Some issues from Making the links: domestic violence and disabled women Professor Gill Hague Violence Against Women Research Group, UK Some issues from Making the links: domestic violence and disabled women Professor Gill Hague Violence Against Women Research Group, UK

Thank you  A privilege to be here and to have this opportunity to talk with you today and to share ideas for moving forward on FV / DV and disability

Our recent study  The first ever national study in the UK  Attempted to break new ground  VAWRG and SWELL, Univ of Warwick, UK  Mixed team disabled non-disabled researchers  Advisory group of disability activists/ consultants  Wide consultations and an interview set with women with disabilities  National surveys. Good practice case studies Interview sets with strategic managers

A NOTE ABOUT TERMS  In common with the wishes of the disability activist movement in the UK, the term:  Disabled women is used in our work, not women with disabilities  Disability used only in the singular to refer to social and structural disadvantage  With impairments used to describe individual conditions  Recognise that this is not the case for disability movements in Australia where women with disabilities would be the term of choice

 NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US

QUOTE FROM DISABILITY WORKER IN OUR STUDY  “The agencies need to work together: it’s not rocket science! It’s no good if refuges don’t know about disabled people’s organisations and it’s no good they don’t know about refuges.  Doesn't make sense. Stupid, isn’t it?”

What we found  GAPS LACKS BARRIERS  Gaps in provision  Gaps in research  Lack of services  Lack of sensitive training  Lack of policy making  Lack of awareness raising: victims, public  Barriers to getting help  Barriers to accessing services  Devastating catalogue  Women with disabilities experiencing abuse face intense vulnerability, neglect and isolation

In Sum, from our research…  Disabled women experience –A greater need for services, coupled with –Far less provision and what there is often inadequate and lose out on both counts placing disabled women in a desperate situation often Study wide range of recommendations: BUT NOT MUCH GOOD PRACTICE TO LEARN FROM

Need for ‘sea change’  Lack of resources a major issue both sectors  Despite best intentions, responses to disabled abused women are patchy and inadequate in both our countries and all over the world  Clear evidence: need for more accessible refuge and outreach services  Clear need: Sea / culture change in a) FV / DV services, b) disability orgs. a) FV / DV services, b) disability orgs.  Both at operational level: how your service delivered  BUT ALSO at management / strategic level in all relevant agencies: write into the work

Disabled Women’s Advice  Remember, proportionally, many more disabled women are abused than non-disabled  Be informed about disabled women’s needs  Take advice from / consult disabled women  Provide accessible well-publicised DV / FV services that disabled women know about: tell women about them!  Do not threaten with institutionalisation  Develop good accessible alternative accom plus support to use it  Develop disability plans etc with input from disabled women. Write into the strategies  Take disabled women seriously and do not patronise us

What is needed  More comprehensive services  Awareness raising across the board  The allocation of dedicated resources: key in both ‘Building the Evidence’ and our study  Definitions?  Monitor, collect data

Definitions and Monitoring  Definitions need expanding for disabled women:  A human task; do it in partnership  Monitoring: how much violence against women with disabilities is there?  Very hard to do: need to do best you can  BUT need to ASK  Two criteria for asking:  Needs to be safe to ask and support / service available if needed

Two vital issues  All work on this issue needs to be Advised by / involvement of disabled women  Partnership work:  Domestic violence and disability sectors learning from each other

Taking leadership from women with disabilities with expertise in the issue  Participation of and learning from women with disabilities who have experience of -- or expertise on-- FV/ DV as both service providers and service users  Women with disabilities participating in key positions in relevant policy and service devt  Employing disabled women expert workers and as managers  Decision making and policy and service devt. with disabled women with expertise

Disability and FV / DV sectors getting to know each other and working together  Meeting!  Workshops  Giving talks at each other’s places: quote  Signposting between agencies: respecting / using each other’s expertise  Joint training  Inter-agency events and forums  Disabled women champions meeting with directors / managers of larger orgs.

Policies, Standards and training  Disability and/or domestic violence policies in relevant org  Disability equality training and/or domestic violence training  Provided by disabled women with expertise in domestic violence issues where possible

Standards and Codes of Practice  Negotiate, agree and write into  Minimum standards on disability and FV / DV  DV Quality Marks at different levels: help get funding?  e.g. providing some resources and services  Two sectors having to collaborate:  Written into codes / standards

DE & DV training: Best practice  A gendered approach to domestic violence  The social model approach to disability  Training would be expected to cover diversity issues, including for disabled BME women, lesbians, older women….  To include practical issues

Building more accessible FV / DV services Disability audits of your service, what have you got, what do you need to do Build accessible service in all ways (far wider than wheelchair access Awareness raising and reaching out to a) public and b) disabled women: no good having nice new accessible services if disabled women don’t know about then  In general:

The State/ Statutory Sector  Mainstreaming in the state sector, written into work targets and integral to all relevant budgets and policies, strategies, plans  Abused disabled woman must have as much control as possible in responses. Need to balance  a) protection and risk assessment  b) women’s empowerment approach

Possible specific recommendations C ommunity care packages: agree protocols so package portable in cases of FV / DV Both disabled people’s and FV / DV organisations: Get it into your brief, your mission Get it into Strategic / Commissioning Frameworks, Government initiatives: Women with disabilities often absent Possible specific recommendations C ommunity care packages: agree protocols so package portable in cases of FV / DV Both disabled people’s and FV / DV organisations: Get it into your brief, your mission Get it into Strategic / Commissioning Frameworks, Government initiatives: Women with disabilities often absent ::::

Conclusion  Overall, it is essential that all relevant services take on the issue For too long, disabled women facing abuse have been ignored and left without assistance from the agencies meant to offer help  “Good practice means all relevant agencies attempting to break down the invisibility and silence about disability and domestic abuse” Now is the time to make a change