OVC-ARC Riverside Online Professional Training Conference 9/9-9/29 2004


WORKSHOP INFORMATION FOR CEU CREDIT


Access is More than Just A Ramp: Understanding Violence Against Women with
Disabilities and Deaf Women
Francine Odette, MSW

Course Description:
Through individual and small group exercises and discussion, participants
will build upon existing knowledge bases related to violence against women
living with disabilities and Deaf women.  Discussions will include looking
at how victimization is accomplished through a variety of systemically and
individually sanctioned events and circumstances (ie. Social, economic and
physical).  The occurrence of violence against women with disabilities and
Deaf women takes place within a framework that is socially constructed
along lines of race, class, sexual orientation and disability, as well, as
socio-historical contexts.  In this course, we will explore the history and
the treatment of people living with disabilities as a backdrop and
rationale for current rates of victimization against women living with
disabilities and Deaf women.  Information covered will look at forms of
abuse/violence; risk factors, and how services can enhance or improve upon
their ability accommodate a woman when she is seeking services.

Program Description:
This 1 hour workshop will provide participants with a knowledge of a range
of issues related to providing accommodation and access for women living
with disabilities and Deaf women to Violence Against Women services. This
workshop will explore: effective ways to improve access to services
for women with disabilities and Deaf women (including modification of
policies, practices and procedures); the implications for your service in
addressing issues of access and accommodation; and resources on
services/supports to increase access for abused women living with
disabilities and Deaf women seeking services and supports.

Training objectives:
 . To understand how violence against women living with disabilities and
   Deaf women is accomplished through a range of individual and
   institutionally supported acts and practices.
 . To examine the intersections of race, gender, sexual orientation and
   physical and mental ability as impacting on the acceptance and
   perpetuation of violence against women with disabilities and Deaf women.
 . To assess and understand the role of individual and organizational
   efforts in maintaining or dismantling the systems of exclusion and
   domination over women with disabilities and Deaf women.

Workshop Outline:
1) Understanding Our History: Where Have We Come From?  Within this
section, we will review the different models of understanding disability
including the social construction of disability.  Exploring the experience
of disability from a social-historical context will allow participants to
identify individual and systemic forms of abuse.
     a) Within the social constructs, we will look at linkages between
        other forms of oppression including race, class, sexual
        orientation, disability and gender.
     b) What systems have contributed to the marginalization and increased
        victimization of people with disabilities, in particular, women
        with disabilities.
     c) Where are we today?  Understanding the diverse communities of women
        living with disabilities as a social movement.

2) Forms of Abuse and Risk Factors for Women with Disabilities
     a) What are the similarities related to the experience of
        violence/abuse for women with disabilities and for women living
        without disability
     b) Identifying the gaps in service delivery for women living with
        disabilities and using attendant/personal care services.
     c) Individual action and systemic processes as contributing to the
        vulnerability of women living with disabilities.

3) Designing accommodating services - it's more than just a ramp.
     a) The challenges of VAW services in ensuring equity and access to
        diverse communities of women living with disabilities.
     b) Equity in service delivery - when does difference matter?
     c) Collaboration of services - coordinating responses to effectively
        address issues of VAW and women living with disabilities.