Enhancing Access for Survivors with Disabilities and Deaf Survivors

1. Working with Survivors with Disabilities and Deaf Survivors: Ensuring Access for All Ashley Brompton, J.D. Program Associate Center on Victimization and Safety Vera Institute of Justice January 31, 2019

2. Training Goals • Summarize what is known about victimization of people with disabilities and Deaf people, including sexual assault and domestic violence • Discuss the experiences of survivors with disabilities with healing services and civil/criminal justice systems; • Discuss common barriers survivors with disabilities face; and • Identify concrete and practical steps you can take to enhance responses and supports to survivors with disabilities.

3. Disability Basics

4. Disabilities Overview • 1 in 5 people living in the United States have at least one disability.

5. Disabilities (2) • Disability is an incredibly broad category. • Cognitive • Developmental • Physical • Psychiatric • Sensory • Includes visible and “hidden” disabilities.

6. Disabilities (3) • Disability is ordinary. • Diagnosis does not predict individual experience. • Not all people who have disabilities identify as having one. • The experiences of women with disabilities is shaped by abelism. • People first language

7. Deaf Community Overview • Some deaf and hard of hearing people do not identify as having a disability. • They identify as a member of a cultural and linguistic group. • This group of people use the term Deaf to reflect their cultural identification. • Deaf culture is defined by shared language, values, and history. • The experiences of Deaf women are shaped by audism.

8. Violence Against People with Disabilities and Deaf People

9. People With Disabilities are at Greater Risk of Violence

10. Additional Statistics • Women who have experienced intimate partner violence are more than twice as likely to also report a disability. • 14% of men with disabilities reported experiencing sexual violence at some point in their life time compared to 4% of men without disabilities. • 49% of people with developmental disabilities were assaulted 10 or more times. • 20% of Deaf adults have experienced physical abuse by an intimate partner. 15% have experienced forced sex in an intimate partner relationship.

11. Why? • Devaluation • Presumed lack of credibility • Isolation and segregation • Increased exposure to potential abusers • Culture of compliance • Seen as “easy targets”

12. Who is Responsible?

13. Unique Dynamics • Withholding medication • Delaying or refusing to provide care • Abusing or threatening to abuse a service animal • Threatening to move a person to a nursing home or institution

14. Access to Healing Services and Justice

15. Significant Underreporting Silence feels safer/less harmful Loss of independence and fear of institutionalization Lack of knowledge about healthy sexuality and safety Loss of autonomy Lack of effective criminal justice response Don’t know how to report/reach out for help

16. Justice is Out of Reach for Many

17. Victim Services are out of Reach • Only 13% of victims of violent crime with disabilities receive support from victim services.

18. Barriers to Victim Services • Limited to no specialized outreach to survivors with disabilities; • Physical, communication, programmatic and attitudinal barriers in anti-violence programs; • Lack of specialized knowledge and response protocols to survivors in disability organizations; and • Lack of coordination between anti-violence and disability organizations.

19. Barriers to Justice • Perceived lack of credibility • Lack of accommodations • Lack of specialized training for law enforcement and prosecutors

20. Additional Barriers and Considerations • Survivors with Disabilities • Mandatory reporting for “vulnerable adults” • Guardianship • Consent, People with Cognitive Disabilities, and the Law • Deaf Survivors • Small, tight knit community • Confidentiality • Deaf grapevine

21. Ensuring an Accessible and Welcoming Experience

22. Start the Conversation • How has disability and Deafness intersected in the work of the organization and its staff? • Is your organization serving survivors with disabilities and Deaf survivors? Why? Why not? • What are the biggest barriers/challenges when providing advocacy and other services for these survivors? • What do you need by way of support to address those barriers/challenges?

23. Collaborate for Change • Ensure meaningful, sustainable collaboration and partnerships that lasts even without funding. • Develop partnerships that encourage the sharing of information, resources, and tools to serve survivors with disabilities and Deaf survivors.

24. Partner with Disability and Deaf Organizations • State-Level • The Arc (also national) • Deaf and hard of hearing commissions • Mental health associations • Protection and Advocacy organizations • State independent living centers • Local-Level • The Arc local chapters • Boards of MR/DD • Community mental health providers • Deaf service provider • Deaf-specific domestic violence program • Independent living centers • Interpreter agencies

25. Create Meaningful Opportunities for People with Disabilities and Deaf People • “Nothing about us, without us.” • Include self-advocates and other people with disabilities in the work you do to address abuse of people with disabilities. • Build relationships with local self-advocacy chapters and/or disability organizations to find self-advocates to include. • Provide full support to ensure full participation.

26. Develop Inclusive, Accessible Materials • Materials convey an organization’s knowledge, experience, and credibility and conveys information about an organization’s culture, priorities, and values. • Materials that are accessible to all and convey a message of inclusivity and openness to survivors with disabilities and Deaf survivors signal a commitment to serving all survivors.

27. Pro-Actively Account for Access • Budget for access • Identify organizations that can help you meet your accommodation requests • Sign language interpreter agencies • CART providers • Braille house • Centers for Independent Living • Put policies in place to guide staff in the moment. • Integrate disability awareness into existing training for new and existing staff. • Explore attitudes towards people with disabilities.

28. Questions? • Ashley Brompton, J.D. • Center on Victimization and Safety • Vera Institute of Justice • abrompton@Vera.org • (646) 992-1131 • www.endabusepwd.org