OHCHR Thematic Analitical Study on the Issue of Violence Against Women and Girls and Disability

OHCHR Thematic Analitical Study on the Issue of Violence against Women and Girls and Disability - SLOVENIA

Data / Statistic

Have studies/researches been conducted on the prevalence, nature, causes and impact of violence against women and girls with disabilities in different settings (family/home, workplace, medical institutions, schools etc.).What forms of disability and violence do they cover?

The following studies and research on the theme of violence against persons with disabilities have been carried out recently in Slovenia:

Nasilje nad invalidnimi osebami, v zasebni sferi in / ali v partnerskih odnosih (Violence against Persons with Disabilities in the Private Sphere and/or Partnerships), Ljubljana, Government of the Republic of Slovenia, Office for Equal Opportunities, 2008.

Type of disability:persons with disabilities include those with long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments;
Type of violence:negligence, physical abuse, psychological or emotional abuse, financial or material abuse.

KRALJ, Julijana, ed., et al. Nasiljev družini in okolju, Za lepše in prijaznejše življenje s paraplegijo in tetraplegijo (Violence in the Family and Environment, For a Better and Friendlier Life with Paraplegia and Tetraplegia), Ljubljana, Paraplegics Association of Slovenia, 1998.

Type of disability: movement impairment due to paraplegia and tetraplegia;
Type of violence:open-ended question; the answers included different types of abuse.

KRALJ, Julijana. Raziskava nasilja nad gibalno oviranimi ženskami (Research Study of Violence against Women with Movement Impairment),Association of Physically Disabled of Slovenia VIZIJA, Slovenske Konjice, 2008.

First research 2000–2006:
Type of disability:movement impairment;
Type of violence:emotional abuse, verbal violence, negligence and oppression, financial and property abuse.
Second research 2007–2008:
Type of disability:movement impairment;
Type of violence: combined question; the answers included various forms of psychological, physical, and sexual violence, property and other forms or abuse, and negligence.

Regarding the effects of discrimination on the social and political inclusion of young persons in Slovenia:Analysis by sex, sexual orientation and ethnicity (final report).The target research project within the “Competitiveness of Slovenia 2006–2013” programme, University of Ljubljana, Faculty for Social Sciences.

Type of disability:persons with disabilities include those with long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments;
Type of violence:open-ended question; the answers included various types of psychological and physical violence.

KUZMANIČ KORVA, Darja (contribution published on the Internet [1]).Nasilje se najpogosteje dogaja doma (Violence most Frequently Occurs at Home),Paraplegics Association of Slovenia.

Type of disability:persons with disabilities (recipients of the domestic help service) in Slovenia;
Type of violence:not specified.

ŠIRNIK, Tina. Nasilje nad ljudmi z invalidnostjo (Violence against People with Disabilities): graduation thesis, Ljubljana, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Work, 2003.

KNEZ, Marija. Nasilja v slovenskih šolah (Violence in Slovenian Schools): graduation thesis, Ljubljana, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Administration, 2005.

MOČNIK, Mateja. Varnost v socialnih in posebnih (socialnopsihiatričnih) zavodih (Safety in Social and Sociopsychiatric Institutions): graduation thesis, Maribor, University of Maribor, Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security, 2008.

KOS, Tina. Nasilje v družinski vzgoji in vedenju učencev do vrstnikov v osnovni šoli s prilagojenim programom (Violence in Domestic Upbringing and Behaviour of Pupils towards their Peers in Elementary Schools with Adapted Curriculum): Master's thesis, Ljubljana, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education, 2010.

Please provide the available data on the number of women and girls with disabilities who have accessed services and programmes to prevent and address violence in the past years?Is this information disaggregated by disability, as well as by sex, socio economic and ethnic background?

Various social welfare programmes intended for persons who have experienced violence are carried out in Slovenia.Data on the number of persons with disabilities participating in these programmes have not been systematically collected. According to the data of the Association of the Physically Disabled of Slovenia VIZIJA[2], four persons with disabilities sought help in safe houses and shelters in the period between 2008 and 2011.

Information on various kinds of social welfare programmes intended for persons who have experienced violence is presented below.Unfortunately, data on the type of disability, age, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity is not available.

1. Programmes of maternity homes and women's shelters

The target group of maternity homes and women's shelters primarily consists of the following:

women and children experiencing various types of violence who need a safe haven;
victims of domestic violence, victims of violence in partnership and kinship relations, and victims of violence in general;
mothers and their children experiencing violence, women due to give birth, and pregnant women who must retreat from their domestic situation for various reasons or are socially or financially at risk;
family members of women experiencing violence;
neighbours and other persons seeking information and help in the event of violence;
women using illegal drugs and victims of violence and abuse in grave social and economic distress.

Table 1:The number of programmes and users of safe houses and maternity homes in 2010

Programmes / Number of programmes / Number of users
Safe houses, refuges, shelters and the crisis centre / 16 / 497
Maternity homes / 6 / 349

Source:SMOLEJ, S. et al.Spremljanje izvajanja programov socialnega varstva:poročilo o izvajanju programov v letu 2010:končno poročilo (Monitoring of Implementation of Social Assistance Programmes: Report on the Implementation of Programmes in 2010: Final Report), Ljubljana, Social Protection Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, 2011.

2. Psychosocial help programmes for victims of violence

The target group of the psychosocial help programmes for victims of violence primarily consists of the following:

women experiencing various forms of violence in domestic, partnership, kinship, and other interpersonal relations;
children, young persons, and persons experiencing violence in the family, at school and in their immediate environment;
persons with mental health problems, addiction problems, and lower socioeconomic status (often in combination with various forms violence in various relationships).

Table 2:The number of psychosocial help programmes for victims of violence and users thereof in 2010

Programmes / Number of programmes / Number of users
Help and self-help groups and programmes / 5 / 281
Psychosocial help programmes and counselling / 5 / 4671

Source: SMOLEJ, S. et al. Spremljanje izvajanja programov socialnega varstva: poročilo o izvajanju programov v letu 2010: končno poročilo (Monitoring of Implementation of Social Assistance Programmes: Report on the Implementation of Programmes in 2010: Final Report), Ljubljana, Social Protection Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, 2011.

3. Programmes for psychosocial counselling by telephone for children, young persons, and other persons in personal distress

The target group of programmes for psychosocial counselling by telephone for children, young persons, and other persons in personal distress consists of the following:

persons from throughout Slovenia, regardless of age, who are facing various problems (loneliness, mental health problems, emotional problems and the challenges that come with adolescence);
persons with disabilities and their relatives;
victims of various forms of violence;
addicts;
poor and homeless persons;
women in various forms of distress during pregnancy or post-partum and their partners, children, and relatives;
medical and other professionals.

Table 3:The number of programmes and users of psychosocial counselling by telephone in 2010

Programmes / Number of programmes / Number of telephone calls
Counselling telephones programmes / 7 / 72823

Source: SMOLEJ, S. et al. Spremljanje izvajanja programov socialnega varstva: poročilo o izvajanju programov v letu 2010: končno poročilo (Monitoring of Implementation of Social Assistance Programmes: Report on the Implementation of Programmes in 2010: Final Report), Ljubljana, Social Protection Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, 2011.

4. Specialised therapeutic psychosocial help programmes

The target group of the specialised therapeutic psychosocial help programmes consists primarily of the following:

individuals, couples and families in acute or long-term psychosocial distress who require, want, and are capable of accepting the more profound and structured help offered by therapy but cannot afford to pay for it due to financial problems.

Table 4 only presents psychosocial programmes intended for users who have experienced various forms of violence (physical, emotional, and sexual).

Table 4:The number of programmes and users of specialised therapeutic psychosocial help programmes for victims of violence in 2010

Programmes / Number of programmes / Number of users
Therapeutic psychosocial help programmes of for victims of violence / 5 / 1571

Source: SMOLEJ, S. et al. Spremljanje izvajanja programov socialnega varstva: poročilo o izvajanju programov v letu 2010: končno poročilo (Monitoring of Implementation of Social Assistance Programmes: Report on the Implementation of Programmes in 2010: Final Report), Ljubljana, Social Protection Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, 2011.

Please provide available data on the number of households in which persons with disabilities reside.How many of these are women-headed households?

In Slovenia, data on households or families of persons with disabilities are not collected separately, and the census data do not include information on the disabilities of individual persons.This information could be included in certain research.

In 2002, research on the social support networks of the Slovenian population (Ferligoj et al. 2002 [3]) was carried out on a representative sample of Slovenian inhabitants.

The research found that approximately 10% of the Slovenian population has trouble with movement in everyday life. Of this number, 42% are male, while 58% are female, thus the share of women with such difficulties is 16% higher than of men.

Data on the number of persons with movement impairment who live in different types of families is presented below.

Table 5:The number of persons with movement impairment who lived in different types of families in 2002

Number / Percentage
One person household / 108 / 21.73
Couple / 114 / 22.94
Family of orientation / 21 / 4.23
Family of procreation / 150 / 30.18
Single-parent family / 24 / 4.83
Extended family / 70 / 14.08
Other / 10 / 2.01
Total / 497 / 100

Source:FERLIGOJ et al. Omrežja socialne opore prebivalcev Slovenije (Social Support Networks of the Slovenian Population), Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences, Social Protection Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, 2002.

Table 6:The number of persons with impaired movement who lived in different types of families (by sex) in 2002

Men / Women
Number / Percentage / Number / Percentage
One person household / 27 / 25.00 / 81 / 75.00
Couple / 48 / 42.11 / 66 / 57.89
Family of orientation / 13 / 61.90 / 8 / 38.10
Family of procreation / 84 / 56.00 / 66 / 44.00
Single-parent family / 1 / 4.17 / 23 / 95.83
Extended family / 31 / 44.29 / 39 / 55.71
Other / 6 / 60.00 / 4 / 40.00
Total / 210 / 42.25 / 287 / 57.75

Data on the number of households with persons with disabilities which are run by women is not available.

Please provide statistics, information or studies on disability/ies resulting from violence against women and girls.

According to the research of the Office for Equal Opportunities on violence against persons with disabilities in the private sphere and/or partnership relations, such violence is still very much hidden in our country since it occurs behind closed doors and often remains undetected even by associations of persons with disabilities whose members are victims of violence.Women with disabilities are more often victims of violence than men with disabilities. The most frequent forms of violence against these women are physical, psychological, or emotional abuse, while men with disabilities are mainly subjected to negligence.Women with disabilities are most frequently victims of negligence and physical, psychological, or emotional abuse by their partners and of financial abuse by their children.Results are similar for men with disabilities. They too are most frequently victims of negligence and psychological or emotional abuse by their partners and of physical and financial abuse by their children.Among the most frequent reasons for violence against women and men with disabilities are the helplessness of these persons due to their disabilities, their low awareness, and their dependence on other persons.However, there are some additional reasons which apply only to women with disabilities, and not men, namely discrimination and unequal treatment by both sexes, low awareness and their "weakness".This confirms that women with disabilities, besides having to face barriers due to their disability, are also subject to sexual discrimination.

Legislation and Policies

Is there a legal framework addressing violence against women and girls with disability in different contexts (within the family, in the community and in the workplace, and in State and non-State institutions such as medical, education and other services providing institutions)?

Slovenia has no specific legislation regulating violence against women and girls with disabilities,but it undertakes to respect the prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of disability in all areas of human life.

The right of persons with disabilities to equal opportunities and treatment, the right to equal inclusion in the life of the community, the right to choose, etc., are determined by numerous documents on the international and national level.The laws, provisions and regulations in these documents require the elimination of any form of discrimination and determine the need to remove various barriers and limitations in the environment of persons with disabilities, the need for support which should ensure them an independent life, and the need for their equal inclusion in society.

The basic rights to equal opportunities derive from Article 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia [4] which states that "in Slovenia everyone shall be guaranteed equal human rights and fundamental freedoms irrespective of national origin, race, sex, language, religion, political or other conviction, material standing, birth, education, social status, disability or any other personal circumstance."Disability has been included amongst the personal circumstances determined in the Constitution since 2004.The Constitution thereby explicitly emphasises the right to equality of persons with disabilities before the law and forbids any discrimination on grounds of disability.

The prohibition of discrimination on grounds of disability is included in the provisions of the Implementation of the Principle of Equal Treatment Act [5], Employment Relationships Act [6], Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities Act [7], Family Violence Act [8], and Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities Act, [9] which was adopted by the National Assembly at the end of November 2010 and represents the basic law in the field of the prevention of discrimination against persons with disabilities in Slovenia.

Slovenia has ratified the most important documents in the field of human rights, some of which also pertain to ensuring rights to persons with disabilities, e.g. the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms [10], European Social Charter [11], United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, etc.In April 2008, the National Assembly adopted the Act Ratifying the Convention on the Rights of persons with Disabilities [12], which is the first legally binding document of the United Nations in the field of the human rights of persons with disabilities [13].In September 2011, Slovenia also signed the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, which is the first international legal instrument that comprehensively stipulates the obligations of the signatories to prevent violence against women, including domestic violence.

Since 1991, numerous regulations have been adopted in the fields of education, health care, employment, removing barriers in the environment, and financial assistance. Various national and developmental programmes in individual fields have been supplemented with solutions vital to the lives of persons with disabilities [14].

One of the key documents in the field of ensuring equal opportunities is the Action Programme for Persons with Disabilities 2007–2013 [15].

Are practices such as 1) forced psychiatric intervention, 2) forced institutionalization, 3) solitary confinement and restraint in institutions, 4) forced drug and electroshock treatment, 5) forced abortion, 6) forced sterilization and 7) harmful practices, prohibited by law?

Forced psychiatric intervention and forced institutionalisation

The Mental Health Act [16] (Articles 1 and 2) inter alia determines the procedures for institutionalisation:

for treatment in a ward under special supervision of a psychiatric hospital (i.e. a ward for intensive treatment in a psychiatric hospital where a person can be restrained for health reasons, or because they are endangering their own or other people's lives, seriously endangering their own or other people's health, or causing substantial pecuniary damage to themselves or other people);
for treatment in a secure ward of a social welfare institution (i.e. a ward in a social welfare institution where a person continuously receives special protection and may not freely leave the institution).

A person can be referred to such a ward by a court decision as well, and without their consent [17] (Articles 38 and 39).The Mental Health Act precisely prescribes the procedures for institutionalisation and intervention in such cases.A person has the right to a representative who protects their rights, interest, and benefits.

Special methods of treatment

The Health Services Act[18] regulates actions and activities carried out by medical professionals and associates while providing health care, preventing and diagnosing diseases, and treating all patients and injured persons, as well as persons with disabilities, in accordance with the medical doctrine and by using medical technology.

The Mental Health Act [19] (Articles 8 and 9) prescribes special methods of treatment to be carried out only in exceptional circumstances, under precisely specified conditions and only in psychiatric hospitals.

These special methods of treatment are the following:

electroconvulsive therapy,
hormone therapy,
use of psychotropic drugs in dosages exceeding the highest prescribed dosage.

Medical treatment in Slovenia is carried out in accordance with methods approved by experts and internationally recognised standards.

Psychosurgical treatment is not allowed in the Republic of Slovenia.

The usage of special treatment methods on the proposal of a psychiatrist is decided by the medical council which is appointed by the director of the psychiatric hospital for a particular case and comprises at least three psychiatrists, at least one of whom is employed outside the psychiatric hospital where the patient is being treated and has never treated the patient in question.