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Ableism is nothing new to most disabled people—but can it impact your experiences of gender-based violence? Unfortunately, yes.
There are many factors that can lead to increased gender-based violence for disabled people—and many of those factors are all too common in society.
Many factors can lead to increased gender-based violence for disabled people—and many of those factors are all too common in society, like ableism, stigma, accessibility barriers, and a lack of awareness about disability, and all the ways it can influence someone’s experience of violence. However, many of these factors are preventable: and it’s only by addressing these issues that we can begin to fix them.
Ableism is a belief or practice that discriminates against disabled people—and it can appear in many forms, including assumptions, stereotypes, attitudes and actions.
Our society is inherently ableist, and this creates a lot of barriers for disabled people, especially when it comes to experiences of violence and navigating the justice system.
Concerningly, 1 in 3 disabled women have experienced violence since the age of 15—double the rate of non-disabled women. Your likelihood of experiencing violence also can change, depending on what disabilities you have: for example, up to 90% of women with intellectual disabilities have experienced abuse. According to the Our Watch Changing the Landscape report, ableist factors that can increase risk of violence include things like negative stereotypes of disability, normalising or accepting violence, discrimination and disrespect, controlling decision-making, and segregation and exclusion.
Disabled people can also have unique experiences of violence, like violence through the form of destroying or withholding assistive technology, neglect of personal care, giving the wrong amount or type of medications, and more. It can be perpetrated not only by intimate partners, friends and family, but also by medical and disability staff who are supposed to help and care for disabled people, especially in segregated systems. Some perpetrators may also specifically target disabled people.
Violence can also cause disability, including physical and mental disabilities. Many disabled people often don’t feel safe to speak out—and concerningly, the Disability Royal Commission’s Final Report found that often when a non-disabled person commits a crime against a disabled person, the non-disabled person is more likely to be believed. Disabled women experience both sexism and ableism together, which makes them more likely to experience violence, and makes it more difficult to get support: and that’s without adding layers of intersectionality—it’s even harder for LGBTQIA+ people, people of colour, those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, as well as those from low socioeconomic and rural backgrounds. How do we remove ableism from violence support services?
Gendered-based violence and ableism are enormous issues—but there is hope for a better future: and that better future begins when we start talking about these issues more, and taking steps to address them.
The solution must be from an intersectional approach that also considers the impact of things like racism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, sizeism, classism and colonialism. When it comes to support services and the justice system, there are many ableist barriers, including the assumption that someone can communicate, hear, see, experience and access the world in the same way non-disabled people can. Many services are inaccessible, and often don’t even consider the existence of people with access needs. Disability-led training and consultancy, therefore, would greatly improve the experiences of disabled people, as well as research into disabled experiences of gender-based violence. By having services—and society—become more disability aware, we can tackle stigma, ableism and violence while acknowledging the intersections between them and helping to prevent violence before it starts.
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May 13, 2024
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Patricia Giles Centre for Non-Violence
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Patricia Giles Centre for Non-Violence
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