Family Violence & Abuse

By Debra Tomlinson

People with disabilities experience an increased risk of being abused. Most incidents of abuse remain unreported, and most perpetrators are not charged or convicted. Even when the abuse is disclosed, services are often inaccessible or inappropriate to the needs of abuse survivors who have disabilities.

One of the ways that abuse of people with disabilities may be prevented is through community education and information. Many people with disabilities are not aware of how to report abuse or what services are available in their community. Due to isolation or a protected lifestyle, some people may not recognize abuse even when it is happening to them.

Representatives from 17 Independent Living Resource Centres (ILRCs) across Canada met in Toronto in June 1993 to discuss how they can promote prevention of family violence and abuse of people with disabilities.

This meeting is just one part of a larger prevention program sponsored by the Canadian Association of Independent Living Centres (CAILC) called "Creating Community Frameworks for Family Violence Prevention Among Citizens who have Disabilities." Funded by National Health and Welfare and the Department of the Secretary of State, the nation-wide prevention program includes three separate projects and project sites: Calgary, Alberta; Toronto, Ontario; and Trois-Pistoles, Quebec.

The ILRC in Toronto is developing a self-help approach for youth with disabilities, and the Centre in Trois-Pistoles is developing a rural outreach prevention model for seniors with disabilities.

The Centre in Calgary is working on the national community education and information project, which involves local ILRCs in every phase of its development. One staff member or volunteer from each Centre will be selected to make up a national team of "Independent Living Trainers." They will develop a training package that will provide the staff and volunteers of ILRCs across Canada with the information and skills needed to respond to this issue on a day-to-day basis. The training package will also be available as a resource for centres to educate consumers.

The Independent Living Trainers will develop and test the training package themselves. This will ensure that the package will be relevant to the consumers at each of the ILRCs across Canada. This group of trainers will also spend time together learning and developing their facilitation and presentation skills.

The meeting in June was an important first step towards developing the training package. The Independent Living Trainers began by getting to know one another and comparing approaches to family violence and abuse in their centres. Smaller developing centres, sometimes operating with only one staff member and a group of dedicated volunteers, may not yet have encountered the issue in their day-to-day work -- while other larger centres such as Ottawa, Winnipeg and Calgary are already operating programs which directly address the issue.

Certainly, ILRCs have a number of important roles to play in responding to and preventing the abuse of people with disabilities. At the very least, centres can have good information on hand regarding community services that are accessible to consumers. Centres can also work in partnership with service providers to educate them regarding accessibility and to encourage them to respond with flexibility to the individual needs of each consumer. Centres can offer peer support groups for men and women who are survivors of abuse, as well as individual advocacy to those wishing to report abuse.

Family violence and abuse as it will be addressed in the training package includes both men and women with all types of disabilities. The training package will use the broadest possible definition of family, including foster families, families headed by same-sex partners, attendants, roommates, group home staff and residents, among others. Violence refers to a wide range of abuses. At the meeting, the team of trainers identified many different types of abuse, some of which are unique to people with disabilities. For example, sexual abuse of a person with a disability might include forced sterilization, forced abortion, or neglecting to provide sex education. Physical abuse might include taking away an individual’s wheelchair or canes, or bathing an individual in very hot or cold water. Of course, people with disabilities are also at risk for the more well-known types of abuse.

Without a doubt, the Trainers’ approach to family violence and abuse among people with disabilities will be true to the Independent Living philosophy. Trainers are already recommending that guidelines be developed for centres to use when responding to reports of abuse. These would replace the more traditional approach of developing agency protocols, strict rules of conduct about reporting abuse. These rules often do not take into consideration the Independent Living principles of consumer control, choice and individuality. Because disclosure of abuse may mean risk of further abuse, institutionalization or withdrawal of services, the choice to report must be the consumer’s and this choice must be respected.

Awareness and education work in the community will bring about change. It will challenge and eventually replace the discriminatory attitudes which have silenced people with disabilities for so many years. It will encourage them to speak out and seek support. Hopefully, service providers within both the disability community and the larger community will provide accessible services and support for people with disabilities who have experienced violence.

(Debra Tomlinson is Project Coordinator of the Independent Living Resource Centre of Calgary.)


LEADERSHIP CHANGES AT CAILC

The Canadian Association of Independent Living Centres (CAILC) is pleased to announce the following changes to its Board of Directors’ leadership and senior staffing:

Muriel Keeling: Chairperson
Muriel Keeling of Calgary has taken on the important role of Board Chairperson and providing leadership to the network of 18 Independent Living Resource Centres. Ms. Keeling brings to the position extensive years of experience with the local Independent Living Resource Centre of Calgary as well as her experience working in the private sector. Ms. Keeling has been involved in CAILC since its beginnings in 1985. Henry Enns, who has been Chairperson of CAILC for five and a half years, is moving on to chair the Foundation on Independent Living.

Traci Walters: National Director
Traci Walters has taken on the responsibilities associated with the building and strengthening of the network of ILRCs. Prior to taking on this position, Ms. Walters had been the association’s Associate National Director. Previous to that she served as the Executive Director for the Niagara Centre for Independent Living. Ms. Walters has extensive experience on the issues related to disability both in her work and on a personal level.

CAILC is an organization dedicated to the development of the Independent Living Resource Centres. At the present time there are 18 member ILRCs, all of which are based on the belief that it is people with disabilities who need to be in control of the services which they require.

On behalf of the Board of Directors and its Members, CAILC extends its congratulations to both Traci and Muriel and wishes them the best of luck in their upcoming challenges.

(For more information, please contact: Muriel Keeling in Calgary (403-569-5056), Traci Walters in Ottawa (613-563-2581) or Henry Enns in Winnipeg (204-287-8010).)


INDEPENDENT LIVING FOUNDATION ESTABLISHED

The Canadian Association of Independent Living (CAILC) is pleased to announce the establishment of its new Foundation on Independent Living. Faced with increasing demand for services, the Independent Living Resource Centres have recognized the need to seek collaborations with the private sector.

Some of the programs of the foundation will include:
- Marketing the Independent Living principles and philosophy;
- Fund-raising with foundations, corporations and the public;
- Acting as a trust for funds directed towards the ILRC;
- Stimulating research which embodies Independent Living principles;
- Evaluating the feasibility of the development of a leadership program;
- Providing management consultation to other supporting organizations;
- Developing training programs for the service industries and employers on how to tap the under-recognized potential of people with disabilities.

The interim Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Dr. Henry Enns will be the Chairperson of the foundation. Dr. Enns, well known to the disability community, is excited by the new era that this development signals. "As we see people with disabilities out in the community, we are consumers of services and the purchasers of goods. We want to work with the business community to further our mission of full integration and full participation."

In order to further this agenda, the board has named Ross Robinson to the position of Director. Mr. Robinson, from Montreal, will be developing the foundation and working with CAILC and its membership to advance the opportunities for people with disabilities.

In the months to come, steps will be taken to develop the infrastructure of the foundation and to identify with business community leaders the potential partnerships.

(For further information, please call Henry Enns at (204) 287-8010 or Ross Robinson at (514) 344-5410.)