2.3.2 Keran Howe
•Download as PPS, PDF•
0 likes•152 views
2.3.2 AWHN Conference 6 2010 Chancellor 2: Improving service responses to violence against women with disabilities.Victorian Women with Disabilities Network
Recommended
More Related Content
Similar to 2.3.2 Keran Howe
Similar to 2.3.2 Keran Howe (20)
More from Australian Women's Health Network 6th Conference 2010
More from Australian Women's Health Network 6th Conference 2010 (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
2.3.2 Keran Howe
- 1. Improving service responses to violence against women with disabilities Keran Howe Executive Officer Victorian Women with Disabilities Network
- 2. contextcontext women with disabilities experience violence is atwomen with disabilities experience violence is at least 40% more likely to occur at twice the rateleast 40% more likely to occur at twice the rate of violence against non-disabled womenof violence against non-disabled women women with disabilities often experience forms ofwomen with disabilities often experience forms of violence that are uniquely linked to theirviolence that are uniquely linked to their disabilitydisability women with an intellectual disability are 10.7women with an intellectual disability are 10.7 times more likely to experience sexual assaulttimes more likely to experience sexual assault
- 3. contextcontext Sustained policy failure means services areSustained policy failure means services are not responsive to women with disabilitiesnot responsive to women with disabilities Building the EvidenceBuilding the Evidence
- 4. Building the EvidenceBuilding the Evidence The Building the Evidence Report analysed the extent to which current Victorian family violence policy and practice recognises and provides for women with disabilities who experience violence. made recommendations to improve responses to women with disabilities dealing with family violence
- 5. What do we mean by family violence ?What do we mean by family violence ? Building the EvidenceBuilding the Evidence
- 6. Findings of the Building the Evidence Most WWD do not have access to the resources theyMost WWD do not have access to the resources they need to protect themselves from violenceneed to protect themselves from violence Family violence, family services, courts, police etc. areFamily violence, family services, courts, police etc. are not able to meet the needs of women with diversenot able to meet the needs of women with diverse disabilitiesdisabilities Disability services are not equipped to identify orDisability services are not equipped to identify or respond to experiences of family violencerespond to experiences of family violence
- 7. findingsfindings Data collection !!Data collection !! Building the EvidenceBuilding the Evidence
- 8. Standards and codesStandards and codes Building the EvidenceBuilding the Evidence
- 9. Workforce developmentWorkforce development Most family violence workers had minimal orMost family violence workers had minimal or no trainingno training Training opportunities increased but…Training opportunities increased but… Workforce development providesWorkforce development provides opportunities for cross-sector collaborationopportunities for cross-sector collaboration
- 10. Building the EvidenceBuilding the Evidence WWD experiences of seekingWWD experiences of seeking helphelp Hard to seek help*Hard to seek help* Nature of disabilityNature of disability Nature of violenceNature of violence Low self esteemLow self esteem Lack of economic independenceLack of economic independence Social isolationSocial isolation Lack of services and supportLack of services and support No active referral until woman in crisisNo active referral until woman in crisis Post-crisis, women lost to the systemPost-crisis, women lost to the system Crisis in alternative accommodation optionsCrisis in alternative accommodation options Inability of police to ensure safety of women with disabilitiesInability of police to ensure safety of women with disabilities (exclusion orders)(exclusion orders)
- 11. Workers experiencesWorkers experiences Lack of confidenceLack of confidence Want more inputWant more input Want more opportunity for networkingWant more opportunity for networking IsolationIsolation Building the EvidenceBuilding the Evidence
- 12. Building the EvidenceBuilding the Evidence cross sector collaborationcross sector collaboration Workload demand prevents networkingWorkload demand prevents networking Needs leadership from senior managementNeeds leadership from senior management Training initiatives for disability and family violenceTraining initiatives for disability and family violence workersworkers Risk assessment: includes the presence of disabilityRisk assessment: includes the presence of disability Disability units in refugesDisability units in refuges Development of Disability Action PlansDevelopment of Disability Action Plans
- 13. Outcomes of this approach?Outcomes of this approach? • A body of evidence on policy and practiceA body of evidence on policy and practice • An advocacy toolAn advocacy tool • a resource for service providersa resource for service providers • Cross sectoral collaboration is in itsCross sectoral collaboration is in its infancyinfancy Building the EvidenceBuilding the Evidence
- 14. What are we doing now ?What are we doing now ? AdvocacyAdvocacy More researchMore research Support to workers in the fieldSupport to workers in the field Influencing risk assessment strategyInfluencing risk assessment strategy Supporting new relationshipsSupporting new relationships Building the EvidenceBuilding the Evidence
- 15. Resources vwdnvwdn.org.au/clearinghouse.htm (for a copy of.org.au/clearinghouse.htm (for a copy of thethe Building the EvidenceBuilding the Evidence Report go toReport go to http://www.vwdn.org.au/violence.htmhttp://www.vwdn.org.au/violence.htm)) www.dvrcv.org.auwww.dvrcv.org.au www.wwda.org.auwww.wwda.org.au
Editor's Notes
- There is a critical need to raise awareness and understanding – and keep doing so - about the serious nature of violence against women with disabilities and how hidden it is in our society. We know that family violence is endemic in Australia with family violence-related deaths in Victoria alone averaging 25 per year (that’s one death every fortnight in Victoria), even if, as a society, it’s more often than not the elephant in the room. The extent of violence against women with disabilities – in fact, men and women with disabilities - is neither widely acknowledged nor understood. It is a major hidden social problem. This is not helped by the fact that we don’t collect the right data to really be able to quantify it. That said a number of studies have indicated how extensive it is. Let’s be clear about it. WWD experience violence at twice the rate of violence against non-disabled women WWD often experience forms of violence that are uniquely linked to their disability e.g. they are more vulnerable to institutionalized forms of violence; perpetrators may be carers, regular drivers or other providers of assistance; they may be intimate partners or family members who provide care Over 80% of women with a cognitive disability experience sexual assault Source: Carolyn Frohmader (2005) ‘Submission to the South Australian Government Review of South Australian Domestic Violence Laws’ on behalf of Women With Disabilities Australia; available at www.wwwda.org.au Difficulties in knowing full extent of prevalence because dearth of robust data (data not collected, some research focusses on specific types of violence but not others e.g. IPV but excludes carers, research uses different definitions/understandings of disability e.g. exclude women with mental health problems and on what VAWWD is) Canadian study (Brownridge 2006) found that of 7,000 plus, WWD had 40% greater likelihood of experiencing violence in previous 5 years than women without
- The Building the Evidence Report I want to draw on the findings of the Building the evidence report to inform our discussion but also feedback from the managers workers I have met with across regions Last year, a 6 month research project was undertaken to analyse the extent to which the Victorian family violence policy and practice recognises and provides for women with disabilities who experience violence. We found that in both policy and practice, Victorian government and non-government agencies were failing this isolated group of women. We made a number of recommendations to improve responses to women with disabilities dealing with a diverse spectrum of issues. Some of these were drawn from talking to women with disabilities about their help-seeking experiences; others were drawn from family violence workers (we had to focus on them, rather than also including disability workers and other service sectors because it was a 6 month project). The recommendations, which you can read about in the report included: Access issues: relating to physical access issues and access to information in the appropriate formats for women with hearing, sight, speech and cognitive impairments Training and workforce development, particularly in the first instance, to family violence workers (the primary focus of our research in the BtE research, for pragmatic reasons) and disability workers, but also required for deliverers of service e.g. courts, police etc. Data collection Practice guidelines, codes of practice etc. The need for further research Most importantly, we argued for the need for greater cross sector collaboration. Today’s presentation will focus on this latter theme: the critical need for services to collaborate effectively if women with disabilities – and their children – are to be better supported when experiencing violence.
- So, it’s important to understand – and this understanding is growing – that FV is not at the margins of your work e.g. as police officers, court staff, corrective service workers, disability workers, child protective service workers, health workers etc. Do these findings fit with your views of what you know about wwd who exp violence ?
- Lacking confidence in supporting WWD, FV workers consulted wanted further training but most had only minimal or no training. Most acquired their knowledge of how to support WWD through ‘learning on the job’. There has been an increase in the number of training opportunities on family violence as it affects women with disabilities over the last 2 years but even so, the training available through DHS’ Disability Services Division last year would have only reached a possible 140 out of 11,000 disability workers, at most. It has been difficult to: attract/encourage workers to take up training opportunities but when they did feedback was very positive 2) sustain training initiatives to reach workers in FV response system 3) Competing training needs and/or opportunities may be a barrier to FV and disability sectors Workforce development is one way of providing opportunities for cross-collaboration e.g. Provided an opportunity for disability and family violence workers in each region to meet each other and begin conversations about the issues.
- *Hard to seek help because of inter-related and compounding factors One woman was so denigrated by her husband who called her his “personal whore” . He abused their son who also had a disability saying things like “you should never have been born”. ** Lack of services and support “…placed extra strain upon me and my ability to seek help when dealing with violence and its consequences. I have no understanding when dealing with courts particularly and court staff. As I am able to walk, I am not deemed to have any disability by those that I have met and it is not until I go into details of my condition that people become slightly more aware. Having said this though I have not found any extra assistance being offered to me to reduce any physical, emotional or mental distress at any time. I have often been left feeling very undervalue as a member of the community.” “It was like, I’m all alone here. Why isn’t there help? And, it wasn’t until I went into the refuge when [DV worker] asked, ‘why didn’t my GP tell me this? She [refuge worker] said, ‘There are all these services out there.’ Well, I didn’t know…I had no idea there was all this help…If only I’d known, maybe I wouldn’t have had to leave my home…There were a lot of what ifs…I said to the doctor, ‘Can someone come in and bring in the wood for me?...What about home help?...The doctor said, ‘We don’t have those services, we only have those for elderly people…You’ll have to manage as best you can.’” The issues The presence of disability in both the woman and her children Women had varied experience of services Service limitations Securing affordable accessible housing is a huge problem. It is for anyone but when disability is factored in houses become very difficult to find, and even more so if other services such as special schools are a consideration. Long waiting time for modifications to the house lack of appropriate referral by health workers when violence disclosed; Lack of home help referral ; No contact with a support group; Limited availability of support – short term and crisis only; Court staff failing to protect against abuse by the perpetrator and failing to understand an invisible disability ; Frequent changes of housing leading to frequent change of support workers and limited support Prejudicial attitudes of staff and family child protection punishing the mother by refusing access to visits when a child taken into care Fears about courts being prejudiced by disability rather than supportive The presence of a disability can tend to make both family and support services keen to see the woman remain with her partner. This denial of the violence seems to be exacerbated by the additional complexity of dealing with a disability and the dependency on support it requires. This problematises the woman rather than the violent behaviour. Women also felt they were less likely to be believed by a partner who blames the relationship ‘problems’ on the woman’s disability. Validation is the key most important thing for a women seeking assistance to deal with DV – WWD face a much harder battle in being believed; especially women with communication impairments, learning impairments, and mental health problems
- In this context the extent of collaboration between the sectors is quite inspiring. Which is not to say that the problem is solved. It requires leadership from senior executives in both sectors, it requires the government depts in each portfolio area to talk wth one another A good example at collaboration is the work of Disability Services Division who initiated a series of training programs at regional level to skill disability services and to encourage connections between family violence and disability services. This included both. training for disability workers + forum to which disability and FV workers are invited. This has required intersectoral planning with representation from both disability and family violence workers and managers at the statewide level. However, even with careful and continuous discussion the implementation still demonstrated the need for greater involvement of both disability and family violence leaders at regional levels in the planning, promotion and implementation of the training. This takes time and considerable resources as well as good will and a willingness to understand different perspectives. Through strong advocay from women with disabilities the family violence risk assessment now incorporates a question about disability . The research identified some other good collaboration had been taking place but needed ongoing resourcing to be sustainable. Molly’s House Affirmative access policies Diverse staff expertise (NESB + disability incl. Mental health) Disability data collection i.e. improved re referral data Supporting older wwd especially those a) exp DV from adult cn b) with adult sons with disabilities – both find hard to seek assistance Gendered approach to supporting wwd Consumer participation group Woorarra Example of good cross sectoral collaboration between refuge and Chandler House Community Mental Health Clinic Disability audit and development of DAP Developed protocols between DV and mental health services Local cross-sectoral staff development DV outreach worker for women with mental health issues