WUNRN
Women with Disabilities Australia – WWDA
From WWDA Annual Report 2013-2014 - http://wwda.org.au/wwda-annual-report-2013-2014/
Women with Disabilities Australia – Stop the Violence Project
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The Stop the Violence Project (STVP) was a
major focus of activity for WWDA over the past 12 months, and an enormous step
forward in WWDA’s efforts to address and prevent violence against women and
girls with disabilities.
RESOURCE COMPENDIUM: http://www.stvp.org.au/Resource-Compendium.html
The
STVP emerged from WWDA’s long standing commitment to addressing one of the most
pressing issues for our membership: violence against women and girls with
disabilities in Australia. Managed and implemented by WWDA, in conjunction with
a research team at the University
of New South Wales (UNSW) and a project team from People with Disabilities Australia (PWDA), the
project was national in scope and aligned with the CRPD and the National
Disability Strategy 2010-2020. It’s intent was to lay the
groundwork for improved service provision by building the evidence-base for
future reforms so that the service system is more responsive to the needs of
women and girls with disabilities experiencing or at risk of domestic and
family violence. The STVP formed one of the Council of Australian Government’s (COAG)
Reform projects under the First Action Plan of the Government’s 12 year National
Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022 (the
National Plan). The Project addressed two key immediate national initiatives
under the First Action Plan, which were specifically focussed on women and
girls with disabilities:
· support for better service delivery for women
and girls with disabilities through the development of new evidence-based
approaches where existing policy and service responses have proved to be
inadequate; and,
· investigation and promotion of ways to
improve access and responses to services for women and girls with disabilities.
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A
Project Steering Group (PSG) was established at the beginning of the Project,
and included high-level representation from State and Territory governments.
Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Ms Liz Broderick, chaired the PSG. An Expert
Consultative Group (ECG) - consisting of a targeted group of experts in issues
relating to violence prevention and responses for women and girls with disabilities
– was also established to provide voluntary expert advice and feedback on key
outputs. The Project Implementation Committee (PIC) led by WWDA, and comprised
of staff from UNSW and PWDA, monitored implementation of the STVP to ensure
that the project outputs were delivered in a timely and effective manner and
remained in line with the contracted requirements.
In
order to build the evidence base for the STVP, a range of strategies were used
to gather information to identify current policy and practice which impacts on
women and girls with disabilities who are experiencing, or are at risk of,
violence. The evidence gathering strategies included:
· Desk-Based Reviews - national and international research
literature was reviewed to identify key issues relevant to understanding and
addressing violence against women and girls with disabilities. Possible
principles informing and exemplifying good policy and practice were collated.
Additionally, existing legislation and policies were analysed to map structural
and systemic issues in a rights-based approach to addressing violence against
women and girls with disabilities.
· Stakeholder Engagement and Consultations - regular consultations were held with
the Project Steering Group (PSG), the Expert Consultative Group (ECG); and
other key stakeholders from relevant fields of research and advocacy with
interest and experience in issues relating to violence prevention and responses
for women and girls with disabilities. Forums were conducted with women with
disabilities to tap their experiences and expertise in identifying measures and
strategies to enable women and girls with disabilities to be equal and active
participants in violence prevention and response policy and practice.
·
National Survey - information was collected from service
providers, representative organisations and policy makers through an online
survey. The purpose of the survey was to map good policy and practice across
the breadth and depth of stakeholders in relevant sectors (including human
service, disability, violence and justice) and across jurisdictions. Invitation
to participate (and to further distribute the survey through their
organisational networks) was distributed via email to over 400 stakeholder
organisations mapped with the assistance of the PSG and the ECG members. A
total of 367 agencies responded to the survey. The Survey found, amongst other
things, that violence is present in the lives of approximately twenty-two per
cent of women and girls with disability who had accessed service support[1] in the preceding 12 months.[2]
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The
‘Stop the Violence Project’ is receiving national and international acclaim and
is being used widely by a range of stakeholders. WWDA’s long standing advocacy,
coupled with the process and outcomes of the STVP, has resulted in the
prevention of violence against women and girls with disabilities being
prioritised in the Australian Government’s Second
Action Plan 2013-2016 of the National Plan to Reduce Violence
against Women and their Children 2010-2022, which will see the
Australian Government “work with expert organisations including Women With
Disabilities Australia (WWDA) to prioritise and implement key outcomes from the
Stop the Violence project. This will include:
· bringing together and disseminating good
practice information on preventing violence against women with disability;
· training for frontline workers to
recognise and prevent violence against women and children with disability; and
· providing accessible information and
support in National Plan communications.”[3]
The
outcomes of the STVP have also been instrumental in seeing the prevention of
violence against women and girls with disabilities being prioritised in the
research priorities of the Australian
National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety Limited
(ANROWS),[4] and in the core work of ‘Our Watch’ - the
new Foundation to Prevent Violence Against Women and Their Children.[5] In addition, the STVP is having
significant purchase at the international level – being utilised within various
agencies of the United Nations, and as highlighted earlier in this report,
coming to the attention of the World Futures Council, which expressed its high
regard for the STVP and invited WWDA to nominate it for the World Future
Council (WFC) Future Policy Award 2014.
In
2014, WWDA was delighted to advise our members and constituents that our ‘Stop
the Violence Project’ Research Team from the University of New South Wales
(School of Social Sciences) won the UNSW [Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences]
Dean's Social Research Impact Award, for their work on the STVP. The team of
Associate Professor Leanne Dowse, Dr Karen Soldatic, Dr Aminath Didi and
Georgia van Toorn, worked above and beyond the call of duty on the STVP,
showing extraordinary dedication and professionalism throughout all aspects of
the Project.
The ‘Stop
the Violence’ Project Reports were launched in 2013 and 2014. The STVP
Background Report presents the outcomes of the evidence-building elements
of the STVP. It provides information on the project context, activities and
outcomes, highlighting six key issues and their implications that are
considered a priority in addressing reform in the area of violence against
women and girls with disabilities. The STVP Background Report was used to
inform deliberations at the National Symposium on Violence against Women and
Girls with Disabilities conducted in Sydney in October 2013. The STVP
Background Report is available in PDF and Word
versions on WWDA’s website.
The STVP
Symposium Proceedings and Outcomes Report provides information on the
outcomes of the National Symposium. It includes a message from the Prime
Minister; transcript of the opening address from Senator Michaelia Cash;
Introductory remarks from Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner; an
introductory address from WWDA President Karin Swift on behalf of WWDA; the
proceedings from the Symposium panels and plenaries, and future directions for
reform under the following key themes: 1) Information, Education and Capacity
Building for Women and Girls with Disabilities; 2) Awareness Raising for the
Broader Community; 3) Education and Training for Service Providers; 4) Service
Sector Development and Reform; 5) Legislation, National Agreements and Policy
Frameworks; 6) Evidence Gathering, Research and Development; 7) Establishment
and Development of the Virtual Centre for the Prevention of Violence Against
Women and Girls with Disabilities; and, 8) Establishment of a National Women
with Disabilities Expert Panel on the Prevention of Violence Against Women and
Girls with Disabilities. The STVP Symposium Proceedings and Outcomes Report is
available in PDF and Word
versions on WWDA’s website.
The
‘Stop the Violence Project’ is receiving national and international acclaim and
is being used widely by a range of stakeholders. WWDA’s long standing advocacy,
coupled with the process and outcomes of the STVP, has resulted in the
prevention of violence against women and girls with disabilities being
prioritised in the Australian Government’s Second
Action Plan 2013-2016 of the National Plan to Reduce Violence
against Women and their Children 2010-2022, which will see the
Australian Government “work with expert organisations including Women With
Disabilities Australia (WWDA) to prioritise and implement key outcomes from the
Stop the Violence project. This will include:
· bringing together and disseminating good
practice information on preventing violence against women with disability;
· training for frontline workers to
recognise and prevent violence against women and children with disability; and
· providing accessible information and
support in National Plan communications.”[6]
The
outcomes of the STVP have also been instrumental in seeing the prevention of
violence against women and girls with disabilities being prioritised in the
research priorities of the Australian
National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety Limited
(ANROWS),[7] and in the core work of ‘Our Watch’ - the
new Foundation to Prevent Violence Against Women and Their Children.[8] In addition, the STVP is having
significant purchase at the international level – being utilised within various
agencies of the United Nations, and as highlighted earlier in this report,
coming to the attention of the World Futures Council, which expressed its high
regard for the STVP and invited WWDA to nominate it for the World Future
Council (WFC) Future Policy Award 2014.
In
2014, WWDA was delighted to advise our members and constituents that our ‘Stop
the Violence Project’ Research Team from the University of New South Wales
(School of Social Sciences) won the UNSW [Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences]
Dean's Social Research Impact Award, for their work on the STVP. The team of
Associate Professor Leanne Dowse, Dr Karen Soldatic, Dr Aminath Didi and
Georgia van Toorn, worked above and beyond the call of duty on the STVP,
showing extraordinary dedication and professionalism throughout all aspects of
the Project.
[1] Services included
those in the disability, family violence and sexual assault sectors, housing/
homelessness sector, the youth services sector, child welfare, employment and
training, health, aged care and the justice sector.
[2] The main types of
violence experienced by the women included domestic violence (80%); emotional
abuse (68%); sexual violence and abuse (63%); financial abuse (58%); the
withholding of care (23%), and the withholding of medication (14%).
Importantly, findings from the survey provided data only on women and girls
with disability who had accessed services.
[3] Department of Social
Services Second Action Plan 2013-2016 – Moving Ahead – of the National
Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022.
[4] More information is
available at: http://www.anrows.org.au/
[5] More information is available at: http://www.ourwatch.org.au/
[6] Department of Social
Services Second Action Plan 2013-2016 – Moving Ahead – of the National
Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022.
[7] More information is
available at: http://www.anrows.org.au/
[8] More information is available at: http://www.ourwatch.org.au/