Resources

Supporting Black Deaf Survivors

Black deaf survivors of domestic and/or sexual violence often have to navigate a web of barriers to accessing healing services: programs designed to respond to domestic and sexual violence, for …
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Supporting Black Deaf Survivors

Black deaf survivors of domestic and/or sexual violence often have to navigate a web of barriers to accessing healing services: programs designed to respond to domestic and sexual violence, for instance, may not have the knowledge or resources to address the needs of Deaf survivors while Deaf programs may not have the knowledge or experience to address survivorship. However, the Deaf community has been working to address this gap in services by developing programs specifically at this intersection. This webinar featured one of those programs, DAWN, which was formed inn 1999 in the Washington metropolitan area and has been providing direct support services to women and their families in the Deaf community. Listen to a conversation between Roberta Eaton, DAWN’s Executive Director, and Raven Sutton, Senior Survivor Resource Specialist, as they discuss DAWN’s unique approach to meeting the needs of Black deaf survivors.
Sex Trafficking and Disability

People with disabilities are targeted at higher rates than their peers to exploitation and/or abuse, including sex trafficking. Sex traffickers deliberately target individuals they know they can isolate and control …
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Sex Trafficking and Disability

People with disabilities are targeted at higher rates than their peers to exploitation and/or abuse, including sex trafficking. Sex traffickers deliberately target individuals they know they can isolate and control and both individual and systemic conditions increase the risk for people with disabilities. Specifically, people with disabilities often live in relative isolation, may rely on assistance from others to get to work and to access basic services and may be denied information about trafficking. Compounding these individual risk factors are barriers within our systems to identifying and supporting survivors with disabilities. This includes barriers to reporting or seeking help, a lack of disability-centered victim responses, and a lack of economic resources due to the devaluation of people with disabilities and their labor. Many survivors of trafficking also acquire disabilities as a result of being trafficked, yet few service providers are prepared to provide services and supports to survivors who have this experience. In recognition of human trafficking awareness month, this webinar explored the unique risk factors of persons with disabilities, and what service providers and communities can do to take action at multiple levels.
Sexual Violence in the Lives of Indigenous People with Disabilities

Nearly 3 million people in the United States identify as “American Indian or Alaskan Native” (2010 U.S. Census). Due to systemic and historical oppression, individuals within these communities experience high …
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Sexual Violence in the Lives of Indigenous People with Disabilities

Nearly 3 million people in the United States identify as “American Indian or Alaskan Native” (2010 U.S. Census). Due to systemic and historical oppression, individuals within these communities experience high rates of sexual assault and have high rates of disability. This webinar looked at Indigenous survivors of sexual assault who also have a disability and the unique barriers they encounter in their healing journey.
Promising Practices for Serving Domestic Violence Survivors with Disabilities

This webinar featured a panel of experts who explored the unique barriers that people with disabilities have to navigate when seeking healing and the strategies that advocates employ to proactively …
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Promising Practices for Serving Domestic Violence Survivors with Disabilities

This webinar featured a panel of experts who explored the unique barriers that people with disabilities have to navigate when seeking healing and the strategies that advocates employ to proactively remove those barriers. Specifically, they explored the civil-legal needs of survivors with disabilities, the needs of survivors who acquire a disability through domestic violence, and the unique needs of Deaf survivors.
Centering Survivors with Disabilities in Your Organizational Policies

When survivors with disabilities and Deaf survivors engage with your victim service organization or disability program, they are necessarily engaging with the policies that guide the delivery of your services. …
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Centering Survivors with Disabilities in Your Organizational Policies

When survivors with disabilities and Deaf survivors engage with your victim service organization or disability program, they are necessarily engaging with the policies that guide the delivery of your services. Regardless of they type of organization, failure to account for the lived experiences of survivors with disabilities in your organizational polices results in delays in service provision, confusion among staff about what is allowed, safety concerns among survivors, the provision of inadequate or unsafe services, or the denial of services completely.

This two-part webinar series examined key policies that victim service and disability organizations should have in place to account for unique circumstances in the lives of survivors with disabilities, including personal care attendants, service animals and guardianship.
Safety and Assistive Technology

Technology is integral in the daily lives of all people. This session explored the range of assistive technology used by people with disabilities, including common terms, definitions, and differences. The …
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Safety and Assistive Technology

Technology is integral in the daily lives of all people. This session explored the range of assistive technology used by people with disabilities, including common terms, definitions, and differences.

The Assistive Technology Industry Association defines assistive technology as “any item, piece of equipment, software program, or product system that is used to increase, maintain or improve the functional capabilities of persons with disabilities.”

This discussion focused on how technology may be misused as a tactic of abuse and how people with disabilities can incorporate assistive technology into their safety planning. This session helped service providers better understand how to utilize assistive technology to remove barriers to safely and effectively serve survivors with disabilities and Deaf survivors.

Recording coming soon.
Providing Accessible and Effective Services to Survivors of Sexual Assault with Disabilities

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and in support of survivors everywhere, we dedicated this month’s End Abuse of People with Disabilities webinar to lifting up promising practices for serving survivors …
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Providing Accessible and Effective Services to Survivors of Sexual Assault with Disabilities

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and in support of survivors everywhere, we dedicated this month’s End Abuse of People with Disabilities webinar to lifting up promising practices for serving survivors with disabilities. The webinar featured a panel comprised of a survivor with a disability, a national expert, and a local advocate, this webinar explored the unique barriers that people with disabilities have to navigate when seeking healing and the strategies that advocates can employ to proactively remove those barriers. The panelists provided practical guidance from their own experience to help you ensure that survivors with disabilities feel respected and supported within your programs

Panelists, Cathy Saunders, Self-Advocate with Illinois Imagines, Cierra Olivia Thomas-Williams, Prevention Specialist at Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Heidi Sue LeBoeuf, Counseling Director at Pathways For Change and facilitator Sandra Harrell, Associate Director, Center on Victimization and Safety led this discussion.
What’s Happening for Deaf Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence?

Deaf domestic and sexual violence programs are few and far between in comparison to hearing programs. There are only 20 “for Deaf, by Deaf” programs compared to approximately 3,000 programs …
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What’s Happening for Deaf Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence?

Deaf domestic and sexual violence programs are few and far between in comparison to hearing programs. There are only 20 “for Deaf, by Deaf” programs compared to approximately 3,000 programs designed for hearing survivors. What does this mean for Deaf survivors of domestic and sexual violence trying to heal from violence and abuse? A panel of advocates from Deaf domestic and sexual violence programs discussed the state of Deaf services. These boots-on-ground advocates shared information about their programs, including about the National Deaf Hotline, the barriers Deaf survivors experience when trying to access services from hearing programs, the disparities Deaf survivors of color experience, and why understanding what’s happening, and the resources available to Deaf survivors of domestic and sexual violence, is critical.
Ableism and Violence: A Plain Language Guide

This resource was created to be a plain language guide to ableism and the ways that ableism contributes to violence against people with disabilities. It is designed to help self-advocates …
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Ableism and Violence: A Plain Language Guide

This resource was created to be a plain language guide to ableism and the ways that ableism contributes to violence against people with disabilities. It is designed to help self-advocates understand ableism and its connection to violence against people with disabilities.
Innovations at the Intersection: Centering Survivors with Disabilities in the Movement

Survivors with disabilities are experts in their own lived experiences, so they should guide our work to ensure services are accessible and responsive to their needs. To meaningfully work with survivors with …
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Innovations at the Intersection: Centering Survivors with Disabilities in the Movement

Survivors with disabilities are experts in their own lived experiences, so they should guide our work to ensure services are accessible and responsive to their needs. To meaningfully work with survivors with disabilities, you need to make sure everything you do is accessible and inclusive.

In this panel discussion, self-advocates from Washington, D.C. and Kansas who are working to address domestic and sexual violence against people with disabilities will share how their work empowers them as advocates and how they have partnered with their team members to play a meaningful leadership role.

In the session, you will learn strategies for decision-making and power-sharing, tips for ensuring cognitive and physical access, and ways to empower survivors with disabilities with the tools and support they need to be equal peers in the work to address domestic and sexual violence.