Research
Voices against Violence
Voices Against Violence was an initiative of Women with Disabilities Victoria (WDV), in partnership with the Office for the Public Advocate (OPA) and the Domestic Violence Resources Centre Victoria (DVRCV).
The project reports on the extent and nature of violence against women with disabilities in Victoria. As well as interviews with women with disabilities about their experiences of violence, it includes an overview of current issues, a review of legislative protections, a review of the records of OPA and interviews with its staff and volunteers. The project includes seven individual reports.
The project was funded by Gandel Philanthropy and a research grant from the Legal Services Board Grants Program.
You can download an electronic version of the reports below:
This paper collates the information from the Voices Against Violence Research Project publications and sets out the recommendations arising from the research project.
This paper provides a conceptual starting point for the issues raised throughout the series of papers that make up the Voices Against Violence Research Project. Positioned within a human rights feminist approach, it reviews current knowledge about the nature and extent of violence against women with disabilities; the barriers to services faced by women with disabilities who have experienced violence; and outlines promising initiatives currently underway in Victoria that may help repair the harm and prevent the injustice of violence. In doing so, it examines the challenges in defining what we mean by violence against women with disabilities as opposed to violence against people with disabilities, men with disabilities, or women in general, and why this matters. It highlights the importance of examining disability-based violence and its interrelationship with gender-based violence
This paper reviews Victorian and Federal legislation and related literature. It also looks at the practical perspectives provided by stakeholders regarding the adequacy of legal protections and barriers to justice for women with disabilities in Victoria who have experienced violence, and presents a clear pathway for future practice, legislative amendment and research. Legislation reviewed includes the:
• Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic)
• Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic)
• Personal Safety Intervention Orders Act 2010 (Vic)
• Family Law Act 1975 (Cth)
• Crimes Act 1958 (Vic)
This paper is based on a review of OPA’s Advocate/Guardian program files. OPA’s Advocate/Guardian program provides guardianship, investigation and individual advocacy services to Victorians with cognitive impairments and/or mental illness. The aim of the file review was to ascertain how many women who are clients of OPA’s Advocate/Guardian program have reportedly experienced violence. In order to find this out, the project reviewed the first 100 Advocate/Guardian case files involving women that were allocated to OPA in the 2011–12 financial year.
This paper involved interviews with 25 staff and volunteers from OPA’s major program areas. The interviews explored participants’ experiences in working with women with cognitive impairments and/or mental illnesses who had experienced violence, or who were at risk of experiencing violence. The participants were asked to reflect on the circumstances of the women they had worked with at OPA. They were also asked to talk about the particular challenges for women with disabilities who have experienced violence, and what can be done to address violence and prevent it from reoccurring.
Voices Against Violence Paper Six Hearing from Women with Disabilities (PDF 1.2MB)
This paper involved in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 20 Victorian women with disabilities who have been subject to violence. The interviews explored women’s experiences of violence, how their disabilities impacted the violence they experienced, whom they went to for support, and their experiences with violence response services (such as police, family violence and sexual assault services). Women also talked about the changes they felt were required to better support women with disabilities who have experienced violence and their suggestions for preventing violence against women with disabilities.
Voices Against Violence Paper Seven Easy English Summary (PDF 3MB)
This paper summarises the major findings and recommendations of the Voices Against Violence Research Project in Easy English. The paper uses everyday words, simple sentence structure, and pictorials in order to convey the important findings of the research.
These papers have been written by different authors over a period of time, reflecting different language and definitions. In this period, the complexity of dealing with violence in different contexts – which employ different understandings of disability and different understandings of violence – has become evident. Grappling with this complexity has been a valuable learning and the thinking of the project team has evolved through the life of the project. We have endeavoured to standardise the language across papers as far as possible.
Building the Evidence
Landmark Research: ‘Building the Evidence’ Report (2008)
The Building the Evidence Project analyses the extent to which current Victorian family violence policy and practice recognises and provides for women with disabilities who experience violence; and makes recommendations to improve responses to women with disabilities dealing with family violence.
The research project was undertaken because we do not know the full extent of violence against women with disabilities because statistics about women with disabilities who experience violence are not collected well. Studies here and overseas suggest it is twice the rate of violence against non-disabled women. Meanwhile, the majority of women with disabilities do not have access to the resources they need to protect themselves from violence. Family violence and family services are not equipped to meet the needs of women with diverse disabilities; and disability services have not been adequately equipped to identify or respond to experiences of family violence.
The research was undertaken as a collaboration between the Women with Disabilities Victoria, the Alfred Felton Research Program at the University of Melbourne, and the Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria.
Full report, Microsoft Word, no pictures:
Building the Evidence: a report on the status of policy and practice in responding to violence against women with disabilities in Victoria (Word 3.65MB)
Executive Summary, Microsoft Word, 16 font:
Executive Summary, HTML, 16 font:
Building the Evidence – Executive Summary, 16 font (HTML 43KB)
Individual chapters, PDF:
Executive Summary (PDF 73.2KB)
Research at a glance (PDF 691KB)
Recommendations (PDF 80KB)
1 Introduction (PDF 1.12MB)
2 Situating violence against women with disabilities (PDF 202KB)
3 Women’s experiences of family violence response system (PDF 138KB)
4 Workers’ experiences of supporting women with disabilities in the family response system (PDF 79.3KB)
5 Data collection and research (PDF 204KB)
6 Family violence standards and guidelines (PDF 248KB)
7 Workforce development (PDF 206KB)
8 Positive developments in service response to women with disabilities experiencing violence (PDF 151KB)
9 Conclusion (PDF 35.8KB)
References (PDF 101KB)
Appendices (PDF 134KB)
Isolated Women with Disabilities Project
Why was the project developed?
The Isolated Women with Disabilities Project aims to improve the wellbeing of women with disabilities by testing and reporting on strategies to reduce social isolation.
Research shows that women with disabilities experience higher than average levels of social isolation. This contributes to poorer physical and mental health. Social isolation can also make it harder for women with disabilities to live free from violence and abuse, because it can be difficult for them to get appropriate information and services.
What is the project doing?
The project has reviewed the literature to find out which peer and social support strategies work best to reduce social isolation. Next, it will test and evaluate some of these strategies with women with disabilities, and report back on the findings.
When is the project happening?
The project started in August 2017, and will finish in August 2018.
Who funded this project?
The Isolated Women’s Project is supported by the Victorian Government.
Pleasure and Consent
Women and gender diverse people with disabilities in Australia face significant barriers to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and experience higher rates of sexual and intimate partner violence.
Physical, structural, and attitudinal barriers limit access to SRH care and violence prevention. The findings of this discussion paper demonstrate that a pleasure-based approach in healthcare and within gender based violence prevention programs can challenge harmful narratives and support sexual agency for women and gender diverse people with disabilities.
To address these concerns, WDV’s Victorian Women’s Health Program (VWHP), with support from the Gender and Disability Workforce Development Program (G&D), are developing resources on pleasure and consent to improve SRH outcomes and prevent violence.
Pleasure and Consent for Women and Gender Diverse People with Disabilities: Discussion Paper