Category Archives: Disability

The Unseen: Blind and partially sighted people’s experiences of domestic abuse – Safe Lives

One in 12 visually impaired people in the UK is believed to be a victim or survivor of domestic abuse, meaning that 188,000 of the 2.19 million blind and partially sighted people living in this country have experience of domestic abuse.

We were commissioned by the Vision Foundation to undertake the first ever research into the scale and nature of domestic abuse among this particularly vulnerable sector of the population. Although data shows that people with a disability are nearly three times more likely to have experienced domestic abuse than non-disabled people, until now there has been no specific research into the impact on the sight loss community.

Key findings:

  • Blind and partially sighted victims and survivors experience many of the same abusive behaviours as fully sighted people, but they also face additional forms of abuse such as the perpetrator moving things around the house so that the victim or survivor trips or is unable to find items they need, or withholding support like sighted guiding or accessible equipment.
  • Those with a visual impairment might have a dependence on individuals for support, which may include the person perpetrating the abuse. This can result in complex risk-benefit negotiations for victim and survivors. Victims described being encouraged to stay with their carer-perpetrator by professionals and family members.
  • It is difficult for blind and partially sighted people to access information on domestic abuse and domestic abuse services aimed at the general public since much of this information is in printed format or on inaccessible websites.
  • Participants found that, in general, formal services including domestic abuse services, the police, GPs and housing services usually did not understand their visual impairment and did not take their visual impairment into account when supporting them.
  • Professionals talking to a visually impaired person’s carer rather than to the visually impaired person themselves can increase the risk of and exacerbate abuse. Lack of accessibility and confidentiality are major barriers to visually impaired victims seeking help.
  • Professionals do not report a good understanding of the types of abuse, perpetrator tactics and needs of survivors with a visual impairment.
  • Accessing support is particularly difficult for visually impaired victims and survivors who are male, Black and/or from cultures that are minoritised in the UK owing to social prejudices and a lack of professional understanding and specialised support, which compounds with the lack of support for blind and partially sighted victims and survivors.
  • Viewing visually impaired people through the medical rather than the social model of disability means that professional services have a preconceived idea that blind and partially sighted people always depend on others which may prevent them from recognising abusive behaviours or supporting a victim to leave an abusive relationship.

Recommendations:

The Vision Foundation and SafeLives are calling for a multi-faceted and united response including:

  • Training programmes for individuals and organisations working with people with visual impairment
  • Domestic abuse champions for visual impairment organisations
  • A ‘survivors’ network’ to share experiences and help shape future research
  • Readily accessible and locatable information for those with visual impairment
  • Safe ways for people to disclose abuse one-to-one
  • Awareness campaigns on how to recognise abuse and seek help
  • A funding mechanism to enable organisations to implement change
  • A visual impairment ‘toolkit’ for practitioners with a quick guide to support

Download the report and press release: 

https://safelives.org.uk/research/the-unseen

 

October 21, 2022

The Unseen: Blind and partially sighted people’s experiences of domestic abuse – Safe Lives

One in 12 visually impaired people in the UK is believed to be a victim or survivor of domestic abuse, meaning that 188,000 of the 2.19 million blind and partially sighted people living in this country have experience of domestic abuse.

We were commissioned by the Vision Foundation to undertake the first ever research into the scale and nature of domestic abuse among this particularly vulnerable sector of the population. Although data shows that people with a disability are nearly three times more likely to have experienced domestic abuse than non-disabled people, until now there has been no specific research into the impact on the sight loss community.

Key findings:

  • Blind and partially sighted victims and survivors experience many of the same abusive behaviours as fully sighted people, but they also face additional forms of abuse such as the perpetrator moving things around the house so that the victim or survivor trips or is unable to find items they need, or withholding support like sighted guiding or accessible equipment.
  • Those with a visual impairment might have a dependence on individuals for support, which may include the person perpetrating the abuse. This can result in complex risk-benefit negotiations for victim and survivors. Victims described being encouraged to stay with their carer-perpetrator by professionals and family members.
  • It is difficult for blind and partially sighted people to access information on domestic abuse and domestic abuse services aimed at the general public since much of this information is in printed format or on inaccessible websites.
  • Participants found that, in general, formal services including domestic abuse services, the police, GPs and housing services usually did not understand their visual impairment and did not take their visual impairment into account when supporting them.
  • Professionals talking to a visually impaired person’s carer rather than to the visually impaired person themselves can increase the risk of and exacerbate abuse. Lack of accessibility and confidentiality are major barriers to visually impaired victims seeking help.
  • Professionals do not report a good understanding of the types of abuse, perpetrator tactics and needs of survivors with a visual impairment.
  • Accessing support is particularly difficult for visually impaired victims and survivors who are male, Black and/or from cultures that are minoritised in the UK owing to social prejudices and a lack of professional understanding and specialised support, which compounds with the lack of support for blind and partially sighted victims and survivors.
  • Viewing visually impaired people through the medical rather than the social model of disability means that professional services have a preconceived idea that blind and partially sighted people always depend on others which may prevent them from recognising abusive behaviours or supporting a victim to leave an abusive relationship.

Recommendations:

The Vision Foundation and SafeLives are calling for a multi-faceted and united response including:

  • Training programmes for individuals and organisations working with people with visual impairment
  • Domestic abuse champions for visual impairment organisations
  • A ‘survivors’ network’ to share experiences and help shape future research
  • Readily accessible and locatable information for those with visual impairment
  • Safe ways for people to disclose abuse one-to-one
  • Awareness campaigns on how to recognise abuse and seek help
  • A funding mechanism to enable organisations to implement change
  • A visual impairment ‘toolkit’ for practitioners with a quick guide to support

Download the report and press release: 

https://safelives.org.uk/research/the-unseen

 

October 21, 2022

The Unseen: Blind and partially sighted people’s experiences of domestic abuse – Safe Lives

One in 12 visually impaired people in the UK is believed to be a victim or survivor of domestic abuse, meaning that 188,000 of the 2.19 million blind and partially sighted people living in this country have experience of domestic abuse.

We were commissioned by the Vision Foundation to undertake the first ever research into the scale and nature of domestic abuse among this particularly vulnerable sector of the population. Although data shows that people with a disability are nearly three times more likely to have experienced domestic abuse than non-disabled people, until now there has been no specific research into the impact on the sight loss community.

Key findings:

  • Blind and partially sighted victims and survivors experience many of the same abusive behaviours as fully sighted people, but they also face additional forms of abuse such as the perpetrator moving things around the house so that the victim or survivor trips or is unable to find items they need, or withholding support like sighted guiding or accessible equipment.
  • Those with a visual impairment might have a dependence on individuals for support, which may include the person perpetrating the abuse. This can result in complex risk-benefit negotiations for victim and survivors. Victims described being encouraged to stay with their carer-perpetrator by professionals and family members.
  • It is difficult for blind and partially sighted people to access information on domestic abuse and domestic abuse services aimed at the general public since much of this information is in printed format or on inaccessible websites.
  • Participants found that, in general, formal services including domestic abuse services, the police, GPs and housing services usually did not understand their visual impairment and did not take their visual impairment into account when supporting them.
  • Professionals talking to a visually impaired person’s carer rather than to the visually impaired person themselves can increase the risk of and exacerbate abuse. Lack of accessibility and confidentiality are major barriers to visually impaired victims seeking help.
  • Professionals do not report a good understanding of the types of abuse, perpetrator tactics and needs of survivors with a visual impairment.
  • Accessing support is particularly difficult for visually impaired victims and survivors who are male, Black and/or from cultures that are minoritised in the UK owing to social prejudices and a lack of professional understanding and specialised support, which compounds with the lack of support for blind and partially sighted victims and survivors.
  • Viewing visually impaired people through the medical rather than the social model of disability means that professional services have a preconceived idea that blind and partially sighted people always depend on others which may prevent them from recognising abusive behaviours or supporting a victim to leave an abusive relationship.

Recommendations:

The Vision Foundation and SafeLives are calling for a multi-faceted and united response including:

  • Training programmes for individuals and organisations working with people with visual impairment
  • Domestic abuse champions for visual impairment organisations
  • A ‘survivors’ network’ to share experiences and help shape future research
  • Readily accessible and locatable information for those with visual impairment
  • Safe ways for people to disclose abuse one-to-one
  • Awareness campaigns on how to recognise abuse and seek help
  • A funding mechanism to enable organisations to implement change
  • A visual impairment ‘toolkit’ for practitioners with a quick guide to support

Download the report and press release: 

https://safelives.org.uk/research/the-unseen

 

October 21, 2022

Sexual harassment of disabled women in the workplace – TUC Report

Summary

The #MeToo movement is as important now as it was when it started highlighting the wide-spread and pervasive nature of sexual harassment and sexual assault at work. The stories that were shared as part of this movement echoed the findings of our 2016 report ‘Still Just a Bit of Banter’ and shed light on the lives of women whose experiences of workplace sexual harassment were all too often dismissed and swept under the carpet.

However, the voices and experiences of disabled women have too infrequently been highlighted.

We know that to effectively address sexual harassment we must hear from all workers who encounter it and ensure their specific experiences are taken into account when designing policies to tackle it.

Our previous analysis has revealed the intersectional discrimination and systemic workplaces barriers that disabled women face in the labour market. Disabled women experience an employment gap of 32.5 per cent compared to non-disabled women and a pay gap of 36 per cent compared to non-disabled men, equivalent to £3.68 per hour.

Given the significant systemic discrimination experienced more widely by disabled women at work and in wider society, we felt that it was important to understand their particular experience of sexual harassment in the workplace. We wanted to make sure that when government, regulators, employers and unions develop their responses to pervasive workplace sexual harassment, the experiences and needs of disabled women are at the heart of this.

We therefore carried out the first specifically targeted research of its kind in the UK, seeking the views of more than 1,100 disabled women. We not only asked about their experiences of sexual harassment but also whether they had felt able to report it and what impact the sexual harassment had on their physical and mental health.

This new report adds to previous TUC research on sexual harassment at work and has allowed and provides a foundation on which to build tailored solutions to address the specific experiences of disabled women workers.

We found shocking levels of sexual harassment, with around 7 out of 10 (68 per cent) respondents having been sexually harassed at work. This compares to 52 per cent of women in general. Our research revealed that disabled women experience higher levels of every type of sexually harassing behaviour reflecting the imbalance of power disabled women encounter at work and in wider society.

The research also highlighted that many disabled women workers experience multiple forms of harassment with more than half of respondents (54 per cent) telling us they had experienced two or more types of sexually harassing behaviour, and 45 per cent telling us they had experienced three or more. This points to workplace cultures where sexual harassment is a frequent and normalised occurrence rather than an isolated incident.

Two thirds (66 per cent) of disabled women who were sexually harassed at work did not report it to their employer or supervisor. When we asked why, the most common reason for not reporting was that women did not believe they would be taken seriously. Almost 2 in 5 respondents (39 per cent) gave this reason, with around a third (31 per cent) stating that the barrier to reporting was that they thought it would have a negative impact on their career or work relationships.

The high levels of scepticism around the impact and effectiveness of reporting procedures appeared to be, at least in part, justified by the experiences of those who did report. When disabled women did report their experiences of sexual harassment to their employer or supervisor, the majority (53 per cent) said it was not dealt with satisfactorily.

The sexual harassment that disabled women experienced had a devastating impact on both their health, and careers.  Over a third (34 per cent) reported that their most recent experience of sexual harassment had had a negative effect on their mental health and a shocking one in eight (12 per cent) said their most recent experience of sexual harassment had caused them to leave their job or employer. This report adds to the growing body of evidence that workplace cultures need to change.

Our research has shown that most disabled women workers who’ve been sexually harassed don’t report it to their employers. We can’t therefore continue to rely on reactive systems which are driven by reports from workers.

Workplace cultures will not change while the onus rests solely on individuals who are silenced by hostile workplaces. We need to shift the onus of dealing with sexual harassment at work from these individuals to employers.

And the voices of disabled women must be at the centre of discussion about workplace sexual harassment and bullying because effective solutions can only be created with those they impact, because there is ‘nothing about us without us.’

Given the scale of sexual harassment revealed by our research, we also need an appropriately resourced Equality and Human Rights Commission, both to enforce the new preventative duty and to use their existing enforcement powers in a targeted way that address the specific experience of disabled women at work.

And read more at https://www.tuc.org.uk/research-analysis/reports/sexual-harassment-disabled-women-workplace

July 30, 2021

Almost half of those using long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) felt pressured to accept this method, research finds – BPAS and others

A new report by BPAS, Shine ALOUD UK, Decolonising Contraception and Lancaster University into the provision of Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) in the UK, has found that almost half of user of long-acting reversible contraceptives felt under pressure from medical professionals to accept these highly effective methods of contraception.  

Between December 2019 and May 2020, we conducted research with a range of LARC users and professionals about the goals, challenges, and realities of LARC care; our research found that nearly half (43.8%) answered definitively ‘yes’ that they had felt pressure to use LARC.

The qualitative study looked in particular at the experiences of those from marginalised groups who may be disproportionately targeted for LARC uptake based on assumptions about their ability to avoid unplanned pregnancy or concerns about their suitability for pregnancy and parenthood, due to their physical or mental health, and who may feel under pressure to accept this method in exchange for access to services (including medications) and support.

One participant of a workshop for Black and People of Colour described how the “experience was really, really bad because it was just like the doctor pretty much being like ‘you’re really promiscuous’”. Other interviewees also explained how their BMI was used as clinical reason to insist on LARC: “The whole thing was just effectively about how fat I am”.

Alongside issues for some users in accessing the method in the first place, with clinics considerable distances away, participants also described their challenges when seeking to have their LARC removed, with one reporting; “I became so distressed that I couldn’t get it removed even though I didn’t want it in my body anymore that my mum and I tried to cut it out ourselves.”

The report evaluated these experiences against the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) standards for human rights in contraception services, focusing on accessibility, informed decision-making, and non-discrimination, conclude that the sector requires some improvement to deliver person and rights centred LARC services.

As the pandemic continues to exacerbate already existing issues in a fragile sexual and reproductive health service, the report also examines how funding cuts and the fragmentation of services can jeopardise access to appointments and reduce the range of contraception available. Straightened resources may make it even harder for Healthcare Professionals to dedicate the time needed for comprehensive contraceptive counselling, as was already evident in our research.

Black and women of colour 

Barriers to access included failures to include Black and people of colour users in posters, marketing, and other service resources such as dummies, making it hard to relate. Racist stereotypes around sexuality, promiscuity and young parenthood impacted care and comfort. Likewise, racial bias in pain assessment meant black and people of colour weren’t taken seriously with their concerns and were forced to over-prepare for appointments.

Disabled people and those with mental health issues 

Those with disabilities and mental health issues often felt their autonomy was undermined, with clinicians assuming they “knew best” over the user’s preferred contraception method.

Younger women and teen pregnancies 

Younger women tended to feel they were pressured to use LARC over any other method to contraception to ensure they didn’t have a teen pregnancy. This went hand-in-hand with assumptions about personal responsibility and lifestyle, often intersecting with race.

Those who have previously experienced state intervention 

The general assumption has been that these people are incapable of looking after children or themselves, and therefore responsibility for preventing pregnancy should be taken out of their hands.

Preliminary recommendations include ensuring LARC provision centres the following:

  • Legitimacy – working to ensure modes of LARC provision always have a ‘legitimate’ (non-discriminatory) aim and outcome e.g. welfare. This includes working to directly tackle stereotypes related to race, sex, gender, age and other characteristics of LARC users.
  • Accessibility– equitable access including for removal of LARC methods. This includes consideration of who is included and excluded by a LARC service or initiative.
  • Resources – to permit time, safe space, conversation and information sharing to support fully informed consent.
  • Challenge – challenging assumptions and norms about LARC. A recognition that there is no universal ‘one size fits all’ in relation to LARC and wider SRH services.

Part of a longer press release at https://www.bpas.org/about-our-charity/press-office/press-releases/almost-half-of-those-using-long-acting-reversible-contraception-larc-felt-pressured-to-accept-this-method-research-finds/

June 8, 2021