Ready Sexy Able Resources
Sexual Abuse & Intimate Partner Violence
Not on the Radar: Sexual Assault of College Students with Disabilities Important research from the National Council on Disability showing that the experiences and needs of students with disabilities are, for the most part, excluded from research studies and policy decisions around sexualized violence on college campuses.Click here to download the full report.
Confronting the Sexual Abuse of Women With Disabilities. People with disabilities (not just women) are statistically at greater risk of experiencing sexual assault or abuse. This paper addresses the unique challenges in researching, understanding, and combating the sexual abuse of women with all types of disabilities.
Click here to read a summary and download the full report.
Disability and Domestic Violence This post is a handy overview of the ways disabled people are made more vulnerable to abuse, and how we can give power back to disabled folks – through education and services. Click here to read this blog post.
The Survivor’s Handbook: Support for disabled women This UK-based “survivor’s guide” gives practical suggestions, resources, and support to women experiencing domestic violence and abuse. It’s beyond fantastic that this guide recognizes the risk that faces disabled women, and that including support for disabled women in this guide is seen as important.
According to the 2014 Women’s Aid Annual Survey:
- 95% of women suffered adverse effects on their mental health as a result of the abuse
- 6.9% of women in refuge had a physical impairment
- 1.9% had a sensory impairment
- 3.2% had a learning impairment
Sexual assault and intimate partner violence in the Deaf, deaf-Blind, and Hard-Of-Hearing communities. Educational resources created and sold by Abused deaf Women’s Advocacy Services. [learn more here]
Consent Is Sexy We often talk about sexual consent for new partners, but what about partners who’ve been together for a while? Consent, and knowing how to pay attention to consent, is just as important. Here’s a video in ASL (American Sign Language) showing a couple negotiating sexual consent as they get into bed together. For those of us who don’t understand sign, or can’t hear, there’s an English transcript. I love this video because it’s a piece of sexual consent we don’t usually see in consent education, and because representation matters! We can talk about how consent is for everybody, but we need to show everybody practicing consent in ways that work for them. People need to see themselves represented as pthe kinds of people who give and receive consent. Click here to watch video on Youtube.
Barrier-Free Living A New York City-based organization providing shelter, support, and advocacy for people with disabilities who’ve experienced domestic violence. Click here to read about Barrier Free Living’s programs.
Safety Planning for Domestic Violence Victims with Disabilities For people with disabilities experiencing domestic violence, making a plan to stay safe can be difficult. Sometimes, even if there’s violence, home feels like the safest option because it’s accesssible. This information from Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence helps agencies and individuals develop safety plans that take disability-related barriers into account. Click here to read a summary and download the pamplet.
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence Based in the United States, NCADV works “to create a culture where domestic violence is not tolerated; and where society empowers victims and survivors, and holds abusers accountable.” Their site provides statistics, definitions of domestic violence, and options to help victims of abuse stay safe and make the choices that are right for them. Click here to learn more about domestic violence, download printable factsheets, and find other resources to support victims (and their friends and families).
Why Talking About Domestic Violence in the Transgender Community Matters This post from the Transgender Law Center summarizes the 2012 Report on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and HIV-Affected Intimate Partner Violence. Dispels myths about domestic violence and transgender people, highlights the unique forms abuse of transgender people can take, and calls for better training for law enforcement and hospitals to improve the way they respond to and care for transgender survivors. Click here to learn more and find other resources.
National Sexual Violence Resource Center Not disability-specific, but belongs in this list as a resource for anyone looking for help and support. Click here for this U.S.-based information and resource organization.