Section 9: Ableism, Violence, and Violence Prevention
Area 1: Lived Experiences of Ableism
Area 2: Historic Examples of Ableism
Area 3: Types and Forms of Ableism
Area 4: Ableism and Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence
Area 5: Ableism and Violence Prevention
Summary
To provide the needed services to survivors with disabilities, it is important to understand the biases and discrimination that individuals and organizations may have toward neurodivergent and Disabled people. In terms of ableism, it is also important to be aware of what people with disabilities deal with on a regular basis. Ableism is at the root of historical and contemporary injustices against people with disabilities, including the disproportionate victimization rates and lack of accessible, inclusive victim’s services and primary prevention strategies. After exploring lived experiences of ableism, this section takes a deeper examination of three forms of ableism. Because ableism is at the root of multiple forms of violence, this section also provides IPV/SV specific resources and strategies for SV prevention. We hope these resources will challenge all of us to address ableism, it is important to recognize that feelings of defensiveness and shame may arise while exploring this content. Ableism is so ingrained in all of us that it would be unusual not to have any negative reactions. Please make sure you take care of yourself in ways that make sense to you.
Area 1: Lived Experiences of Ableism
Ableism And Disability Discrimination In New Surveillance Technologies: How new surveillance technologies in education, policing, health care, and the workplace disproportionately harm disabled people: 57 page document by Lydia X. Z. Brown, Ridhi Shetty, and Matthew U. Scherer. Description: “This report discussed a wide variety of instances where disabled people were discriminated against, had their lives made more difficult, or were otherwise harmed because a poorly-trained algorithm or artificial intelligence system did not incorporate the needs of disabled people (p. 57).”
Also in Section 3, Area 2. Ableism and Violence: A Plain Language Guide: 35 page guidebook by End Abuse of People with Disabilities. Description: “This booklet is about ableism and violence. It is written in plain language. We wrote it for people with disabilities to understand ableism. Ableism may be a new word to many people. We often hear people use academic words to describe ableism. It is important for people with disabilities to be able to explain ableism.”
Internalized Ableism, Crutches and Spice Podcast: 12 minute Audio by Imani Barbarin. Description: Imani talks to us about the impact of learning to perform ableism functions as a dehumanizing system that favors able-bodied people at the expense of people with disabilities, producing barriers from internalized ableism and shame, to interpersonal conflicts between non-disabled people and people with disabilities, lack of access to education, employment, and housing, social control imposed through the medical industrial complex and criminalization, and the severe isolation caused by institutionalization and incarceration.”
“My Body Doesn't Oppress Me, Society Does”: 5 minute video by Dean Spade and Hope Dector from the No Body is Disposable Video Series. Description: “Patty Berne and Stacey Milbern present a social model of disability, explaining how universal design, adaptive devices, and meeting people’s access needs can limit the social, economic, and physical barriers that render physical impairments disabling in an ableist society. Milbern notes that focusing on individual impairments ‘lets society off the hook’ for the structural oppression that renders some bodies and lives more valuable than others. Berne says ‘we are seen as disposable,’ noting that the oppression that society ascribes to the individual body and disability is in fact a violent social construction.”
Forced Intimacy: An Ableist Norm: 1143 word essay by Mia Mingus. Description: This essay explores the ways in which people with disabilities are expected to give up privacy and put aside safety to get their access needs met. Mia Mingus discusses the ways in which organizations contribute to forced intimacy forcing Disabled people to perform a disproportionate amount of emotional labor to get access.
Area 2: Historic Examples of Ableism
Historical & Cultural Context for Disability Justice & Primary Prevention: 90 minute webinar by Indiana Disability Justice with annotated PPT Slides. Description: What do the earliest land laws in the country have to do with guardianship of people with disabilities? What is the connection between colonization of indigenous people and experimentation on disabled and black bodies? This webinar will introduce attendees to disability frameworks, intersectionality, institutionalization, and the Indiana Disability History Project. Speakers offer a Q&A portion for participants to hear from people with disabilities regarding their experiences with institutionalization in Indiana.
Margins to Center: History and Modern Implications: 942 word excerpt from “Why should advocates and preventionists incorporate Disability Justice into their work?,” a 2261-word VAWNET essay by Indiana Disability Justice. Description: The essay discusses the ways disability justice practices enable violence prevention practices and strategies to address the ways power operates to address the root causes of IPV/SV. The author’s write, “To center and uplift people with disabilities, we must first understand some of the ways in which these communities have been historically and currently marginalized.”
Disability in an Ableist World: 1819 word essay by Lydia X. Z. Brown. Description: Lydia X.Z. Brown’s article explores the meaning of disability through the frameworks of essentialism and constructivism and argues for a nuanced conceptualization of disability that considers the environment and differences among people. The article gives specific examples of ableism and solutions.
Anti-Oppression: Anti-ableism: website by Simmons University Library. Description: This website is a comprehensive resource for finding information about a variety of topics related to ableism. The website provides a definition of ableism (including relevant journals and books), including examples like microaggressions, and inspiration porn. Learn ways to challenge ableism and find resources that celebrate Disabled people. There are self-care, community care, and crisis resources for Disabled people. Allies can learn about (en)abled privilege and fragility.
Area 3: Types and Forms of Ableism
Defined and Shared: The Voices of Systemic Ableism: 90 minute webinar by Indiana Disability Justice. Description: A panel of people with disabilities explores the ways systemic ableism keeps those with disabilities relegated to the margins. Systemic ableism includes the systems, regulations, and rules embedded in the fabric of society such as national laws, organizational practices, neighborhood norms, and even our own belief systems. The outcomes of systemic ableism can often punish Disabled people. Almost half of the people who die at the hands of police have some kind of disability. When a person with a disability works and earns too much money, benefits may be stripped from them. Another instance of systemic ableism is sidewalk ordinances. A city can make street corner sidewalks accessible, but require businesses to make their own drives accessible. This practice results in an unusable sidewalk for a person who uses a wheelchair.
The Experiences of Microaggressions against Women with Visible and Invisible Disabilities: 29 page pdf. Description: A study published in the Journal of Social Issues. Rhoda Olkinr H’Sien Hayward, Melody Schaff Abbene, and Goldie VanHeel. These four women concluded from their research from 6 focus groups that "microaggressions are daily reminders of the stigmatized condition of disability." Their research shows that the interactions with other people is still one of the hardest things of having a disability.
Disability Microaggressions Worshop: 52 minute British webinar presented by Shani Dhanda. Description: Dhanda discusses disability microaggressions after laying the groundwork. The groundwork consists of her learning about disability at an early age, connecting the intersectionality of disability and other identities, and giving perspective on disability in general.
Oops, You Did An Ableism! 9 minute video by Jessica Kellgren-Fozard. Description: Jessica Kellgren-Fozard is a British Youtuber and television personality. Kelgren-Fozard takes a humorous approach in explaining different types of ableism. She does this by playing two characters; herself and an obviously ableist person. She touches on systemic and interpersonal ableism with an emphasis on microaggressions.
I'm Not Your Inspiration: Thank You Very Much: 9:16 minute Tedx Talk video. Description: Stella Young (1982-2014). was an Australia writer, comedian, and advocate. Young talks about how disabled people are not objects of inspiration for living their everyday lives, Does disabled people inspire Young as a disabled person herself? Yes, but not in the way people think.
How Ableism & Masking Damages Autistic Self-Worth: 9:58 video. Description: Essy Knopf explains how systemic and microaggression ableism, surroundings his autism, led to internalized ableism. He explains surrounding oneself with people from the same affinity groups and practicing authenticity can help work through internalized ableism. His journey can be relatable to others with other kinds of disabilities.
The Problem with Benevolent Ableism: 955 word blog post. Description: Lizzie Tench shares how wanting to help people with disabilities can actually reinforce ableism. Offering to help without permission is intrusive.
Purposefully Steps Away from Ableism: 17:48 minute Tedx Talk video. Description: Alyson Steele discusses systemic and interpersonal ableism. As a nondisabled person she owns the fact that she struggles using ableist language. By changing our words, we can change what we value, which in turn will lead us more away from ableism.
Area 4: Ableism and Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence
IPV
A Peer-to-Peer Guide About Domestic and Sexual Violence: 22 page set of policy guidelines by Green Mountain Self-Advocates GMSA. Description: This is a plain language guide to creating organizational policies that support staff disability services staff members to know what domestic violence is, and know what to say when people with disabilities disclose violence.
Disability Often Intersects with Domestic Violence. Here’s How to Better Help Survivors: 1000 word article with a 13 minute audio option by Angela Kim. Description: A survivor with disabilities shares her story “in the hopes that I can help others understand the connections between disability and domestic violence, but, as a journalist, I also wanted to talk with experts in the field and those who have had similar experiences to me.”
Bringing the Pandemic Home: The Shifting Realities of Intimate Violence for Disabled People in the Time of COVID-19: free 6000 page journal article by Sam Z. Shelton. Description: “My purpose in writing this article is to promote further conversation about the impacts of COVID-19 on intimate violence and to support critical action centered around the lived experiences and access needs of disabled/crip peoples, especially those who have been most directly impacted by the pandemic (e.g., poor and homeless disabled people, queer and trans disabled people, and disabled people of color).”
How people with disabilities experience programs to prevent intimate partner violence across four countries: free nine page journal article by Erin Stern, Ingrid van der Heijden, Kristin Dunkle. Description: The study examines IPV prevention efforts in four African countries using content analysis and interviews with people with disabilities. The authors write, “Women with disabilities are more vulnerable to violence, including intimate partner violence (IPV), yet the majority of emerging IPV prevention programs fail to explicitly consider the needs of participants with disabilities. Women and men living with disabilities engaged with IPV prevention programs in four countries were interviewed to explore how disability shaped their experiences of gender, violence, IPV, and whether the programs met their disability related needs.”
Indiana Disability Justice Webinar Archive: webpage with more than 25 (90 minute) webinars hosted by or in collaboration with Indiana Disability Justice. Description: Each of the webinars center disability justice as a strategy and practice to prevent multiple forms of violence. The focus of each of the webinars is sexual violence prevention with people with disabilities, especially people with developmental and cognitive disabilities.
Ableism and Sex Abuse: Interview with Heather Ure: interview by Alice Wong, Project Coordinator of the Disability Visibility Project. Description: Before you read this, please be aware there is a description of sexual victimization of a child. Please take care as you read this interview with activist Heather Ure. The interview is about how middle school administrators used a girl with disabilities as “bait” and the resulting federal lawsuit holding the school accountable under Title IX. The interview is with “Heather Ure, feminist disability activist and writer, recently launched a petition to Attorney General Eric Holder and the Superintendent of Madison County Schools to investigate the matter and fire the employees related to this case.”
Understanding the “Vulnerability” of People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to Sexual Violence from a New Lens: 30 minute video by Presenter: Nancy M. Fitzsimons, PhD, MSW, LISW from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Description: This resource includes a webinar with the accompanying slides, disability and caregiving power and control and equality wheels, the Arc Guide to Victimization and Abuse, and the Arc Guide to Decision Making.
Area 5: Ableism and Violence Prevention
Disability Justice and Violence Prevention Resource Kit: 14 page toolkit with evaluation resources by Indiana Disability Justice. Description: This resource kit includes risk factors, a community strength needs and desires survey and results, a gaps analysis, IDJ articles, and other print materials. “Indiana Disability Justice (IDJ) has curated various tools and resources from the Hub, and our partners and teachers for you to use to shape your prevention strategies with people with disabilities in your local community, and with current, and future stakeholders. Our intention is that this resource kit makes it easier for preventionists and advocates to design accessible violence prevention strategies to create structural and environmental impact led by people with disabilities.”
Starting the Conversation: Addressing Sexual Violence within the Disability Community through Advocacy, Education, and System Change: 38 page toolkit by Kelsey Cowley in collaboration with Self-Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center (SARTAC). Description: Kelsey is a woman with cognitive disabilities and a survivor of sexual violence. She wrote this toolkit for self-advocates to talk about sexual violence in their community and how to create a statewide task force. The task force in this step by step guide became Indiana Disability Justice. The guide defines different forms of abuse, risk and protective factors, and a step-by-step guide to creating a prevention strategy that works for your community. Ms. Cowley shares a sexual wellness survey for direct service providers and people with disabilities, focus group questions for people with cognitive and developmental disabilities and a sexual bill of rights.
Advancing Disability Justice through Sexual Violence Prevention: Including Disabled Youth as Stakeholders in our Work: two-part webinar series (90 minutes each) hosted by ValorUS with Skylar Kantola and Cierra Olivia Thomas Williams. Description: “This two-part mini-series will address frameworks for understanding disability justice, particularly through the lens of decolonization and indigenous wisdom. Participants will be offered tools to explore how the intersections of ableism, racism, ageism may manifest in intergenerational relationships, including strategies for structural and interpersonal assessment. This series will also discuss concrete and actionable techniques for relationship building, facets of programming that ensure accessibility, and outreach that uplifts the leadership of youth with disabilities. Lastly, this training will offer tools and insights into building safety through transformative education and key strategies for guiding youth-driven evaluation.”
Disability Justice and Primary Prevention Part 1: Moving at the Speed of Trust: 46 minute podcast by Prevent Connect with Cierra Olivia Thomas Williams. Description: “What do we do when the principles of health equity call on us to deconstruct the fabric of how our organizations run and pave a different way forward? . . . For this episode of PreventConnect, we’re exploring Disability Justice as a vehicle for change. One that, when met with readiness, has the potential to transform our movement for *all survivors.”
Disability Justice and Primary Prevention Part 2: Resources for Practitioners: 46 minute podcast by Prevent Connect with Cierra Olivia Thomas Williams. Description: “What does it look like to create space for disability justice in a movement and a culture that is so deeply impacted and dictated by the pursuit of perfection? When our systems and structures are not in line with our values, we are asked to take on the work of dismantling our systems and starting again. But when we have to find space for that work in the endless work that never stops at our organizations, where do we start? For this episode of PreventConnect, we’re exploring barriers to disability justice, resources for Practitioners who want to center disability justice at their organizations and what disability justice advocates want to see from the field.
Sidewalks to Sexual Violence Prevention: A Guide to Social Inclusion with Adults with Cognitive and Developmental Disabilities: 81 page toolkit by Cierra Olivia Thomas Williams. Description: Accessible evaluation is critical to developing prevention strategies that impact people with disabilities. In this project replication guide there are evaluation techniques created in collaboration with people with developmental and cognitive disabilities. The guide provides protocols for implementing focus groups with people with cognitive and developmental disabilities, key informant interviews with caregivers, and participatory social mapping along and examples of PhotoVoice among other evaluation methods.