Violence Against Women With Disability
By Carolyn Frohmader & Samantha Connor
In Australia, the urgent need to address violence against women is now firmly on the national agenda. At a time
where the need to establish a culture of non-violence and gender equality is high on governments’ list of
priorities, organisations are increasingly thinking about the need to identify and focus on systemic improvements
to current responses to violence against women.
Although it is well established that violence against women and girls with disability in Australia is more extensive
than violence among the general population, current gendered violence prevention policies and discourse in
Australia remain predominantly focused on addressing and preventing domestic and family violence – which is
typically understood as intimate partner and/or spousal violence, occurring within the family setting between
former or current spouses or partners.
A narrow conceptual understanding of domestic and family violence risks obscuring other forms of violence
against women, such as gendered disability violence. 1 This can result in the marginalisation of gendered
disability violence within policies and service responses designed to address and prevent violence against
women.
Case study
Christine is a 39 year-old woman with intellectual disability. She was recently raped and bashed
three times in one week by several different men. She lives in a ‘semi-supported residential
facility’. In one of the attacks (in the local park in broad daylight), she was repeatedly anally and
vaginally raped and beaten. When she made it back to the residential facility, a staff member
made her hand-wash her bloody garments. The worker wrongly “assumed” that Christine was
menstruating (despite her being on an injectable contraceptive) and she was reprimanded for
getting blood on her clothes.
Two days later, Christine disclosed the rapes to her friend who helped her report the rapes to
the police. The police initially assumed that Christine might be “making it up”. Forensic evidence
established clear evidence that the rapes occurred, but detectives decided not to investigate
because Christine “has an intellectual disability”.
Christine’s story is not unique. Compared to their peers, women with disability experience substantially higher
levels of all forms of violence and are subjected to such violence by a greater number of perpetrators. 70% of
women with disability have been victims of violent sexual encounters at some time in their lives. 90% of women
with an intellectual disability have been subjected to sexual abuse, with more than two-thirds (68%) having been
sexually abused before they turn 18 years of age. Women with disability are 40% more likely to be the victims of
domestic violence than women without disability.2
Despite the alarming statistics, violence against women with disability continues to fall through legislative, policy
and service response ‘gaps’. This is attributed in part, to the failure to understand the intersectional nature of the
violence that they experience, and the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination (and its aggravating
effects) which make them more likely to experience, and be at risk of, all forms of violence.
Research has found that there remains a significant lack of awareness and understanding of the extent, nature,
incidence and impact of gendered disability violence at the individual, community, service provider and criminal
1
Gendered disability violence is understood as: violence directed against a woman because she is a woman, which is shaped by the
disability context, and which affects women with disabilities disproportionately as individuals and as a group.
2
In Frohmader, C., Dowse, L., & Didi, A. (January 2015) ‘Preventing Violence against Women and Girls with Disabilities: Integrating A
Human Rights Perspective’. Revised and updated by Carolyn Frohmader September 2015. Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA),
Hobart, Tasmania.
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justice system levels.3 Women with disability are regularly deprived of the information, education and skills to
recognise and address violence. Those who live in, occupy and/or experience institutional, residential and
service settings are often taught and “rewarded” for unquestioning compliance. In such settings, criminal
behaviours are often normalised. Many women with disability do not recognise the violence perpetrated against
them as a crime, are unaware of how to seek help and support, or are actively prevented from seeking help and
support. There is a dearth of accessible information and education resources about violence against women
with disability – for the women themselves, the service sector and the broader community. There are many
other significant and numerous barriers which women with disability face in seeking a pathway to safety from
violence, including for eg: poverty and lack of economic independence; dependence on others; lack of
accessible crisis accommodation and service support; lack of access to the criminal justice system; and lack of
appropriate housing, to name just a few.
What practical measures can front line workers take to make organisations and services more
accessible and inclusive?
Australia has international and domestic obligations to ensure that women with disability are entitled to their
rights without discrimination of any kind. This means that specific, deliberate and targeted measures must be
implemented to ensure that women with disability can realise their rights on an equal basis as others – both in
practice and in law.
For services and organisations that work to address and prevent violence against women, this means that there
is an obligation to develop inclusive policies, procedures and practices, review them regularly, and implement a
myriad of changes to ensure that women with disability are not discriminated against.
Here are some general measures that your service can consider:
1.
Ensure that your service response is inclusive of the experiences of all women and girls who experience
or are at risk of violence, irrespective of their place of residence, or the setting in which they live,
occupy, experience and/or receive service support.
2.
Make sure that women with disability are meaningfully involved in all levels of your service/organisation
– including at the governance level.
3.
Establish mechanisms within your service/organisation where you can engage and consult directly with
women with disability – such as through an expert advisory group of women with disability.
4.
Include women with disability at the centre of the planning and development of prevention measures
and activities that best address their particular needs and rights.
5.
Make sure that all information – including online information - is readily available in a variety of
accessible formats, including Easy English.
6.
Women with disability may not be aware that there are services and supports available to them –
information should be available at a wide range of community places, in advocacy organisations, health
settings, disability services, relevant Government agency shop-fronts, disability employment services,
legal services and more.
7.
Be proactive. Identify and implement ways that your service can provide outreach and support women
with disability in institutional and other service settings – such as group homes, supported
accommodation facilities, boarding houses, prisons, schools, day care centres.
8.
Information and education should also include informing and educating women with disability about their
human rights. Make use of other organisations with expertise in human rights training.
9.
Develop collaborative relationships and networks with organisations and groups of women with
disability, as well as disability and advocacy organisations, human rights organisations, women’s
organisations and other organisations and services in your region which are working to address
violence against women.
10.
Many women are unable to leave or stay if they rely on their perpetrator for daily, personal care, or they
may fear that accessing services will result in them being institutionalised, or having their children taken
3
Dowse, L., Soldatic, K., Didi, A., Frohmader, C. & van Toorn, G. (2013) Stop the Violence: Addressing Violence Against Women and Girls
with Disabilities in Australia, Background Paper, Women With Disabilities Australia, Hobart.
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from them. So ensue your service can organise an emergency/crisis support package for women with
disability in these circumstances.
11.
Good service access isn’t just about making sure there’s a ramp – use an access auditor and develop a
disability action plan to improve the accessibility of your service.
12.
Collection of data will help inform your future practice, with a focus on extent and prevalence, forms and
nature of the violence, causes, consequences and effects. Make sure your service is collecting data on
all forms of violence against women with disability.
13.
Make sure your staff and Board learn about the many and intersecting forms of violence perpetrated
against women with disability – such as forced sterilisation, forced contraception, restraint, restrictive
practices. Access training from a Disabled Peoples Organisation (DPO) (such as People With Disability
Australia) to ensure your staff have up to date knowledge about violence against women with disability.
14.
Learn about your services’ obligations under the international human rights treaties to which Australia is
a party. These treaties (such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) clearly
outline the to prevent and address violence against women, including prioritising particular groups of
women (such as women with disability) that are more at risk of, and more likely to experience, violence.
For more detailed information and guidance on creating an inclusive and accessible service for women with
disability who experience or are at risk of experiencing violence, download a copy of the Toolkit “Women with
Disability and Domestic and Family Violence: Policy and Practice Guide”. This Toolkit has been designed by
women with disability and domestic violence services in NSW to enhance the domestic family violence sector's
response to violence against women with disability.
NB: Parts of this article are derived from the following papers:
Frohmader, C., Dowse, L., & Didi, A. (January 2015) ‘Preventing Violence against Women and Girls
with Disabilities: Integrating A Human Rights Perspective’. Revised and updated by Carolyn Frohmader
September 2015. Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA), Hobart, Tasmania.
People with Disability Australia (PWDA) and Domestic Violence NSW Inc. (DVNSW) (2015) Women
with Disability and Domestic and Family Violence: Policy and Practice Guide. Available online at:
http://pwd.org.au/issues/policy-and-practice-guide.html
References available on request
Winner, National Human Rights Award 2001
Winner, National Violence Prevention Award 1999
Winner, Tasmanian Women's Safety Award 2008
Certificate of Merit, Australian Crime & Violence Prevention Awards 2008
Nominee, French Republic's Human Rights Prize 2003
Nominee, UN Millennium Peace Prize for Women 2000
PO Box 407, Lenah Valley, 7008 TASMANIA
Ph: + 61 438 535 123
Email: carolyn@wwda.org.au
Web: www.wwda.org.au
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WWDA.Australia
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WWDA_AU
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