"MYTHS AND REALITIES: VIOLENCE AND WOMEN WHO ARE DISABLED"

Date: May 6, 1998
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 pm

This summary of a Women's Health Office lunchtime seminar was written by Erin Connell.

On May 6, 1998, the Women's Health Office was pleased to present Carol Shepperd, BScN, RN who addressed the issue of violence against women with disabilities.

Although women with disabilities are three times more likely to experience violence, a number of myths and stereotypes about disabled women perpetuate the denial of this problem:

• women with disabilities do not experience violence
• women with disabilities are not sexual and therefore are not sexually assaulted
• information about sex, sexuality and pregnancy are not of interest or concern to women with disabilities
• women with disabilities are helpless and cannot make decisions about themselves
• women with disabilities are totally dependent on others and often need to be treated like children

Approximately 16% of all Canadian women are disabled. Ninety percent of these women will be raped, assaulted or abused at some time in their lives, 66% before they are teenagers. The offenders are rarely strangers: 90% of offenders are known to their victims. One study found that 1/3 were friends/ acquaintances, 1/3 family members and 1/4 caregivers or service providers. Women living in institutional settings are twice as likely to be abused; indeed, one study reported that over 70% of women in psychiatric facilities reported physical or sexual abuse by staff or other patients.

The risk of abuse increases in women who have multiple disabilities, who require many caregivers, who require assistance with personal care such as bathing and toileting, who have developmental and communication disabilities and who are born with or have early age onset of a disability. There are numerous reasons why these women fail to disclose abuse:

• they fear they will not be believed
• they are ashamed
• they fear that disclosure will make the abuse worse
• they fear that they may lose essential services such as housing
• some women have been abused for so long that they view this behaviour as ‘normal'
• the offender may convince the women that they are responsible for or provoked the abuse
• for women with severe disabilities, physical or sexual abuse may be the only form of human contact

Sadly, many women with disabilities are unaware of their rights or of the services that are available to them. However, many, if not most, facilities for abused women are not accessible. This includes the ability to obtain ASL interpreters and accessible educational materials (women with disabilities are more likely to have lower levels of literacy and education).

As service providers, we are in a position to identify and respond to women with disabilities who are victims of violence. Given the high proportion of women with disabilities who have experienced violence, abuse should always be considered a possibility. The following are other ways service providers can help:

• educate ourselves and our colleagues on the myths, statistics and facts regarding violence against women with disabilities
• believe women who disclose abuse
• do not assume that all disabilities are obvious - disabilities such as AIDS, seizure disorders and learning disabilities may be hidden
• assume that the women you deal with are experts about their disability
• advocate for women with disabilities; they are unemployed at three times the rate of able-bodied men and two times that of able-bodied women. The majority of women with disabilities live below the poverty line
• challenge your colleagues and the environments you work in to look at attitudes and issues of accessibility.