What is violence against disabled people and tāngata whaikaha Māori? Disabled people experience the range of violent abusive behaviours common to all abusive relationships – physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and financial54 including patterns of power, control and coercion.55 However, there are forms of abuse that are more specific to disabled people, or that have more debilitating effects if people are disabled. These are described below. Abuse can be caused by deliberate action or by inaction Abuse can be deliberate – doing something to hurt, frighten or upset a disabled person – or caused by either intentional or unintentional neglect, such as: • forgetting to pick up or provide medication • not providing adequate care; leaving an immobile person alone for long periods of time • not providing meals56 • not helping a person to the toilet • not enabling a person to be hygienic and clean • failing to provide support that is required, resulting in further harm such as bed sores, malnutrition and pain. The specific dynamics of violence against disabled people, as outlined in detail in Table one: Forms of violence against disabled people (see Appendix one)57 are in summary: • physical harm • sexual/reproductive harm • financial harm • coercive/emotional harm/creating fear • harm to personal autonomy • support-related harm • institutional harm. These abusive behaviours demonstrate the strong relationship between personal and structural power and violence and how these things are mutually reinforcing. This is particularly harmful for people who, for whatever reason, are reliant on people or organisations to support their autonomy and participation. In relation to disabled women, the Committee on the Rights of People with Disabilities explain this relationship: Women with disabilities are at heightened risk of violence, exploitation and abuse compared to the broader population of women. Violence may be interpersonal, institutional and/or structural in nature. Institutional and/or structural violence is any form of structural inequality or institutional discrimination that maintains a woman in a subordinate position, whether physical or ideological, with regard to other people within her family, household or community. and further that: The social isolation, segregation and exploitation of girls with disabilities inside the family includes: exclusion from family activities, prevention from leaving home, forced unpaid housework and being forbidden from attending school. Dehumanising processes such as isolation and discriminatory treatment do not necessarily cause direct physical harm but can cause significant mental distress. Objectifying disabled people, and/or treating them as less important than non-disabled people, elevates this risk. When people’s personal choices and voice become invalidated and they are not accorded the same rights as non-disabled people, this results in social exclusion and invisibility.59 For people who are dependent on others for care and support, abuse includes limiting day-to-day choices such as who people spend their time with, what they wear, what they eat, the time a person wakes in the morning and goes to bed at night, and the recreation and employment they engage in. Acting now for a violence and abuse free future 27