By doc on Thursday, 24 August 2023
Category: Uncategorized

A Guide to Domestic Violence and Disabilities

 Abuse or neglect of a disabled person can add extra barriers to finding help, but advocacy groups can help by thinking ahead about accommodations needed

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In the U.S., 1 in 4 adults have a disability of some kind, the most common being a disability that affects mobility. One can also experience cognitive, hearing or vision disabilities. Unfortunately, adults with disabilities are at a higher risk of violence than non-disabled adults. Some estimates show they're twice as likely to be victims of violent crime and three times as likely to be sexually assaulted.

Identifying as Disabled

First off, it's important that advocates and support persons alike know that disabled individuals don't always have outward disabilities, such as using mobility aids or having a service animal at their side. Cynthia Amodeo is the CEO of Barrier Free Living, a New York domestic violence-based community program that specifically supports survivors with disabilities.

"We see all sorts of disabilities," she says. "There are those born with disabilities, and then sometimes, disabilities are the result of the trauma they've experienced [from an abuser]: mental health disabilities, people with vision loss, hearing loss, brain injuries. Even self-identifying as disabled can be difficult for some individuals." She says that some survivors will come to her saying they have a "condition" instead. A heart condition, a memory condition, a panic condition. These could all be considered disabilities for which survivors may need special accommodations.

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Types of Domestic Violence

Individuals with disabilities can experience all forms of domestic violence, which may include:

Financial Abuse of a Disabled Person

Disabled persons are vulnerable to financial fraud by exploitative individuals, which can include their partner or other support persons or family members. This can also include scams disabled individuals may fall victim to over the phone, through email or in person. What might this look like?

Abusers know that individuals with disabilities are more vulnerable, potentially more trusting, and sometimes less likely to be believed. If the survivor has a cognitive disability, there is an even greater chance the perpetrator may not be caught, according to the Special Needs Alliance.

Why It's Difficult for Survivors with Disabilities to Escape Abusers

Abusers target disabled individuals because this population is more vulnerable and often less capable of escaping or defending themselves. As a result, once an abuser and victim are entwined in a relationship, it can be even harder than normal for a survivor to recognize this abuse and escape it.

Amodeo says that some service providers, once they hear a survivor is disabled, "have an innate fear that comes from not knowing what to do or how to help." The first thing to do, she says, is to overcome that barrier of fear, which can be done by asking survivors, "What do you need?"

Barriers disabled survivors can face when leaving an abuser can include:

What Makes a Program Accessible?

There are some basic things programs can do to make sure they're accessible. Start by asking yourself these questions:

Less easy to adjust after the fact, but just as important….

You can access a complete list of ADA standards for compliant design online. Amodeo encourages advocacy groups to change their way of thinking about accessibility.

"It's a culture shift of accepting people for who they are in whatever way they're presenting themselves. It's about being open to listening to folks and meeting them halfway," she says. "If we start thinking of it as a culture instead of a checkbox, we will start making strides in our book."

Overcoming the Stigma of Abuse

Katherine Yoder is the executive director of Adult Advocacy Centers a national nonprofit based out of Ohio that addresses the inequities that exist within the criminal justice system for disabled individuals. They often work with law enforcement agencies to help survivors both escape and get justice in cases of domestic violence.

"A lot of times what we've found in the disabled community is just stigma and stereotypes that exist particularly if a person doesn't speak verbally. There's this assumption that they're not going to be a credible witness or provide any kind of evidence."

Yoder talks about a case from a local sheriff's department in which a sexual assault victim was non-verbal. One thing Yoder's nonprofit does is conduct forensic interviews, or interviews in which information is elicited in a non-leading manner and recorded in order to be a piece of evidence in the case.

The sheriff's department handed the forensic interview over to Yoder's group.

"It took about three hours, but at the end, the survivor who had already been categorized as nonverbal was able to give us a lot of details about the case and were able to identify the correct perpetrator. In this particular case, it was a mixture of some very basic vocabulary plus visual aids," she explains. In certain cases, this means coming up with a tactile storyboard to explain things that require consent.

"The whole thing about accessibility is the accommodations are never-ending. It really is about thinking up with things that haven't been created before," says Yoder."

She remembers another case in which a detective gave a survivor their business card, but the survivor was blind and couldn't read it. When the detective followed up and asked the survivor why they hadn't reached back out, the survivor informed them, "I can't read your business card and the only way I could was to go to my neighbor and read it, and I don't want them to know."

In this case, an app like Be My Eyes could have been suggested. This free app allows vision-impaired individuals to video call any number of volunteers around the country to help them read or identify something they're having trouble seeing.

"The technology is always expanding," acknowledges Yoder. "There are ways to leverage that and communicate more effectively. The issue is knowing about it."

How to Report Abuser of a Disabled Person

If the individual you're concerned about is in immediate danger, call 911. But if you only suspect abuse and haven't witnessed it firsthand, it may not get a police response. And remember, sometimes a police presence can place individuals with certain disabilities in additional danger. If they react impulsively or are unable to communicate to police regarding what happened, or have acted in self-defense in addition to these factors, they could be at higher risk for duel arrest or simply not being believed by officers.

It may be best to first reach out to a social work service, such as Adult Protective Services. This service organization exists in every state to protect vulnerable adults over the age of 18.

Once a report is made, your local APS office will determine if the report meets the state's criteria to open an investigation (i.e. the suspected abuse takes place in the office's jurisdiction, the victim qualifies as a vulnerable adult and there is sufficient information to locate them). If an investigation is opened, it will be assigned to a case agent who will then contact the potential victim in person. Most states specify how quickly an agent must conduct an in-person visit, with some states requiring it take place within 24 hours and others between one and five days.

Contact the APS office in your state here.

If filing a report is not what you're looking to do, you may want to consider reaching out to one of the organizations in the following section where a trained advocate can give you advice, support or resources for that individual's needs.

You may also want to read, "5 Ways to Intervene When You Suspect Domestic Violence."

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Helplines for Disabled Individuals

Consider reaching out to one of these organizations to find help escaping abuse.

MyVA.com: 877-222-VETS for healthcare options and 988 for crisis situations. Set up by the Veterans Administration to help with all needs of U.S. veterans.

Amputee Coalition's Mental Health and Wellness helpline: 888-267-5669, Ext. 1 or visit their website for more resources.

Source: https://www.domesticshelters.org/articles/identifying-abuse/a-guide-to-domestic-violence-and-disabilities 

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