WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES AND VIOLENCE IN AUSTRALIA
For more than 20 years, women with disabilities in Australia have spoken out about being denied the right to live their lives free from violence and abuse. Through Women with Disabilities Australia (WWDA), its affiliates, allies and partners, women with disabilities have shared their personal stories, experiences and views on the violence perpetrated against them and the significant systemic failures in legislation, policy, programs, services and support to prevent and address the multiple forms of violence they experience. Women with disabilities have made it clear that it is time for action and that it is only through systemic change that their fundamental human right to freedom from violence will be realised.
STOP THE VIOLENCE PROJECT
The Stop the Violence Project (STVP) is in direct response to this call for real and sustainable systemic change. This national policy reform project aims to improve services for women and girls with disabilities experiencing or at risk of violence. A long-term objective for the project is to improve the quality of life of women and girls with disabilities in Australia, and to promote and protect their rights to freedom from violence, exploitation and abuse. The project has been funded by the Safety Taskforce of the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) under its First Action Plan of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children (National Plan).
ABOUT THIS SURVEY
This survey represents your organisation’s opportunity to contribute to building knowledge about Australia’s capacity to develop and undertake good policy and practice measures to address violence prevention and response for women and girls with disabilities. It seeks information from organisations in the following key areas:
· the work you do
· the policies and legislative frameworks that guide your work, and
· the challenges you face in responding to the needs of women and girls with disabilities experiencing or at risk of violence.
The information gathered will be used to build an evidence base for future reform of the service system to better respond to the needs of women and girls with disabilities.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING THE SURVEY
Responses should reflect the views of the organisation rather than those of individual staff members.
Allow up to 30 minutes to complete the survey.
On completion please return your saved document via email to: .
PROTECTING YOUR ORGANISATION’S PRIVACY
This is an anonymous survey and any information you provide will be kept confidential. No individual organisation will be identified in the reporting of information from this survey. By completing this questionnaire, you are giving your permission for the use of the results in compiling a summary report for the Department Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA). This report will form the basis for a background/discussion paper for a national symposium to be held in late 2013 on the issue of violence against women and girls with disabilities. The information gathered will also inform recommendations for a good policy and practice compendium for use by government agencies and service providers.
The survey has been approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) of the UNSW (HREC Ref: # HC12654). If you have concerns regarding the conduct of the research you are encouraged to contact UNSW HREC. Complaints may be directed to the Ethics Secretariat, The University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia (phone (02) 9385 4234, fax (02) 9385 6648, email ). Any complaint you make will be investigated promptly and you will be informed of the outcome.
Further Information
For information regarding the survey please contact the Research Team by emailing
Further information about the Stop the Violence Project is available from the project website: http://www.stvp.org.au/
Section 1: Your Organisation (1/5)
1. To what sector do you belong?
Disability
Violence
Other (please specify):
2. Does your organisation represent…
Service providers (go to question 4)
The interests of a particular group
Other (please specify):
3. What group do you represent?
Disabled People
Women
Children
Youth
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Homeless
Culturally and linguistically diverse communities
Other (please specify):
4. What is the size of your membership?
Small (1 – 20 staff)
Medium (21 – 100 staff)
Large (101 – 200 staff)
Very large (200 +)
5. In which area/s does your organization operate? (Select all that apply)
Urban / Regional / Remote
All states and Territories
NSW
Vic
QLD
SA
WA
Tas
NT
ACT
6. What types of activities does your organisation undertake? (Select all that apply)
Advocacy for policy change
Consulting & Advising
Input into policy development
Public education & awareness raising
Media campaigning
Sector development
Research
Staff training & capacity building
Direct service provision
Other (please specify):
7. Who currently provides funding for your organisation? (Select all that apply)
Commonwealth government
State/territory government
Local government
Private contributions (includes member fees and user-pays arrangements)
Charity or church group
Section 2: Your Activities (2/5)
8. Do you advocate for or represent the interests of women and girls with disabilities experiencing or at risk of violence?
Yes
No (go to question 10)
9. Please briefly describe what this representative/advocacy work involves, then go to question 11.
10. Please outline why this group/issue is not captured in your representative/advocacy work.
11. Which government legislation, policies and/or programs are of most relevance to your organisation and its representative work in relation to either gender, disability, violence or all of these?
12. What challenges does your organisation face in terms of Government legislation and policy in relation to either gender, disability, violence or all of these?
13. What changes, if any, in Government policy and legislation do you see as required to address these challenges?
14. What issues do you think cause fragmentation and/or duplication of services for women and girls with disabilities experiencing or at risk of violence? Please briefly describe how this occurs.
15. Do women with disabilities participate in the development and planning of your activities?
Yes
No (go to question 17)
16. How do they participate? Are they…
Active in advisory and/or management roles
Involved in strategic planning
Interviewed or surveyed about your activities
Engaged through reference networks
Other (please specify):
17. From your representative standpoint, what do you think might prevent women and
girls with disabilities from accessing services for victims of violence?
18. Are you involved in any campaigns or programs aimed at promoting awareness of
violence against women and girls with disabilities?
Yes
No (go to question 20)
19. What is the name of this awareness campaign/s or program/s?
Section 3: Cross-sector Collaboration (3/5)
20. Do you work with organisations from other sectors on issues about violence against women and girls with disabilities?
Yes
No (go to question 22)
21. Please rate the following sectors according to your level of collaboration.
No
collaboration / Occasional collaboration / Regular collaboration / Significant collaboration / Intensive collaboration
Disability services
(other than
mental health)
Employment/training
services
Education sector
Domestic violence & sexual assault services
Child welfare, child services & day care services
Housing/
Homeless-ness services
Youth services & youth welfare services
Family & relationship services
Mental health services
Other health services
Information, advice and referral services
Legal services
Migrant, refugee and asylum seeker services
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander support services
Services for the aged and elderly (other than residential)
22. What kinds of organisations, if any, would you like to be able to work with in order to better respond to the needs of women and girls with disabilities?
23. What kinds of activities would you undertake in collaboration with these organisations?
24. Thinking about how disability services and violence services currently operate, please indicate to what extent you agree or disagree with the following statements.
Strongly agree / Agree / Neither agree
nor disagree / Disagree / Strongly disagree / Don’t know
The violence sector responds adequately to the needs of women and girls with disabilities
once an incidence of violence has been reported
The disability sector responds adequately to the needs of women and girls with disabilities who may be at risk of violence
The disability service system responds adequately overall to the needs of women and girls with disabilities once an incidence of violence has occurred
Overall, there are clear, well-defined pathways to safety and support for disabled women experiencing or at risk of violence
There is unnecessary duplication of services and/or programs for women and girls with
disabilities experiencing or at risk of violence
Addressing violence against women and girls with disabilities requires collaboration and coordination between the violence and disability service sectors
Interagency violence prevention work aimed at women and girls with disabilities will require additional resourcing
Gaps in the service system prevent women and girls with
disabilities experiencing or at risk of violence from accessing appropriate services
Adopting a rights-based approach to service delivery and policy development would benefit women and girls with disabilities experiencing or at risk of violence
Service providers understand issues around intersectional discrimination (that is, discrimination based on some mix of gender, race, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, age, language, and religious beliefs)
Service providers respond adequately to issues around intersectional discrimination
25 Thinking about the current level of demand for services from women and girls with disabilities experiencing or at risk of violence, please indicate to what extent you agree or disagree with the following statements.
Strongly agree / Agree / Neither agree
nor disagree / Disagree / Strongly disagree / Don’t know
Current levels of demand from this group are met by service providers
To meet demand, staff require more training
Service providers
reallocate resources to meet this demand
Services are more
tightly targeted or limited in order to meet demand from this group
For this group, we do not know what the level of demand is
For this group, waiting lists for services are growing
In regards to this group, service capacity is constrained by eligibility criteria
For this group, service capacity is constrained by the level of available
resources
Section 4: Data Collection and Reporting (4/5)
26. Do you,or are you required to collect and report data on your membership?
Yes
No (go to Section 5)
27. What kinds of information do you report? (select all that apply)
The size of membership
Demographic data on membership
The sector to which our membership belong (if service providers)
The services our membership provide (if service providers)
Demographic data on service users
The activities our membership conduct
Other (please specify):
28. What policy and legislative frameworks govern the way you collect and report this data?
29. Does this data capture information about women and girls with disabilities experiencing or at risk of violence?
Yes
No
30. In the past, how have you used the data you collect on women and girls with disabilities who are experiencing or are at risk of violence? (e.g., submissions, research, etc.)
Section 5: Case Study (5/5)
Please read the following case study before answering the questions below. Please note this case study is based on a true story.
Two members of the public independently contact a national disability NGO to ask for assistance
in reporting and getting support for a 60 year old severely disabled woman, Mariam, who lives in a regional centre. Mariam is being repeatedly abused by her son, who is also her carer. She is from a non-English speaking background, has an acquired brain injury, is a wheelchair user, and both her and her carer are allegedly heavy drug and alcohol users. The callers both claim that they have reported the abuse to the police in the past, but the police are “not interested” in intervening. They are able to provide significant detail about Mariam, her carer and the abuse (including names and address), and also advise that they thought Mariam had in the past been visited by a government home care worker, but the carer had allegedly subsequently refused home care support. The NGO contacts more than 9 separate services/agencies to seek information, advice and support for both Mariam and the callers, but each agency advises it cannot assist. Examples of the agencies contacted included:
• Disability Phone Information Service – stated that they “don’t do domestic violence”; no referral
provided, simply stated they are unable to assist.
• Women’s disability Phone Service – stated they couldn’t help, and that there was nothing that could be done if Mariam chose to stay with the abusive partner.
• Police – Advised that the policewoman who “does domestic violence” is on holidays. When asked for an alternative, the NGO was advised there is no oneelse who “does domestic violence” and would need to contact the DV Liaison Officer when she returned from holidays.
• Domestic Violence Crisis Line – unable to assist, suggested caller contact the NSW Department of Disability and Aged Care; provided a phone number for DADAC (which proved to be an
incorrect number).
• Relevant Government Department – NGO explained situation, gave address, tried to refer to home care, but were referred to the Department of Home Care Metro Region Intake Office and subsequently told the info given was incorrect, wrong office/region. The NGO contacted three other Home Care offices, which all stated they were unable to assist, or didn’t cover that region. None provided any referral information for other services.
31. What key issues does Mariam’s experience raise?
32. What types of assistance should Mariam have received and from whom should she have received them?
33. What, if any, changes in Government policy and/or funding arrangements would need to occur for Mariam to receive the service response that you described above?
34. Would your organization or member organisations be able to assist Mariam? If so, how would you/they assist? If not, why not? Please provide examples.
Do you have any additional comments you would like to make?
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey.