Research to policy and practice

Women, disability and violence: Barriers to accessing justice:
Key findings and future directions

Women with disability in Australia are recognised as facing significant challenges in accessing justice in relation to violence that they experience. Violence may include physical and sexual violence as well as other forms of abuse such as coercive control, emotional abuse, financial abuse, and physical and social isolation.

In addition, violence may take particular forms such as withholding required medications or aids, limiting access to disability support services or mainstream service providers, and threats related to women’s mothering and care-giving roles.

The key research questions for this project were;

• What are women’s experiences of violence, especially sexual assault and/or intimate partner violence?
• How do women position and interpret these experiences in relation to their disability?
• What are the mechanisms and factors that lead to incidences of violence, especially sexual assault and/or intimate partner violence being reported?
• If women report, how do they experience responses in terms of services and justice systems, after reporting?

 

 

Publication details

ANROWS Compass (Research to policy and practice papers) are concise papers that summarise key findings of research on violence against women and their children, including research produced under ANROWS’s research program, and provide advice on the implications for policy and practice.

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Authors

PROFESSOR JANEMAREE MAHER
School of Social Sciences, Monash University

DR CLAIRE SPIVAKOVSKY
School of Social Sciences, Monash University

PROFESSOR JUDE McCULLOCH
School of Social Sciences, Monash University

DR JASMINE McGOWAN
School of Social Sciences, Monash University

KARA BEAVIS
Queensland University of Technology

MEREDITH LEA
People with Disability Australia

DR JESS CADWALLADER
People with Disability Australia

THERESE SANDS
Disabled People’s Organisations Australia

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ISBN: 978-1-925372-80-9 (print) | 978-1-925372-76-2 (online)

12 pp.