1. Working with Survivors with Disabilities and Deaf Survivors: Ensuring Access for All
Ashley Brompton, J.D.
Program Associate
Center on Victimization and Safety
Vera Institute of Justice
January 31, 2019

2. Training Goals
Summarize what is known about victimization of people with disabilities and Deaf people, including sexual assault and domestic violence
Discuss the experiences of survivors with disabilities with healing services and civil/criminal justice systems;
Discuss common barriers survivors with disabilities face; and
Identify concrete and practical steps you can take to enhance responses and supports to survivors with disabilities.

3. Disability Basics

4. Disabilities Overview
1 in 5 people living in the United States have at least one disability.
People continue to live longer and the U.S. population is increasingly older. With increasing age comes increased likelihood of disability.

5. Disabilities (2) Disability is an incredibly broad category. Cognitive
Developmental
Physical
Psychiatric
Sensory
Includes visible and “hidden” disabilities.
Cognitive disabilities include people with down syndrome, traumatic brain injuries, autism and dementia.
Developmental disabilities includes a diverse group of chronic conditions such as fetal alcohol syndrome, cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities, etc. These are typically diagnosed prior to the age of 18 and persist over the course of a lifetime.
Physical disabilities include limitations in physical functioning, mobility, dexterity, or stamina. MS, loss of limbs, quadriplegia,
Psychiatric disabilities include personality disorders, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, etc.
Sensory disabilities in visual and hearing disabilities, any disability related to sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste, or spatial awareness.
Categories are not mutually exclusive!
Invisible disabilities are those that may seem hidden, for example, someone with hearing loss may have the tiniest hearing aid and you may not realize that they have any sort of disability. A lot of times many neurological conditions aren’t obvious to the outside observer. It is estimated that 10% of the US population have conditions that might be considered an invisible or hidden disability.

6. Disabilities (3) Disability is ordinary.
Diagnosis does not predict individual experience.
Not all people who have disabilities identify as having one.
The experiences of women with disabilities is shaped by abelism.
People first language

7. Deaf Community Overview
Some deaf and hard of hearing people do not identify as having a disability.
They identify as a member of a cultural and linguistic group.
This group of people use the term Deaf to reflect their cultural identification.
Deaf culture is defined by shared language, values, and history.
The experiences of Deaf women are shaped by audism.
Audism is the notion that one is superior based on one's ability to hear or to behave in the manner of one who hears, or that life without hearing is futile and miserable, or an attitude based on pathological thinking which results in a negative stigma toward anyone who does not hear.

8. Violence Against People with Disabilities and Deaf People

9. People With Disabilities are at Greater Risk of Violence

10. Additional Statistics
Women who have experienced intimate partner violence are more than twice as likely to also report a disability.
14% of men with disabilities reported experiencing sexual violence at some point in their life time compared to 4% of men without disabilities.
49% of people with developmental disabilities were assaulted 10 or more times.
20% of Deaf adults have experienced physical abuse by an intimate partner. 15% have experienced forced sex in an intimate partner relationship.
*Coker, Smith, Fadden 2005
*BJS Crimes Against Persons with Disabilities

11. Why? Devaluation Presumed lack of credibility
Isolation and segregation
Increased exposure to potential abusers
Culture of compliance
Seen as “easy targets”

12. Who is Responsible?

13. Unique Dynamics Withholding medication
Delaying or refusing to provide care
Abusing or threatening to abuse a service animal
Threatening to move a person to a nursing home or institution

14. Access to Healing Services and Justice

15. Significant Underreporting
Silence feels safer/less harmful
Loss of independence and fear of institutionalization
Lack of knowledge about healthy sexuality and safety
Loss of autonomy
Lack of effective criminal justice response
Don’t know how to report/reach out for help

16. Justice is Out of Reach for Many

17. Victim Services are out of Reach
Only 13% of victims of violent crime with disabilities receive support from victim services.

18. Barriers to Victim Services
Limited to no specialized outreach to survivors with disabilities;
Physical, communication, programmatic and attitudinal barriers in anti-violence programs;
Lack of specialized knowledge and response protocols to survivors in disability organizations; and
Lack of coordination between anti-violence and disability organizations.

19. Barriers to Justice Perceived lack of credibility
Lack of accommodations
Lack of specialized training for law enforcement and prosecutors

20. Additional Barriers and Considerations
Survivors with Disabilities
Mandatory reporting for “vulnerable adults”
Guardianship
Consent, People with Cognitive Disabilities, and the Law
Deaf Survivors
Small, tight knit community
Confidentiality
Deaf grapevine

21. Ensuring an Accessible and Welcoming Experience

22. Start the Conversation
How has disability and Deafness intersected in the work of the organization and its staff?
Is your organization serving survivors with disabilities and Deaf survivors? Why? Why not?
What are the biggest barriers/challenges when providing advocacy and other services for these survivors?
What do you need by way of support to address those barriers/challenges?

23. Collaborate for Change
Ensure meaningful, sustainable collaboration and partnerships that lasts even without funding.
Develop partnerships that encourage the sharing of information, resources, and tools to serve survivors with disabilities and Deaf survivors.
Sandra

24. Partner with Disability and Deaf Organizations
State-Level
Local-Level
The Arc (also national)
The Arc local chapters
Deaf and hard of hearing commissions
Boards of MR/DD
Community mental health providers
Mental health associations
Protection and Advocacy organizations
Deaf service provider
Deaf-specific domestic violence program
State independent living centers
Independent living centers
Interpreter agencies

25. Create Meaningful Opportunities for People with Disabilities and Deaf People
“Nothing about us, without us.”
Include self-advocates and other people with disabilities in the work you do to address abuse of people with disabilities.
Build relationships with local self-advocacy chapters and/or disability organizations to find self-advocates to include.
Provide full support to ensure full participation.

26. Develop Inclusive, Accessible Materials
Materials convey an organization’s knowledge, experience, and credibility and conveys information about an organization’s culture, priorities, and values.
Materials that are accessible to all and convey a message of inclusivity and openness to survivors with disabilities and Deaf survivors signal a commitment to serving all survivors.
Sandra

27. Pro-Actively Account for Access
Budget for access
Identify organizations that can help you meet your accommodation requests
Sign language interpreter agencies
CART providers
Braille house
Centers for Independent Living
Put policies in place to guide staff in the moment.
Integrate disability awareness into existing training for new and existing staff.
Explore attitudes towards people with disabilities.

28. Questions?
Ashley Brompton, J.D. Center on Victimization and Safety Vera Institute of Justice (646)