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Social & Policy Environment & Movement/Mobility

Issues Related to the Social & Policy Environment

One of the most valuable social and policy issues for all women with disabilities is to educate providers, police, health practitioners and advocates about the risk to women with significant movement or mobility disorders. Most states mandate the reporting of abuse of persons with disabilities but do little to make people more knowledgeable about the ways in which abuse is perpetrated using disability-specific techniques of power and control. Potential batterers and perpetrators are able to exploit the pervasive belief that people with functional limitations are not abused or sexually assaulted. 

People with movement and mobility limitations are abused in unique ways.  For example, people with movement and mobility limitations are often denied information about their sexuality, are forced to have abortions or are sterilized, are denied access to their own financial resources, are threatened with removal of their children, are denied food and medicine, and/or have their assistive technology and personal care withheld.  Additionally, people with movement and mobility limitations may be abused by the people who provide them with personal care. 

Examples of Problems

• A woman who uses a wheelchair contacts her local rape crisis line after her personal care attendant touches her inappropriately while giving her a bath.  The volunteer on the line suggests that the touching was inadvertent and unintentional. 
• A survivor who uses a walker contacts her local domestic violence shelter to explore her options.  She explains that when she and her husband argue, he takes her walker and places it across the room and then leaves stating  he needs to "cool off."  He has left her alone for several hours in the past and when he returns he brings her the walker only if she apologizes.  The advocate on the line suggests that she contact Elder Abuse Services.  However, the survivor is only 32 years old.  
• During intake at a domestic violence shelter, a survivor explains that her abuser is her personal care attendant.  The provider asks if "he" is also her lover, husband, boyfriend, or intimate partner.  The survivor explains that her personal care attendant is a woman and they do not have a romantic or sexual relationship.  The provider determines the survivor ineligible for services and refers her to her local vocational rehabilitation center.
• A board meeting is held at a new location. No one consulted with the board members about the appropriateness of the location because it is in the same neighborhood. One board member -- who has a mobility limitation --  does not show up even though it is closer to her home than the previous location. Thought it is only 4 blocks away, but it is too far to reach by foot, nor does public transit stop in front of the building. No one thought to offer her a ride.
• At intake, a provider assesses a survivor's accessibility requirements.  However, the provider does not check in with the survivor after intake to see if there are additional barriers that neither of them realized at intake. 

Suggested Solutions

• Both women with movement and mobility limitations and your staff and volunteers need education about the signs and symptoms of caregiver abuse and how to protect oneself. Sexuality, relationships, and survivor support groups are needed for women with movement and mobility limitations. Because women who use caregivers are at risk of staying in abusive relationships for longer before seeking help, support groups recognizing the specific needs of women in caregiver situations should be developed. .
• People with mobility and movement limitations may be unable to walk to programs or services that are not right next to public transit or where there is no accessible parking. They may incur extra transportation costs if they have to take taxis to access your programs or to access any activities like work, courts, and community life from a shelter location. Advocates should schedule extra time to deal with walking a survivor to court who may need to stop and rest part of the way there.
• Community workshops should post “if you need a ride, contact …” on all flyers and advertising to ensure people with limited mobility that options exist for them to attend. Accommodations might include agreeing to meet at another location, or having a volunteer provide a door-to-door pick-up service. Assistance finding accessible transportation may also be necessary.
• Providers need to inquire about survivors’ needs at various locations within one’s facilities after the survivor has become familiar with them. The provider needs to trust that survivors know what it is that they need, and not feel that these needs are extreme.
• People anticipate that they will need resources in order to provide access. This is a very minor component of providing access when you take into account what many disability advocates believe is the number one problem: attitude. By injecting a commtiment to access into its components, providers have an opportunity to explore in more in depth how it is that they create disabling situations.

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