Nothing 
About 
Us 
Without 
Us 


OVW’s 
2009 
Disabilities 
Grantee 
Meeting 
San 
Jose, 
California 
May 
26, 
2010 



Disabilities 
& 
Anti-Violence 
Against 
Women 
Movements 



Our 
Separate 
Paths 
Converge 



Overview 
Framework 


• 
Movements 
“writ 
large” 
– 
Movements 
within 
movements, 
e.g.
, 
• 
Psychiatric Survivors, 
Independent 
Living, 
Deaf 
• 
Women’s Rights, 
Feminism, 
Women 
of 
Color 
• 
Women 
s Rights, 
Feminism, 
Women 
of 
Color 
• 
Universalism 
--Cultural 
Context 
Absent 
• 
Personal 
is 
political 
• 
Social 
Change 

Disability 
Movement: 
Writ 
Large 


• 
History: 
– 
“Idiots” 
– 
“Lunatics” 
“
D 
f 
dD 
b” 
– 
“Deaf 
and 
Dumb” 
• 
Segregation 
in 
prisons 
& 
poor 
houses 
• 
Specialized 
institutions 
created 
• 
Eugenics 
and 
sterilization 

Reform 
Efforts 


• 
National 
Association 
for 
the 
Deaf 
• 
League 
of 
Physically 
Handicapped 
• 
We 
Are 
Not 
Alone 
– 
Rockland 
State 
Hospital 
• 
Civil 
Rights 
Movement 
• 
Civil 
Rights 
Act 
of 
1964 
• 
Deinstitutionalization 

Nothing 
About 
Us 
Without 
Us 


• 
1972 
Center 
for 
Independent 
Living 
• 
1972 
Willowbrook 
• 
1973 
Rehabilitation 
Act 
• 
1974 
People 
First 
• 
1976 
1976 
IDEA 
• 
IDEA 
• 
1980 
Civil 
Rights 
of 
Institutionalized 
Persons 
• 
1988 
Gallaudet 
University 
protest 
• 
1990 
Americans 
with 
Disabilities 
Act 
• 
1999 
Olmstead 
v. 
L.C. 
and 
E.W. 
• 
2000 
VAWA 
focuses 
on 
disability 

Progression 


Institutionalization 
Professionals 
and 
Families 
Deinstitutionalization 
People 
with 
Disabilities 



Disability 
Movement 
Philosophies 


• 
Self-determination 
• 
Inclusion 
• 
Community 
• 
Independence 
• 
Choice 
• 
Person-first 
• 
Empowerment 
• 
Nothing 
about 
us 
without 
us 

Anti-Violence 
Against 
Women 
Movement: 
Writ 
Large 


• 
History: 
– 
Temperance 
Movement 
– 
Women’s 
Rights 
(First 
Wave) 
S 
ff 
– 
Suffrage 
– 
Women’s 
Rights 
(Second 
Wave) 
– 
Feminism 
– 
Stop 
Rape 
Movement 
– 
Battered 
Women’s 
Movement 

Women 
and 
the 
Law 


• 
Laws 
of 
Chastisement 
in 
Rome 
– 
allowed 
husbands 
to 
beat 
their 
wives 
and 
children 
•
• 
Europe 
and 
American 
Colonies 


Europe 
and 
American 
Colonies 


– 
Marital 
Rape 
legal 
and 
condoned 
• 
Rape 
of 
slaves 
• 
Rape 
and 
battering 
a 
“private 
family 
matter” 

Women 
Talking 
with 
Women 


• 
Consciousness-raising 
groups 
formed. 
• 
Around 
kitchen 
tables 
and 
in 
living 
rooms, 
women 
spoke 
out 
about 
rape. 
• 
Rape 
was 
talked 
about 
as 
an 
act 
of 
dominance; 
an 
all-too 
common 
experience 
that 
reinforced 
the 
social 
order. 

Battered 
Women’s 
Movement 


• 
In 
the 
1970’s, 
activists 
and 
battered 
survivors 
opened 
their 
homes 
to 
women 
and 
families 
escaping 
abuse, 
and 
formed 
an 
informal, 
loose 
network.
an 
informal, 
loose 
network. 


• 
Hotlines, 
safe 
homes, 
networks, 
and 
legal 
action 
efforts 
were 
organized 
from 
the 
grassroots 
to 
address 
violence 
against 
women. 

Anti-Violence 
Against 
Women’s 
Movement 


• 
1970’s 
and 
1980’
s 
– 
Shelters 
– 
Crisis 
Lines 
• 
Feminist 
model 
• 
Social 
service 
model 

Progression 


Women 
helping 
Women 
Networks, 
Groups 
and 
Organizations 
Activists, 
Survivors, 
Professionals 
Advocates 



Anti-Violence 
Against 
Women 
Movement 


• 
Empowerment 
• 
Self-determination 
• 
Personal 
is 
political 
• 
Safety 
• 
Confidentiality 
• 
Tension: 
– 
Feminist 
model 
– 
Social 
Service 
model 
– 
Professionalism 
of 
movement 

The 
Convergence 
for 
Change 


• 
Social 
change 
movements: 
– 
Civil 
rights 
– 
Feminism 
and 
women’s 
rights 
• 
Decision-making 
power 
in 
the 
hands 
of 
the 
people 
whose 
lives 
are 
at 
stake 
– 
nothing 
about 
us, 
without 
us 
• 
Victims, 
survivors and 
people 
with 
disabilities 

Intersection 


• 
Similar 
philosophies 
of: 
– 
Empowerment 
– 
Self-determination 
Ci 
il 
i 
ht 
– 
Civil 
rights 
– 
Social 
justice 
• 
At 
home 
• 
At 
work 
• 
In 
our 
communities 

Intersection 


• 
Each 
movement 
has 
been 
working 
independently 
– 
not 
across 
oppressions: 
– 
Violence 
against 
women 
–
– 
DisabilityDisability 
• 
Convergence 
challenges 
differences: 
– 
Systems 
involved 
– 
Language 
used 
– 
Interventions 
needed 
and 
wanted 

What 
Does 
This 
Convergence 
Mean? 


• 
For 
us…today… 
– 
Collaboration 
– 
Relationship 
Building 
– 
Trust 
– 
Understanding 
history 
and 
language 
– 
Embracing 
differing 
perspectives 
– 
Challenging 
our 
“comfort 
zones” 
– 
Embracing 
the 
action 
in 
the 
phrase: 
• 
Nothing 
About 
Us Without 
Us! 

Thank 
you! 


Amy 
Judy 
Project 
Coordinator 
Disability 
Rights 
Wisconsin 


Email: 
amyj@drwi.org 


Web 
site: 
www.disabilityrightswi.org