March 10-11, 2010
Providence, Rhode Island

The Vera Institute of Justice’s Accessing Safety Initiative and the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women are pleased to announce this FREE training.

The Interpreting Effectively & Safely for Deaf Survivors of Violence training will provide qualified American Sign Language Interpreters and Certified Deaf Interpreters with information, skills, and connections to increase their capacity to interpret for Deaf people who have experienced domestic and sexual violence. The training will feature experienced interpreters and experts on domestic and sexual violence from the Deaf community.

More about this training, eligibility, and application process is available at: ASL Interpreter & CDI Training

Interpersonal Violence and Women With Disabilities: A Research Update by Laurie E. Powers, Rosemary B. Hughes, and Emily M. Lund with contributions from Mary Wambach (September 2009)

This article provides an update on what researchers have learned during the past ten years about abuse and women with disabilities and offers some perspectives on the state of current research and its implications for future studies and advocacy efforts.

Source: http://new.vawnet.org/category/Documents.php?docid=2077

To read the entire report:
HTML: http://new.vawnet.org/category/Main_Doc.php?docid=2077
PDF: http://new.vawnet.org/Assoc_Files_VAWnet/AR_WomenWithDisabilities.pdf

The Accessing Safety Initiative is excited to announce that the Illinois Imagines collaboration have experienced two legislative victories this past month.

The first act provides an alternative to guardian consent for individuals with disabilities that experience sexual assault; this law will provide access to evidence collection & distribution for individuals who have guardians. The second victory is around mandating disability awareness history in schools.

We congratulate the Illinois Collaboration on their success!

To read more about the acts:

• Public Act 096-0318 (PDF)
• Public Act 096-0191 (PDF)

In October 2007, the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) announced the 10 communities chosen to receive funding under its Education, Training and Enhanced Services to End Violence Against and Abuse of Women with Disabilities Grant Program. According to OVW, the goals of this program are to 1) increase of efficient and appropriate services;   2) build organizational and community capacity; 3)  create and support cross-discipline collaboration; and 4) increase accessibility.  

Grant recipients from 2007 include:

• Alaska
• Washington, DC
• Chicago, Illinois
• Waynesville, North Carolina
• New Jersey
• Hamilton County, Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Logan, Utah
• Seattle, Washington
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin

In partnership with OVW, the Accessing Safety Initiative of the Vera Institute of Justice will provide training and technical assistance to these grant recipients to assist them in achieving the goals of this grant program and --ultimately-- end violence against women with disabilities and Deaf women.

November 8, 2006 marks the official launch of the Accessing Safety Initiative's website: http://www.accessingsafety.org. The site is designed to provide organizations with comprehensive information and resources to create environments, policies, and practices that are accessible, welcoming, and responsive to the needs of victims/survivors with disabilities and those who are Deaf. In addition, the site serves as the Accessing Safety Initiative's internet home and provides a description of their work as a technical assistance provider for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.

The Accessing Safety Initiative (ASI) would like to acknowledge and thank the staff of Adaptive Environments for their assistance with the content development of the site; Lisa Spitz Design for their assistance with the design and development of the site; our associates and other individuals who generated ideas, contributed content, and helped shape the design of the site; and, lastly, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women for their generous financial support of this website. Without the unique contributions of each of these groups, as well as the ASI staff, this website would not have been possible.     

In October 2006, the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) announced the 15 communities chosen to receive funding under its Education and Technical Assistance Grants to End Violence Against Women with Disabilities program. According to OVW, the fundamental goals of this grant program are to 1) increase efficient and appropriate services to women with disabilities, who are victims of violence, 2) build the capacity of the organizations providing these services and ensure that policies and practices regarding accessibility are in place, and 3) encourage cross-discipline collaboration. Grant recipients from 2006 include:

• Idaho
• Illinois
• Kansas
• Mississippi
• Missouri (Kansas City)
• Montana
• New York (Dutchess County)
• New York (Onondaga County)
• Oregon (Lane County)
• Rhode Island
• Texas
• Vermont
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin

In partnership with OVW, the Accessing Safety Initiative of the Vera Institute of Justice will provide training and technical assistance to these grant recipients to assist them in achieving the goals of this grant program and --ultimately-- end violence against women with disabilities and Deaf women.