"Respect the personhood " Notes from the conversation on providing services to domestic violence survivors with disabilities

 

 The theme of the first conversation on Domestic violence for 2021 was  Providing inclusive and accessible services for survivors with disabilities ". 

The conversation was held virtually on Thursday 28 December, 2021, and was facilitated by Carlotta Boodie-Walcott and Vidyaratha Kissoon

The participants joined from Linden, Patentia, New Amsterdam and Manchester in Berbice; from Georgetown and from Barbados, Dominica and  USA.  Some participants were part of disability advocacy groups while others were engaging in deep conversation for the first time on providing services for persons with disabilities.

These notes reflect some of the discussions and recommendations. 

 The conversation started with the screening of this video from FONHARE in Haiti


 "Tell the man not to eat all the rice.."

 All of the participants recognised that the health services, social services and police are not easily accessible to persons with disabilities. One person shared a story about a deaf patient in the hospital, with diabetic issues, and the nurse giving saying to a visitor 'tell the man not to eat all the rice' (instead of say.. measuring the quantities for the diabetic patient)

Another person shared about a senior police officer realising that the station was not accessible for people coming with wheel chairs.

The group discussed that people abuse disabled persons in different ways . The issue of sexual violence came up, in about how some men traffic women  with cognitive disabilities. There was a discussion about relying on a child witness who could not speak 'to take a statement' as it seems the police have no other ways of taking a statement unless complainants can speak.

We recognised that abusers have physically and emotionally disabled the people they abuse.

Covid-19 has meant that those who are shut in can be more vulnerable as social and health visitors are restricted from visiting homes. 

Respect the person hood

One experienced social worker acknowledged that in the practice, that it seemed the disability took over the person's individuality. So , the professionals talked about 'appointments with the one foot man' or 'the blind woman' instead of referring to people by name. A policewoman on the call said that police also had to learn to write, to understand how their use of language reflects their discrimination against persons with disabilities.

"Respect the person hood " was a constant reminder throughout the conversation. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Resolutions and recommendations

"We recognised that our national women's organisation did not have representatives of women with disabilities and so we are now reaching out to the organisations" 

People in the meeting recognised their limitations and the steps needed to ensure that services are accessible and inclusive. We discussed that:-

  • persons with disabilities have different needs depending on the disability and other issues. No one shoe can fit all. 
  • Service providers , counsellors, domestic violence advocates have to learn about the different tools and resources available to support survivors with disabilities. For example, networking with disability organisations who can provide interpreters if needed. 
  • Outreach activities and materials should be designed to cater for differently abled persons. Questions should be asked up front about specific needs. A blind advocate advised that Braille is not widely used any more in Guyana and that materials for the blind are best in audio. There are standards to be used for websites and apps so that screen readers can interpret them
  • Service providers should read the Persons with Disabilities Act (2010) and recognise what systems should be in place
  • Counsellors and other advocates should identify when the police and other official services are discriminating against persons with disabilities, and hold those services accountable
  • If we have never come into contact with a person with a disability, we should ask why, and then check to see if we are unintentionally excluding persons with disabilities .

 

Resources

 Previous conversations in the series include

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