Women with disabilities and domestic violence: 3 survivors in glamor conversation
Trigger warning: Attention, In the following article, hostility to disabilities and (sexual) violence against women is addressed.
“The more help I needed, the more I had to give up my own body. Because he was the only thing I could exchange. It was never just about helping me. What he wanted was sex, ”says Maisie*, a 39-year-old from Northamptonshire (England), who was severely disabled as a result of cancer in childhood.
She is only one of manyWith disabilities worldwide that are victims of gender -specific violence and yet are virtually invisible in reporting on the topic. Together with psychology: Interior and those affected, we explain here why women with disabilities need more social protection and what associations are committed to their visibility.
So many women with disabilities are affected by domestic violence in Germany
According to theFederal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and YouthIf women with disabilities in Germany are affected by violence two to three times more often than women on the population.
“Multiple marginalization” is the technical term that is often used for this compression of unequal treatment. Means: Women with disabilities are victims of sexist discrimination and discrimination (anti -disabled) discrimination. This encloses insults as well as physical, physical and sexual violence.
As for women without disabilities, the most dangerous place for women with disabilities is their home. This applies especially if these women are physically and/or mentally dependent on the help in everyday life - and this help is exercised by partners: inside or family members. Because a lot remains unseen in the delimited private space.
That is why women with disabilities are above average victims of domestic violence - three affected people report
The causes of the special prevalence with which women with disabilities are affected by (domestic) violence are diverse. The psychologist Lee Chambers explains to Glamor:
“The probability of greater dependence on partners or caregivers can offer opportunities for control and abuse, and a higher probability, in terms of mobility, everyday tasks andIt can make abandoned abusive situations make it difficult to rely on them. If this is accompanied by a greater probability of social isolation or limited access to support networks, the risk increases. ”
Discrimination against majority society leads to dangerous isolation for women with disabilities
Mash that was able to leave the violent relationship with her ex-partner 2018 knows that this isolation is also influenced by people in the further environment. Anyone who talks about problems with their nourishing partner do not always come across your understanding: "You get reactions such as' You should be grateful that someone is with you," she tells us. “It is the old lyre that we humans have always struggled with: we should be grateful for a few crumbs. I am not grateful that you gave me the crumbs on the table. ”
Her stories make it clear: women with disabilities in a violent relationship are determined - between the abuse by close people and the deep -seated disposable effect of the so -called majority society.
Claire*, who is blind and both withas well as a bipolar disorder. Twelve years after she left her abusive ex-husband, she told Glamour: “It is almost as if you should be grateful for what you have and should not sabotage it according to the motto: Look what people do for you, why do you want to break it?”
The clinical psychologist Daniel Glazer makes it clear that with this attitude people keep the back free: “This poisonous stigma, paired with general social misunderstandings about the needs and skills of people with disabilities, creates an environment in which abuse can thrive freely. The devaluation of the life of people with disabilities encourages some perpetrators who obviously do not believe that the screams of a disabled victim are taken seriously. ”
Claire, 41, was also confronted with further stigmata-because as a disabled, bisexual, Jewish woman, she is marginalized four times and also learned from her religious community that one had to be grateful for the current state. "We used to have been in homes - or worse," she heard from nearby acquaintances. If she went against her abuser, she feared a long time, she would be excluded from her queer and Jewish community. And so she continued to make the decision out.
Women with disabilities are put under pressure through financial dependency and difficult access to living space
When it comes to violence against women, finances are also a big topic. For women with disabilities, these questions reinforce themselves insofar as they often do not even have their own account. What is presented as an assistance is often a violent guardianship by partners or caring relatives. In addition, partners and family members often increase the financial gap that arises from inadequate social benefits.
Olive*tells of this, which is affected by Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Your violent ex-partner and father of three of her children managed the common account. And that, as Olive says, "although he had no independent income at all". Shortly before she wanted to leave him, he cleared the account empty, including the child benefit that ran on Olive's name.
What happened after the separation shows the next dependency relationship, among which women affected by violence in general - and women with disabilities in particular - suffering: living space.
Because the search for a new apartment for themselves and their children, who also have different disabilities, turned out to be a spit rod run. The problem for many women with disabilities: not only affordable and large enough, the living space must be, but also barrier -free.
However, barrier -free apartments, especially social housing that are financially promoted, are still in short supply. So Olive spent several years to commute back and forth between different accommodations before finding a fixed home. Not forever, as it turned out. Because the family had to move twice because their ex received information about their whereabouts due to administrative errors.
A large stress factor, also because it and the children have been torn out of their health network again and again: “Every time I change, it goes downhill for everyone because the transfers and relocations are not carried out properly and take so long.”
Health and social services repeatedly fail in the early detection of gender violence
All those affected with whom we have spoken are in one point: that staff in health and social affairs must be better trained on violence against women (with disabilities). Warning signs, according to Olive, are still overlooked too often. Olive ex-man, for example, prevented her from going to agreed doctor dates, or insisted on being there to monitor her behavior and prescribed medication. “Even when I had a perforation as a result of a delivery, I was not allowed to go to the doctor. According to him, you must have been 'good' to go to appointments. ”
Nevertheless, nobody became aware of the man's behavior in the doctor's practices. Even when she appeared on a doctor's appointment with blue spots on the face. “He was always with me what should be a warning signal in itself. No health consultant asked: 'Why can she never be alone?' Even if there is no history of domestic violence, it should be a warning signal, ”she told Glamor.
Where women with disabilities find help when they are affected by violence
Women with disabilities are often not considered in debates about the protection of violence by women. Incidentally, men with disabilities and non-binaries are more often affected by violence than people without disabilities. It is all the more important that there are clubs and information networks that actively strive for their visibility and protection. Some across gender, others-specific:
- Weibernetz eVis a nationwide self -representation organization that is committed to improving the living conditions of women and girls with disabilities or chronic illnesses. The association is involved in the political advocacy, works in various bodies and wrote statements on relevant legislative proposals. In addition, Weibernetz EV offers information and networking offers, supports in the establishment of new interest groups at the state level and does public relations, for example by publishing the magazineWomen. The association works human rights -based, women's party, across all disabilities and independently, with decisions by women with disabilities being made.
- #Delayedis a journalistic research project that examines violence against people with disabilities with a special focus on violence in fully inpatient residential devices. In addition to the comprehensive study, there is also a guide for those affected and witnesses to people with disabilities and preventive measures on the website. In addition, ten concrete suggestions for improvement are presented to strengthen self -determination and security in these facilities. The barrier -free Website AbleSMUSMEN.de provides this content in various formats to achieve a broad target group.
- TheFederal Association of Women's Advice Centers and Women's Note(BFF) Connected over 210 specialist advice centers that support women and girls after experiencing violence. In addition to advice and crisis aid, the Association is committed to prevention, education and political influence. Through further training, public relations and quality assurance, the BFF helps to combat violence against women and to initiate social changes.
This article was made with interview material from our GLAMOUR-KOLLEG: inside from UK.
(*Names of those affected were changed to their protection by the editorial team)
