Every second woman with a disability is affected by severe violence. The violence predominantly occurs in the immediate environment of these women – in partnerships and in their parental homes.
Violence also takes place in facilities providing support for people with disabilities. The majority of professionals in these facilities work highly professionally. However, it is part of the perpetrators‘ strategy to actively position themselves close to their potential victims.
Women with disabilities are often affected by violence, sometimes for many years. This must stop!
To minimize violence in facilities providing support for people with disabilities, an important paragraph was introduced in 2021. It states: All facilities providing support for people with disabilities must have violence protection concepts in place.
What does this mean? Quite simply:
A good violence protection concept protects women in facilities. It empowers them to self-efficacy. A good violence protection concept strengthens professionals so that they can recognize and actively combat perpetrator strategies. A good violence protection concept ensures that everyone has access to help and support from specialized counseling centers, therapists, and doctors.
In theory, this is a really great thing. BUT developing and implementing effective violence protection concepts requires time and money. And that is, as so often, the problem: budget constraints here and no money there.
The funding bodies are not willing to provide additional funds for such tasks. The concepts for violence protection must be created „on the side.“
And where funds are actually allocated, there is no control over whether they are used for their intended purpose, i.e., for active violence protection. Here, functioning control mechanisms are urgently needed.
However, a number of facilities providing support for people with disabilities have already started the process. They have developed protection concepts that must not now disappear into drawers. They need to be applied and lived out in the facilities.
And we at Bellis are helping with this. We are one of five nationwide model sites of the Suse project. Suse stands for „Safe and Self-Determined.“
We have the opportunity to support facilities in creating, introducing, or revising their violence protection concepts. We train and empower women with disabilities on (almost) all topics related to violence protection. We raise awareness among professionals and leaders about gender-based violence. AND we build collaborations between facilities and specialized counseling centers so that women with disabilities can receive proper advice and support.
We will not take a single step back – for a feminist future! Together! For all women – whether with or without disabilities!