Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Disabled women and domestic violence as violent crime
Other Titles:	Practice
Authors:	Harne, Lynne Radford, Jill Trotter, Joy
Keywords:	Disability;Interagency work
Year:	2006
Publisher:	British Association of Social Workers
Citation:	18 (4), December 2006
Notes:	General Overview: This article presents the findings from a local study of domestic violence and disability agencies in Teeside, United Kingdom, conducted in 2005. The study was based on a literature review and telephone surveys of member agencies of the Middlesbrough Domestic Violence Forum and Cleveland Disability Forum. Discussion: The article begins by tracing the marginalisation of disability from definitions of domestic violence, and the relevance of two competing models of disability – the medical and social models – to women’s experiences of domestic violence. The authors note the complex interaction between domestic violence and impairment, including how the stigmas associated with domestic violence and disability can compound one another. They then go on to explore how these issues were conceptualised by participants in the study. The study found that domestic violence and disability agencies are largely unaware of the two competing theories of disability. However, domestic violence agencies have a good understanding of how domestic violence can interact with impairment to generate additional forms of violence, which they typically conceptualised in terms of power and control. Where domestic violence agencies focused on power and control, disability agencies were more likely to describe abuse as ‘neglect’, particularly emotional abuse and controlling care. Furthermore, none of the disability agencies kept statistics about the number of their clients who had experienced domestic violence. The final sections of the article discuss the low take up of domestic violence services by disabled women and make recommendations as to how services can become more accessible. Key recommendations include: that the domestic violence and disability sectors develop closer networks; that an interagency specialist disability and domestic violence worker be appointed to facilitate this networking; and that services get better at ‘asking the questions’ (for example, by keeping statistics on disability and domestic violence, and by undertaking screening). Ultimately, the authors stress that services need to move beyond tokenism in addressing the needs of disabled women.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/14220
ISSN:	9503153
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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