Reducing the Risks of Abuse Against
Individuals with Disabilities
Disability Services ASAP
(A Safety Awareness Program)
www.SafePlace.org
www.SafePlace.org
Reducing the Risks of Abuse Against
Individuals with Disabilities
Disability Services ASAP
(A Safety Awareness Program)
www.SafePlace.org
www.SafePlace.org
Agenda
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About SafePlace
Risk factors for abuse
Strategies for reducing the risks
Where to find help
Building relationships
Resources
www.SafePlace.org
SafePlace
Vision—a community free of rape, sexual abuse
and domestic violence.
Mission—to end sexual and domestic violence
through safety, healing and social change.
 Provide safety for individuals and families
 Help in healing to move beyond being defined as
crime victims
 Promote safe and healthy relationships for
prevention of sexual and domestic violence
 Works with others to create change in attitudes,
behaviors and policies
www.SafePlace.org
Disability Services ASAP
(A Safety Awareness Program)
In 1996 SafePlace, established a Disability
Services ASAP (A Safety Awareness
Program) program.
Disability Services ASAP program staff focus
on increasing awareness and reducing the
risks of violence and abuse against people
with disabilities.
Visit our website:
SafePlace.org/disabilityservices
www.SafePlace.org
National Crime Victim Survey (NCVS)
 When adjusted for age, rates of
nonfatal violent crime against persons
with disabilities was 1.5 times higher
than the rate for persons without
disabilities.
 Females with disabilities experienced
a rate of rape or sexual assault that
was more than twice the rate of
females who do not have disabilities
(when adjusted for age).
As cited in the Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report. National Crime Victimization Survey
– Crime Against People with Disabilities, 2007 by Rand, M. and Harrell, E.
www.SafePlace.org
National Crime Victim Survey (NCVS)
 Police responded to fewer crimes
against victims with disabilities than to
crimes where the victim did not have a
disability.
 Persons with a disability related to
cognitive functioning had a higher risk
of victimization than people with any
other type of disability.
As cited in the Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report. National Crime Victimization Survey
– Crime Against People with Disabilities, 2007 by Rand, M. and Harrell, E.
www.SafePlace.org
The findings of a recent review of
empirical literature on interpersonal
violence against people with disabilities
concluded that “especially when assessed
over the course of their lives,
interpersonal violence occurs at elevated
and disproportionate rates among
women and men with disabilities.”
Hughes, Rosemary B.; Lund, Emily M.; Gabrielli, Joy; Powers, Laurie E.;
Curry, Mary Ann (2011). Rehabilitation Psychology, Vol 56(4), Nov 2011,
302-319.
www.SafePlace.org
Disability Services ASAP
(A Safety Awareness Program)
Disability Services ASAP staff provides
education and training for professionals
(i.e., disability service providers, domestic
and sexual violence agency staff, criminal
justice personnel) to help increase
awareness about and prevent sexual and
domestic violence and abuse against
people with disabilities.
www.SafePlace.org
Disability Services ASAP
(A Safety Awareness Program)
The program staff also offer technical
assistance and / or consultation to
individuals and organizations seeking
information and guidance to reduce the
risks of abuse against people who have
disabilities or to increase accessibility of
victim service agencies or programs to
survivors of abuse who have disabilities.
www.SafePlace.org
Defining Terms
Domestic Violence, also called
Family Violence, refers to the willful
intimidation, assault, battery, sexual
assault or other violent and abusive
behaviors perpetrated by one family
member, household member, or
intimate partner against another.
www.SafePlace.org
Domestic Violence
In most state laws addressing domestic
violence, the relationship necessary for
a charge of domestic assault or abuse
generally includes a spouse, former
spouse, persons currently residing
together or those that have within the
previous year, or persons who share a
common child.
National Center for Victims of Crime
www.SafePlace.org
Caregiver Abuse is what happens when
a caregiver begins to exert their will over
the will of the person with a disability.
Caregiver abuse can involve any type of
maltreatment or abuse including
disability related forms of abuse.
It is the abuse of power in a relationship
where the individual has the right to
safety.
SafePlace, 2006
www.SafePlace.org
Defining the Caregiver
“One or more persons assisting another person with
tasks which the individual would typically do [for
themselves] if they did not have a disability.”
(Litvak, 1991)
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Sexual Violence can takes many forms
including attacks like rape or attempted rape
and includes any unwanted sexual contact or
threats.
Abuser can be strangers, acquaintances, friends,
or family members and they can commit sexual
assault by using violence, threats, coercion,
manipulation, pressure or tricks.
Whatever the circumstances, no one asks
or deserves to be abused or assaulted.
www.SafePlace.org
The Dynamics
Disability and Domestic Violence
Risk Factors and Differences
www.SafePlace.org
Similarities
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Same forms of violence
Isolation
Tends to get worse over time
Perpetrator’s sense of entitlement
Survivor is blamed for the violence
Survivor tends to believe it’s her/his fault
Survivor may believe it can’t be different
Imbalance of power
www.SafePlace.org
Differences
Perceived as easy target
Less credible as witness
Boundaries may be routinely violated
Violence may focus on aspects of
disability
 Disability-related resources may be
withheld
 Caregiver or personal attendant violence
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www.SafePlace.org
Factors that Increase Risks for Abuse
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Isolation and segregation
Reliance on others
Communication barriers
Physical or medical barriers
Loss of independence
Lack of privacy
Learned compliance
Socialized denial of sexuality
www.SafePlace.org
Strategies for Reducing Risks
 Reduce isolation
 Understand Power and Control dynamics
 Provide Personal Safety education
 Healthy relationships
 Sexuality
 Respond sensitively to abuse disclosures
 Know where to find help
www.SafePlace.org
Methods of Power and Control
 Withholds, misuses or delays needed
supports (e.g., using medication to sedate,
breaking equipment to immobilize person,
etc.)
 Controls access to family, friends and
neighbors
 Blames the person’s disability for the abuse
 Provides care in a way that will increase the
person’s dependence
www.SafePlace.org
Methods of Power and Control
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Works to gain person’s trust
Person begins to lower inhibitions
Begins to create a closed system
Violation occurs
Abuse may be subtle at first
Tends to escalate
Too good to be true?
www.SafePlace.org
“…do not teach me to be obedient,
submissive and polite.
I need to feel entitled to say “No”
if I am to protect myself….”
Source. A Credo for Support (1995), Norman Kunc and Emma Van der Klift
www.SafePlace.org
Risk Reduction Education
 Identify abuse and abusive relationships
 Provide strategies for personal safety and
building healthy relationships.
 Identify resources and trusted people who
can support the person’s safety.
 Provide information on where to find help
 Build connections and reduce isolation
www.SafePlace.org
A Group Safety Awareness Program
for Women with Diverse Disabilities
A Research Project led by Dr. Rosemary Hughes
at the University of Montana in close
collaboration with
SafePlace Disability Services ASAP, Baylor
College of Medicine,
and 12 Centers for Independent Living
Funded by the National Institute on Disability & Rehabilitation
Research Award #H133G070196
www.SafePlace.org
Results Summary
 Women who participated in ASAP for Women
experienced greater improvements on safety
protective factors than women receiving only
regular services from their center for independent
living.
 Many improvements continued beyond the posttest and were observed at the 6 month follow-up.
 ASAP for Women offers promise as a communitybased group intervention for enhancing safety
protective factors in women with disabilities.
Rosemary Hughes, 2012
www.SafePlace.org
Consider “asking questions about abuse
and addressing issues of abuse as part of
your routine protocol while working with
women [and men] with disabilities.
Then you can provide information and the
necessary resources and supports to help
the [person] break the cycle of violence in
[their] life.”
Lagergren-Fieberg & Schaller, 1998
www.SafePlace.org
Responding that Supports Healing
To be believed
Time and space for feelings
Honesty
Options and choices
To be safe
Pittsburgh Action Against Rape Pittsburgh, PA
www.SafePlace.org
Planning for Safety
What is safety planning?
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www.SafePlace.org
Practical tool
Changes with changing
circumstances
Survivor centered
Explore different options for safety
Honor survivor’s choices
Implementation is survivor driven
Mandatory Reporting
To make a report of suspected abuse to Texas
Department of Family and Protective Services (TDFPS),
call the 24-hour hotline at (800) 252-5400 or report
online at www.txabusehotline.org
To make a report of suspected abuse to Texas
Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS),
call the statewide toll-free number at (800) 458-9858.
www.SafePlace.org
Crisis Agencies
Core Services
 Hotline (24/7)
 Emergency Shelter (who gets in?)
 Sexual assault hospital accompaniment
 Individual counseling / support groups
 Resource advocacy
 Legal advocacy
 Safety planning
www.SafePlace.org
Building Relationships
 Build relationships with domestic violence
and sexual assault centers in your area
 Exchange information about each others
services and how to make effective referrals
 Offer to provide and host cross-trainings with
victim service agencies in your community
 Create a taskforce or workgroup to explore
common interests and how you can support
abuse survivors with disabilities
www.SafePlace.org
Resources
Texas Council on Family Violence
www.tcfv.org
See “Allies to Survivors with Disabilities”
Texas Council on Family Violence Service Directory
http://tcfv.org/pdf/service%20directory09.pdf
Texas Association Against Sexual Assault
www.taasa.org
SafePlace – www.SafePlace.org
Disability Services Program (ASAP)
www.SafePlace.org/disabilityservices
www.SafePlace.org
Resources
The National Domestic Violence Hotline
(800) 799-7233 (voice) or (800) 787-3224 (TTY)
The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network
Voice Hotline: (800) 656-4673 (voice)
Online Hotline: www.rainn.org/get-help
SafePlace 24 Hour Hotline
(512) 267-SAFE (7233) or 1-800(512) 927-9696 TTY
www.SafePlace.org
Further Education
The Gift of Fear, and other
survivor signals that protect us
from violence
By Gavin De Becker
www.SafePlace.org
The Ethics of Touch
The Ethics of Touch
By David Hinsberger
www.SafePlace.org
Is this Abuse?
Is this Abuse? An essential
training for all direct care staff
working in the field of
Developmental Disabilities.
Published by: YAI National
Institute for People with
Disabilities: www.yai.org
www.SafePlace.org
What Else Can You Do?
 Be available and be kind
 Be accessible— be a safe person
 Continue your own education
 Find out what a survivor does well and
help them build on it
 Know that people do recover and heal
 Be witness to a survivors hope
www.SafePlace.org
SafePlace
Disability Services Program ASAP
(A Safety Awareness Program)
www.SafePlace.org
Michelle (Shell) Schwartz, M.A.
512.356.1627 - sschwartz@SafePlace.org
www.SafePlace.org
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