Helping women and children with disabilities access domestic and family violence services and information about dealing with sexual assault and abuse is the focus of three new Easy Read resources and several new videos launched today to mark this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.
Developed by peak national disability rights and advocacy organisation People with Disability Australia (PWDA), the resources and videos were created as part of PWDA’s Building Access project, an innovative initiative enabling domestic and family violence (DFV) services to better meet the needs of women and children with disability.
Easy Read is a way of making information easy to understand by using simple text, pictures which explain the text and lots of white space. Easy Read is great for people with disability as well as people who use English as a second language and adults who have trouble reading.
The three new Easy Read resources are titled:
- About abuse
- About sexual assault
- How to report abuse and sexual assault to the police
The Easy Read resources are available on the Building Access page on the PWDA website. The new resources complement a disability toolkit created last year for DFV services by PWDA and DVNSW.
The videos feature people with disability, and the staff of DFV services that worked with the project, speaking about how the DFV sector can better respond to the needs of women and children with disability.
Building Access Project Manager Freya Higgins: “Women with disability are more than twice as likely as their non-disabled peers to experience sexual, domestic and family violence.
“Our experiences of violence and abuse are complex, often for longer periods and from multiple perpetrators.
“We need mainstream services to understand our experiences and needs so we can feel safe and included and can get help for violence and abuse.
“Accessible information that helps us understand what we experience, and how we can get help is key.
“PWDA is pleased to be releasing these videos and Easy Read resources to help services better meet the needs of women in our community, especially those at high risk of violence and abuse.
“These new resources will help workers communicate more effectively about violence and abuse.
“The resources have been created by women with disability, for women with disability, and for workers who want to communicate about violence and abuse in accessible ways.”
To view and download these new resources, please visit the Building Access page on the PWDA website.
