Access to specialized victim support services for women with disabilities who have experienced violence

Main Goals:

The project aims to examine and find out if women with disabilities who have experienced violence have access to specialized victim support sercvices (for women and women with disabilities) on an equal basis with women without disabilities.

The accessibility of such specialised victim support services will be analysed and documented, and necessary improvements could then be made. Another specific goal is the development and strengthening of cooperation and communication among specialised victim support services and Disabled People’s Organisations.

Above all, women with disabilities should benefit from the results of the project: e.g. a short version of project outcomes will be made available in Braille and easy language. Another specific aspiration of this research project is that we will not analyse on women with disabilities but together with them. Hence researchers with disabilities together with non-disabled researchers will work together in the project team as well as in the Advisory Board.

Target groups:

• Women with disabilities who have experienced violence
• Specialised victim support services (Hotlines, Women’s Shelters, Women’s Outreach Centres …)
• Specialized victim support services and/ or services for persons with disabilities who offer counselling and services in case of violence
• Decision and policy makers on national, European and international levels

Project design/methodology:

Within this project, the situation of women with disabilities who have experienced violence will be analysed in relation to their possibility of getting support from specialized victim support services. The project will be carried out in Austria, Germany, Great Britain and Iceland. Qualitative and quantitave research methodologies will be used for the research.

• Analysis of the legal and political framework conditions in the four respective countries
• Empirical research phase (Interviews with representatives of victim support services and Focus Group Discussions with women with disabilities who have experienced violence)
• Collection of good practice examples and development of recommendations
• Drafting final reports, brochures and leaflets, partly in Braille and easy language, as well as drafting recommendations for support services. Organisation of a final conference in Brussels and dissemination of project results.

Project results will be documented through country and comparative reports. The project will be monitored by an external Advisory Group and an external evaluator.

Further information and results can be found on the project’s website: https://www.lbi-gmr.at/womendis