•
blind women
•
•
women in wheelchairs or those requiring
other aids for mobility or communication
a low level of societal awareness of disabilityrelated violence and abuse
•
a lack of appropriate monitoring of services
•
women who require personal assistance
•
inadequate reporting options
•
women with learning disabilities.
•
significant barriers to engaging with police,
including police attitudes
•
justice sector/police perception of difficulties
gathering evidence sufficient to meet
evidential thresholds
•
demonstrations of prejudice
•
existing legislation, and powers emerging
from legislation, are inadequate.137
In 2019, the Human Rights Commission
reported that one refuge had made its house
accessible via a wheelchair lift and has a wet
floor in the bathroom. However, the refuge
doesn’t have equipment to assist people in and
out of bed, nor do they have support people
who are trained to assist women, so the refuge
is only partially accessible unless the woman’s
own support person stays with her.
No refuges have overnight staff. This means
that women who require support for personal
care and women who are experiencing mental
distress or substance abuse problems, requiring
24-hour monitoring and support, cannot be
housed in existing refuges.134
Further barriers to inclusive sexual and family
violence service best practice include a lack of
funding to make services physically accessible,
and no funding to improve accessibility in other
areas such as interpreters and information.135
Because disabled people report encountering
barriers to disclosure, many never engage
with services. Barriers identified in disability
services136 centre on the workforce and include:
•
poor hiring practices, including not vetting
for relevant conviction records
•
nepotism
•
staff with inappropriate attitudes
•
the poor management practices of a variety
of disability-related residences and services
•
people being punished by caregivers for
complaining of abuse
•
people do not receive adequate protection
during the investigation of abuse.
As outlined earlier in this report, there are
societal barriers to disclosing abuse, or receiving
help including:
Further, some people are unable to access
services on their own and may have no one they
can trust to support them.138
There are also additional specific situations
that exclude disabled people from mainstream
sexual and family violence services. Some refuge
services prioritise women with young children.
For disabled women who do not have children,
and women with experience of mental distress
and substance abuse problems who are more
likely to have had their children removed,139 this
can further restrict access to services.
Disability increases with age but very few refuges
accommodate women over approximately 55.
These women are referred to Age Concern. Age
Concern works with men and women; however,
they have no legal staff and no resources to
house people requiring refuge.140 As older
women lack options for alternative housing, and
many do not want to go into residential care, they
often stay in violent relationships because they
have nowhere else to go.141
Disabled people have also identified a lack of
societal awareness of disabled people’s rights
and a lack of knowledge about appropriate
response and referral services, as barriers to
receiving help and support. When combined
with the lack of credibility discussed below, and
resulting in few options for disabled people to
escape abuse, we see a direct failure to fulfill the
rights outlined in the UNCRPD Article 16.
Acting now for a violence and abuse free future
41