Post by bear on Aug 4, 2021 6:21:15 GMT 7
Domestic violence services need training in disability access, say advocates
Fiona Hamilton says domestic violence services aren't accessible to neurodivergent women.
About 47 per cent of adults with disability have experienced violence, yet the lack of accessible and inclusive services makes escaping violence extremely difficult for women with disability.
This was the case for Tasmanian woman, Fiona Hamilton, who is an Aboriginal woman living with autism.
Ms Hamilton is a survivor of domestic violence. When she was trying to escape, she found services inaccessible.
Due to cognitive overload, she often couldn't understand what was being said.
"When you have neurodivergence going on, any kind of crisis can put you in a heightened state, and can make it really tough and overwhelming even to just understand what people are saying to you," she said.
"Quite often, I just found myself kind of dissociating from the trauma that I experienced.
"I was continually being asked to tell my story over and over again to different service providers and that was really worsening my condition, making it really tough to be able to understand what was going on around me."
Ms Hamilton began to take a risk management approach and masked her disability so that she would not be discriminated against.
"I knew very early on, when I'd entered a service, whether it was going to be risky to identify that I had a disability," she said.
"I often found myself being quite chastised by services for not getting stuff right. I was having pamphlets shoved at me by services. But at that time, there was no way I was even able to read them, because I was so heightened due to my disability."
Ms Hamilton is now advocating for domestic violence services to receive appropriate training so they can adequately support people with disability.
"Accessibility is not just about whether somebody can actually physically access your service.It's about accessible policies and processes, it's about asking people what access needs are required," she said.
Ms Hamilton said she should have been offered alternative communication options like visual instructions within case meetings, and provided with an advocate or support worker to explain what was being said.
"There were a lot of times where I was just kind of zoning out and probably missed key information regarding my situation and my safety."
Jen Hargrave says women with disabilities often struggle to be believed when they report assaults and violence.(Supplied: Jen Hargrave)
Researcher within the Disability Health Unit, at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, Jen Hargrave, says this problem is unfortunately common for people with disability.
Family and domestic violence support services:
1800 Respect National Helpline: 1800 737 732
Women's Crisis Line: 1800 811 811
Men's Referral Service: 1300 766 491
Mensline: 1300 789 978
Lifeline (24-hour Crisis Line): 131 114
Relationships Australia: 1300 364 277
"Fiona's story represents a problem that we see quite commonly where women reaching out to violence support services might be met with a lack of understanding or capability around responding to disability," she said.
"A key issue is that if women with disability say they have a cognitive impairment or a mental health issue, and then discloses violence, she might be discredited and not be believed," she said.
"Being heard and being believed are some of the biggest issues for women with disability."
Ms Hargrave is currently doing co-design research with a team of women with disability in order to prevent violence for women with disability.
This work has reinforced her understanding that women with disabilities experience much higher rates of violence, including stalking and assault.
"There's a lot that needs to happen at a lot of levels [of government], from policy through to long term funding that would start to make change," she said.
The Federal Government announced in this year's budget $9.3 million will be provided to prevent violence against women with disability.
Heidi La Paglia says it's important to have women with disabilities involved with designing policies and training for domestic violence services.(Supplied: Heidi La Paglia)
Senior policy and programs officer for Women With Disabilities Australia, Heidi La Paglia, said this is a much-needed first step.
"It's a really good start, and something that we haven't seen before in a federal budget," she said.
"So it's definitely warmly welcome to address the barriers that women with disability experience across the board. It's not going to end that violence, but it's certainly a really good start."
Ms La Paglia wants to see people with disability cantered and consulted in future discussions in preventing and reducing violence against women.
"Historically, the domestic and family violence sector has excluded women with disability and that's something that needs to not just be a tokenistic change every now and then," she said.
"We really need more systemic efforts to make sure that our communities are included."
Ms Hamilton feels this person-centred approach will enable services to be inclusive and accessible for women with disability.
"I think there's a whole heap of education that needs to be done and it needs to happen with people with lived experience," she said.
"Government money needs to be spent on service audits around accessibility, not just physical access, but a whole range of resources that can be developed for people living with a disability."
www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-02/domestic-violence-services-failing-women-with-disability/100253270
Fiona Hamilton says domestic violence services aren't accessible to neurodivergent women.
About 47 per cent of adults with disability have experienced violence, yet the lack of accessible and inclusive services makes escaping violence extremely difficult for women with disability.
This was the case for Tasmanian woman, Fiona Hamilton, who is an Aboriginal woman living with autism.
Ms Hamilton is a survivor of domestic violence. When she was trying to escape, she found services inaccessible.
Due to cognitive overload, she often couldn't understand what was being said.
"When you have neurodivergence going on, any kind of crisis can put you in a heightened state, and can make it really tough and overwhelming even to just understand what people are saying to you," she said.
"Quite often, I just found myself kind of dissociating from the trauma that I experienced.
"I was continually being asked to tell my story over and over again to different service providers and that was really worsening my condition, making it really tough to be able to understand what was going on around me."
Ms Hamilton began to take a risk management approach and masked her disability so that she would not be discriminated against.
"I knew very early on, when I'd entered a service, whether it was going to be risky to identify that I had a disability," she said.
"I often found myself being quite chastised by services for not getting stuff right. I was having pamphlets shoved at me by services. But at that time, there was no way I was even able to read them, because I was so heightened due to my disability."
Ms Hamilton is now advocating for domestic violence services to receive appropriate training so they can adequately support people with disability.
"Accessibility is not just about whether somebody can actually physically access your service.It's about accessible policies and processes, it's about asking people what access needs are required," she said.
Ms Hamilton said she should have been offered alternative communication options like visual instructions within case meetings, and provided with an advocate or support worker to explain what was being said.
"There were a lot of times where I was just kind of zoning out and probably missed key information regarding my situation and my safety."
Jen Hargrave says women with disabilities often struggle to be believed when they report assaults and violence.(Supplied: Jen Hargrave)
Researcher within the Disability Health Unit, at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, Jen Hargrave, says this problem is unfortunately common for people with disability.
Family and domestic violence support services:
1800 Respect National Helpline: 1800 737 732
Women's Crisis Line: 1800 811 811
Men's Referral Service: 1300 766 491
Mensline: 1300 789 978
Lifeline (24-hour Crisis Line): 131 114
Relationships Australia: 1300 364 277
"Fiona's story represents a problem that we see quite commonly where women reaching out to violence support services might be met with a lack of understanding or capability around responding to disability," she said.
"A key issue is that if women with disability say they have a cognitive impairment or a mental health issue, and then discloses violence, she might be discredited and not be believed," she said.
"Being heard and being believed are some of the biggest issues for women with disability."
Ms Hargrave is currently doing co-design research with a team of women with disability in order to prevent violence for women with disability.
This work has reinforced her understanding that women with disabilities experience much higher rates of violence, including stalking and assault.
"There's a lot that needs to happen at a lot of levels [of government], from policy through to long term funding that would start to make change," she said.
The Federal Government announced in this year's budget $9.3 million will be provided to prevent violence against women with disability.
Heidi La Paglia says it's important to have women with disabilities involved with designing policies and training for domestic violence services.(Supplied: Heidi La Paglia)
Senior policy and programs officer for Women With Disabilities Australia, Heidi La Paglia, said this is a much-needed first step.
"It's a really good start, and something that we haven't seen before in a federal budget," she said.
"So it's definitely warmly welcome to address the barriers that women with disability experience across the board. It's not going to end that violence, but it's certainly a really good start."
Ms La Paglia wants to see people with disability cantered and consulted in future discussions in preventing and reducing violence against women.
"Historically, the domestic and family violence sector has excluded women with disability and that's something that needs to not just be a tokenistic change every now and then," she said.
"We really need more systemic efforts to make sure that our communities are included."
Ms Hamilton feels this person-centred approach will enable services to be inclusive and accessible for women with disability.
"I think there's a whole heap of education that needs to be done and it needs to happen with people with lived experience," she said.
"Government money needs to be spent on service audits around accessibility, not just physical access, but a whole range of resources that can be developed for people living with a disability."
www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-02/domestic-violence-services-failing-women-with-disability/100253270