Violence against women with disabilities : Violence envers les femmes handicapées

Government Gouvernement of Canada du Canada Violence Against Women with Disabilities National Clearinghouse on Family Violence The Meaning of Disability Historically, disability has been defined in terms of an individ- ual’s characteristics and his or her ability to perform the func- tions of daily living.1 According to Statistics Canada, the term “disability” refers to difficulty performing the a [...] In Canada there are almost 1,900,000 women aged 15 and over and 2,250 girls aged 14 and under who have disabilities.2 The Meaning of Violence Violence in relationships is any behaviour or pattern of behav- iour used by one person to coerce, dominate or isolate the other. [...] For funds without the person’s knowledge or instance, less than 25% of sexual violence consent or by using undue influence and/ is limited to one episode.4 or not acting in the person’s best inter- ests.9 Forms of Violence Neglect The following five forms of abuse are typi- Neglect includes failure to supervise or cally identified in the literature: physical, protect, leading to physical harm; sex [...] United Nations Declaration on the Elimina- tion of Violence against Women, “violence Additional Factors against women is a manifestation of histor- Care-givers may use control, coercion and ically unequal power relations between men manipulation to deal with the stress of and women.”14 care-giving. [...] If the abuser is also responsible for providing personal care, Barriers to Calling the there is the additional fear of being left 23 without any assistance.19 So risk increases Police in proportion to poverty and dependence Depending on the nature of their disabil- on others.