June 13, 2014
Without a Voice: Women with DisAbilities and Victimization
Without a voice
YouTube Video : The following content comes from an external source and might use unaccessible elements. Skip this content.Update: WITHOUT A VOICE will air again on September 5th and 14th, 2014 on AMI-TV, or watch it now here.
One of the biggest problems in addressing violence and abuse of women with disAbilities and Deaf women is underreporting. We know that women do not report abuse, and we know why. First, violence is so normalized in their lives that they often do not even recognize that what they are experiencing is abuse. Second, they may be dependent on the abuser for care giving and/or financial support. Third, when they do report, they are not believed or seen as credible witnesses or they encounter other barriers to the justice system barriers other women do not experience, such as transportation and physical access or even the ability to communicate what they are experiencing.
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DAWN-RAFH Canada continues to call on Canadian leadership in every sector that touches their lives, to work directly with us and our partners across Canada to develop and implement a response to the more than two million women with disabiliteis and Deaf women in Canada who are without a voice! We must all commit to greater collaboration between the judicial system, victims service, the police, the violence prevention sector and health and social service networks to give voice to women with disabilities and Deaf women!
As you watch this very special episode of Canada in Perspective with our Host AK Tabunar and the other two guests, Fran Odette and Bonnie Levine, I urge you to reflect on the fact that the issues we discuss and share and the solutions that both Fran and Bonnie Levine bring to the table from their front line experiences, need to be taken up by everyone, particularly people who are in leadership positions and who can affect change.
Bonnie L. Brayton
National Executive Director
