July is Disability Pride Month, a time to celebrate and honor disability identity, community, and culture. Disability Pride Month coincides with the anniversary of 1990 signage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), providing the perfect opportunity to reflect on not only the progress that has been made, but also the continued challenges the disability community continues to face. This year, on the 36th anniversary, the theme is “The World Works Better With Us,” a theme that resonates deeply with the knowledge of the increased risk of violence people with disabilities face. 

Disability looks different for everyone. In the disability pride flag, each color stripe has a meaning: red for physical disabilities, gold for neurodiversity, white for invisible disabilities and disabilities that haven’t yet been diagnosed, blue for emotional and psychiatric disabilities, including mental illness, anxiety, and depression, green for sensory disabilities, including deafness, blindness, lack of smell, lack of taste, audio processing disorder, and all other sensory disabilities. It is more important than ever to honor and recognize all disabilities as the community faces shrinking access and funding for services, rising stigma and bullying, and lower expectations that limit opportunity.

Domestic Violence and People with Disabilities

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, people with disabilities are nearly four times more likely to experience violent victimization, and domestic violence is no exception. People with disabilities are three times more likely to be sexually assaulted and women with disabilities in particular have a 40% higher rate of intimate partner violence than their non-disabled peers. The likelihood of violence is higher, and the violence itself happens more frequently and more severely. Women and men with disabilities are more likely to experience stalking and psychological abuse, and women are more likely to experience physical abuse and reproductive coercion. And yet, despite all these statistics, 70-80% of cases of abuse of people with disabilities go unreported.

It’s important to understand that this increased risk is not due to the disability itself. Instead, the vulnerability comes from the societal and systemic barriers, discrimination and biases, and a general lack of accessible services. People with disabilities may be dependent on their partner as their caregiver for daily needs, which can create an imbalance in the relationship. The partner responsible for the care is given more power with the trust that they will use it to care for their partner. In an abusive relationship, this power imbalance can lead to manipulation, neglect, and more. 

Because of existing biases and barriers, survivors with disabilities may have a smaller social network which may limit chances to seek support, open up about their experiences, and for others to try and intervene. Some disabilities may also create barriers with communication, leading to difficulty reporting any abuse that occurs. This is all in addition to the knowledge that some social services available to nondisabled survivors are inaccessible to survivors with disabilities. There might not be ramps, communication devices, or trauma-informed care. If the survivor can’t access care, they may be unable to safely leave the relationship.

The first Disability Pride Day celebration. October 6, 1990, Boston 

Survivors with disabilities may face unique types of abuse. Physical abuse might include withholding, damaging, or destroying assistive devices, preventing you from seeing a doctor, harming a service animal, refusing to help you complete necessary tests, or withholding medication or giving incorrect doses. Verbal and mental abuse can include tell you that you “aren’t allowed” to have a pain flare up, making you feel like a burden, claiming that you are a bad parent or partner because of your disability, shaming you for needing support or for having a disability at all, minimizing the disability or claiming that you are “faking it.” Financial abuse might be stealing or withholding social security disability checks. Sexual abuse could include sexual activity when your disability makes it so you cannot consent.

It is also important to consider that abuse can also cause temporary or permanent disability. Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs), for example, are often linked to domestic violence. An estimated 36% of survivors of domestic violence have sustained injuries to the head, neck, or face, which may lead to a TBI. Violence that leads to a loss of oxygen including strangulation, suffocation, or attempted drownings may cause anoxic brain injuries. Undetected and untreated TBIs can lead to lifelong challenges behaviorally, cognitively, and emotionally. Abuse may also lead to emotional or psychological disabilities due to its traumatic and violent nature. Many of these disabilities are invisible, and may go undetected or lead to further abuse from the partner who causes harm. 

Ways to Help and Seek Help

Survivors with disabilities deserve to feel safe and respected in their relationships. Human diversity is beautiful, and disability is just another facet of it. This Disability Pride Month, we recognize that disability is never to blame for harm being done–the people and systems who cause and enable harm are. Continue to celebrate this month by connecting with individuals with disabilities, learning about disability history, and advocating for disability rights and inclusion. 

If you are looking to learn more about disability history and advocacy, The Arc is the largest community-based organization in the United States advocating for and with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. The Arc of Illinois can be visited at thearcofil.org. Additionally, you can visit the American Association of People with Disabilities at aapd.com. AAPD is a national disability-led and cross-disability rights organization that works to increase the political and economic power of people with disabilities 

If you need help, remember that there are always resources available. Options & Advocacy offers support through numerous programs including Child & Family Connections, Autism Resource Center, and Neuro Inclusive Counseling. To learn more about these programs and how they may be able to help, visit their website at optionsandadvocacy.org. The Association for Individual Development (AID), also has numerous services. In addition to their developmental disabilities services, they also offer services relating to affordable housing, behavioral health, employment, and crisis and outreach. You can learn more at aidcares.org. 

For domestic violence specific care, Turning Point Domestic Violence Services offers trauma-informed care for survivors of domestic violence. Call and speak to an advocate 24/7 at 815-338-8081. If calling is not feasible, find Turning Point’s office hours on our website turnpt.org to find a time to walk-in. Additionally, you can also always call, text, or chat online with the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or on their website thehotline.org.

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Credits
Tiffany Hutson is the Outreach & Prevention Coordinator at Turning Point Domestic Violence Services. She is a Licensed Social Worker who graduated with a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Social Work at Aurora University. Tiffany has been working with teens for most of her career and has a background in school and policy social work. She is dedicated to empowering youth to foster and maintain healthy relationships and healthy selves.

Editor
Mallory Breutzmann, Event & Fundraising Coordinator