By Graeme Innes* - 11 Nov 2013
Women
with disability who live in institutions are often victims of violence and
sexual abuse. Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes says we must
work hard to stop the violence against all women.
According to recent research
by Women With Disabilities Australia, the University
of New South Wales and People with
Disabilities Australia, Australian women and girls with disabilities are twice
as likely as women and girls without disabilities to experience violence
throughout their lives. Women with disabilities are 20% of the female
population, and over one-third experience some form of intimate partner
violence.
Despite this evidence,
women and girls with disabilities are often not included in consultation on
this issue, or on structural changes in service systems to stop this violence.
Last month, the Stop the Violence Project (STVP) hosted a
national symposium at the Australian Human Rights Commission in Sydney.
STVP aims to provide better policies and practices to improve how government
and service providers respond to and prevent violence against women and girls
with disability. The Project wants to ensure that women and girls with
disability can live free from violence, exploitation and abuse.
Many stories were shared at
the symposium about this issue. Three particularly remain with me.
Dr Gabrielle Drake, a
researcher from the University of Western
Sydney, told us women with disability who live in
institutions and residential settings are often victims of violence and sexual
abuse. This is particularly true of women with psycho-social disability or
mental illness. Often, cigarettes are used as currency, and ‘a smoke for a
poke' is reported as a regular occurrence. The comment which saddened me most
was from a woman who responded to the researcher with, "Are you talking
about rape? I've been raped heaps of times. You just have to get used to
it."
Imagine being a woman using
a wheelchair and being in prison. We heard of one such woman in a Queensland
prison whose case was to be heard in a court which required a drive of several
hours over a winding mountain road. The transport provided for her was a ute,
and her wheelchair - with her in it, unrestrained - was tied into the tray at
the back. As a result of the ride, she was flung about and fell out of her
wheelchair which caused her to vomit. The response from police on arrival was,
"Why did you do that? Clean it up!"
The third story, for a
change, is a positive one. During the Commission's Access to Justice
consultations we visited the Women's Crisis Centre in Katherine in the Northern
Territory. The Manager told us how she had worked to
change the centre - and the culture of the staff - to welcome women with
disability, particularly women with cognitive and psycho-social disability. She
told us how in many places there is a clear policy to bar women for bad
behaviour. She challenges this, saying that the circumstances which may have
prompted that behaviour must be considered. Her approach is that the centre is
a safe place for everyone, not just those who fit a particular model. A great
example of inclusion. It didn't require more resources, just a change of attitude.
The Stop the Violence
Project is creating the momentum to do more in this area. These and other
stories have got me much more focussed on an issue to which I was already
strongly committed. Women with disability must not be forgotten as we stop the
violence.
*Graeme Innes is Australia's
Disability Discrimination Commissioner.