NCJ Number
228311
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 15 Issue: 9 Dated: September 2009 Pages: 1040-1069
Date Published
September 2009
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the findings of specific safety promoting behaviors used by women with diverse disabilities and deaf women who are victims of interpersonal violence.
Abstract
Women with disabilities experience physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, but are also at risk for disability-specific forms of violence such as destruction of mobility or communication devices, manipulation of medications, neglect or refusal to provide essential personal care, and elevated exposure to financial abuse. They are also at risk from assistants, helpers, and health care providers as well as intimate partners. The findings portray a hopeful picture of many women who have someone they could talk to about abuse, have taken multiple steps to protect their money, have skills to recognize interpersonal violence, and have taken steps to both keep their relationships safe and plan for emergencies. Similar to women without disabilities, participants were much more likely to reach out to informal sources of support, such as talking to a trusted friend, than using formal resources such as the police, a domestic violence agency, or Adult Protective Services. Like women without disabilities, study participants who had experienced past year abuse and had perpetrators with the most risk characteristics, were generally more likely to use safety promoting behaviors. Differences were not found in women's use of safety promoting behaviors by abuse or perpetrator class for abuse skills or emergency safety planning. Data were collected from a study involving 306 adult women with diverse disabilities who participated in the Safer and Stronger Program. The study suggests that women with disabilities employ similar safety promoting behaviors as women without disabilities. Tables, figures, and references