, family members or carers. Because of this, women with disabilities can be vulnerable to forms of abuse that do not fit traditional definitions of violence. Withholding equipment, food and medication; limiting access to communication devices; and threats of institutionalisation are some forms of disability related abuse that may go unreported (Nosek, Foley et al 2001).
* NEW Resource: Building the Evidence Report *
We are proud to announce a new VWDN AIS resource launched in September 2008.
The Building the Evidence Project analyses the extent to which current victorian family violence policy and practice recognises and provides for women with disabilities who experience violence; and makes recommendations to improve responses to women with disabilities dealing with family violence.
The research project was undertaken because we do not know the full extent of violence against women with disabilities because statistics about women with disabilities who experience violence are not collected well. Studies here and overseas suggest it is twice the rate of violence against non-disabled women. Meanwhile, the majority of women with disabilities do not have access to the resources they need to protect themselves from violence. Family violence and family services are not equipped to meet the needs of women with diverse disabilities; and disability services have not been adequately equipped to identify or respond to experiences of family violence.
The research was undertaken as a collaboration between the VWDN AIS, the Alfred Felton Research Program at the University of Melbourne, and the Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria.
Accessing the Building the Evidence Report
The Building the Evidence Report can be downloaded in various formats, below. You can purchase a hard copy version by downloading the order form and sending it back to us.
Full report, PDF:
Building the Evidence: a report on the status of policy and practice in responding to violence against women with disabilities in Victoria
Full report, Microsoft Word:
Building the Evidence: a report on the status of policy and practice in responding to violence against women with disabilities in Victoria
Full report, Microsoft Word, no pictures:
Building the Evidence: a report on the status of policy and practice in responding to violence against women with disabilities in Victoria
Executive Summary, Microsoft Word, 16 font:
Building the Evidence - Executive Summary, 16 font
Executive Summary, HTML, 16 font:
Building the Evidence - Executive Summary, 16 font
Individual chapters, PDF:
Executive Summary
Research at a glance
Recommendations
1 Introduction
2 Situating violence against women with disabilities
3 Women's experiences of family violence response system
4 Workers' experiences of supporting women with disabilities in the family response system
5 Data collection and research
6 Family violence standards and guidelines
7 Workforce development
8 Positive developments in service response to women with disabilities experiencing violence
9 Conclusion
References
Appendices
Our violence framework
To address violence against women with disabilities, the VWDN AIS has produced a framework called: A framework for influencing change - responding to violence against women with disabilities 2007-2009.
The framework can be downloaded in various formats:
Full report, PDF:
A framework for influencing change – responding to violence against women with disabilities, 2007-2009
Full report, Word:
A framework for influencing change – responding to violence against women with disabilities, 2007-2009
Executive Summary, PDF:
A framework for influencing change - Executive Summary
Executive Summary, Word:
A framework for influencing change - Executive Summary
Full report, Word, 16 font:
A framework for influencing change – responding to violence against women with disabilities, 2007-2009
The Framework outlines 12 key strategies to guide the advocacy work of the VWDN AIS. The Framework targets family violence and sexual assault as priority areas of concern. The framework seeks to intersect with the Victorian Government’s Family violence and sexual assault reform strategies currently being implemented under the Women’s safety strategy and Fairer Victoria policy.
The key issues identified within the violence framework are:
- Women with disabilities have a right to live free of violence and fear.
- The extent of violence experienced by women with disabilities is a significant problem and government departments and service providers have not been effective enough in reducing this
- All government department that address violence need to consider violence against women with disabilities when they develop their policies and programs.
- Women with disabilities must be present, or represented, at events (such as conferences) that aim to prevent and respond to violence.
- Education can help women with disabilities identify experiences of abuse. Information about abuse needs to be provided to women with disabilities in appropriate formats.
- Women with disabilities who experience violence have the same needs as other women. In addition they may have specific needs related to their disabilities. Therefore, services for women who experience violence need specific information and resources so that they can respond properly to women with disabilities who experience violence.
- Any person who works to provide services for women who experience violence needs to be properly trained to understand the needs of women with disabilities. Their knowledge and skills need to meet certain standards, so that any person working in this area is competent to support women with disabilities who experience violence.
- Funding specifications and agreements must include women with disabilities in the way they require services to be provided. This often means specific needs must be budgeted for.
- More research needs to be done to find out the extent and types of violence that women with disabilities experience in Victoria. Research also needs to look at the factors in society that make women with disabilities vulnerable to violence.
The key strategies identified within the violence framework are:
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Continue to represent women with disabilities on key statewide advisory and governance committees and encourage awareness of the needs of women with disabilities at 5 regional or sub regional family violence integration committees.
- Provide specific information and advice to advisory and government groups to make sure that the needs of women with disabilities are addressed when standards of practice are developed. In particular, provide information and advice with regard to the Homelessness Assistance Service Standards (HASS), and the Counselling and Support Standards of Practice.
- Provide information about the needs of women with disabilities to 3 state-wide and 9 regional family violence integration committees.
- Work with the Disability Services Division (in the Victorian Department of Human Services) to develop and implement a training model for disability services regarding violence against women with disabilities. Encourage training in relevant for services that respond to violence against women and services that work with people with disabilities to consider the experiences and needs of women with disabilities.
- Work with other organisations to support the implementation of the recommendations of the Making Rights Reality Project Report. This is a project that considers how services working with women who have been sexually assaulted can better respond to women with disabilities.
- Provide input about the experiences and needs of women with disabilities who experience violence to the VicHealth literature review, and to VicHealth’s violence prevention framework.
- Provide information, support and mentoring to women with disabilities who are committed to advocating for women with disabilities who experience violence.
- Continue to develop working relationships with relevant organisations to address the needs and rights of women with disabilities at statewide, regional and local levels.
- Advocate to change legal definitions of family violence, so that all domestic violence experienced by women with disabilities – including domestic violence perpetrated by non-family members – is recognised and addressed by the legal system.
- Advocate for data collection on violence – such as the ABS Women’s Safety Survey – to include specific statistics for women with disabilities.
- Encourage research that evaluates support services available to women with disabilities who experience violence.
- Promote and encourage the sharing of information on healthy relationships, violence and support services for women with disabilities.
AIS working with VicHealth to address violence
The VWDN AIS also contributes to the frameworks of other organisations addressing violence against women, such as providing input to VicHealth's Framework to guide primary prevention of intimate partner violence. This framework will help to guide VicHealth's project, Respect, responsibility and equality: preventing violence against women, 2007 .
The VWDN AIS recommended that VicHealth recognise women with disabilities as a special population group with respect to intimate partner violence. Following VicHealth's acceptance of this recommendation, the VWDN AIS was invited to contribute a Review of literature addressing intimate partner violence against women with disabilities to the VicHealth framework.
Some findings from the VWDN AIS literature review for VicHealth:
The literature review revealed a dearth of Australian research on intimate partner violence against women with disabilities. A sample of the main findings are listed below.
Prevalence of violence:
- One empirical study found that 309 (43%) of women with disabilities who had accessed services through Western Australian agencies (disability, domestic violence, community and government agencies) experienced violence against them by their male spouse or live-in partner (Cockram 2003).
- Findings from overseas studies showed that women with disabilities experience higher rates of intimate partner violence than women without disabilities. For example, in an analysis of the Canadian General Social Survey, of the 7027 women surveyed, women with disabilities were 40% more likely to experience partner violence and were vulnerable to more severe forms of violence (Brownridge 2006). Overseas studies also revealed that women with disabilities experience abuse for longer periods, experience forms of violence specific to their disabilities (such as withholding equipment, threats of institutionalisation), and are less likely to report abuse.
Key determinants of violence:
- Gender roles and relations, social norms supporting violence, and limited access to resources and systems of support were found to be major determinants of intimate partner violence for women with disabilities (Brownridge 2006).
Violence prevention strategies:
- Improving social connections that prevent isolation was found to be important in preventing violence against women with disabilities (Copel 2006). High quality protective behaviour programs for women with intellectual disabilities have been considered effective in preventing abuse (Bruder and Kroese 2005).
Download a full copy of the literature review here
Key resources
addressing violence against women with disabilities
The Domestic Violence Resource Centre (DVRC) has produced the following resources:
- Getting safe against the odds: for women with disabilities who experience violence, 2007
- Triple disadvantage: out of sight, out of mind. Violence against women with disabilities, 2003
Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) has produced the WWDA Resource Manual on Violence Against Women With Disabilities (2007), made up of four booklets:
- It's not ok, it's violence: information about domestic violence and women with disabilities
- A life like mine: narratives from women with disabilities who experience violence
- Forgotten sisters: a global review of violence against women with disabilities
- More than just a ramp: a guide for women's refuges to develop disability Discrimination Act action plans
The Federation of Community Legal Centres has produced discussion papers related to violence against women with disabilities:
- Advocacy: making rights realilty. For sexual assault victims/survivors with a cognitive impairment
- Beyond justice, beyond belief
Links - violence organisations
Find links to organisations addressing violence against women with disabilities here.
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