Building capacity for a disability-inclusive response to violence against women and girls: experiences from the W-DARE project in the Philippines

ABSTRACT

The Philippines has developed a range of national laws, policies, and programmes in response to violence against women and girls (VAWG). However, as elsewhere, the needs and experiences of women with disabilities are rarely considered in government policies or development activities. Yet women with disabilities are more likely to experience violence than their peers without disability, and they experience a range of barriers that prevent them accessing violence prevention and response services. This article describes initiatives supported by the W-DARE programme to respond to this. These initiatives have involved disabled people’s organisations, local researchers, and activists in the women’s movement, and officials from multiple levels of government. They aspire to build the ability of national policymakers, programme staff, and local service providers to respond to the interests of women and girls with disabilities who face violence.

Si bien Filipinas ha desarrollado diversos programas, leyes y políticas nacionales para responder a la violencia contra mujeres y niñas (vcmn), como ocurre en otros países, en este país las necesidades y las experiencias de las mujeres con discapacidad rara vez son tomadas en cuenta en las políticas gubernamentales o en las actividades de desarrollo. Esto ocurre aun cuando dichas mujeres tienen mayor probabilidad de sufrir violencia que sus congéneres no discapacitadas y cuando además deben enfrentar varias barreras que les impiden acceder a los servicios de prevención y respuesta a la violencia. El presente artículo examina las iniciativas apoyadas por el programa w-dare, orientadas a dar respuesta a esta situación. Estas iniciativas, que han contado con la participación de organizaciones de personas discapacitadas, investigadores locales, activistas del movimiento de mujeres y funcionarios de distintos niveles de gobierno, ambicionan fortalecer la capacidad de los formuladores de políticas, del personal de programas y de los proveedores de servicios a nivel local para responder a los intereses de las mujeres y las niñas con discapacidad que sufren violencia.

Les Philippines ont mis au point une variété de lois, politiques et programmes nationaux pour lutter contre la violence à l'égard des femmes et des filles (VEFF). Cependant, comme dans d’autres pays, les besoins et expériences des femmes handicapées sont rarement pris en compte dans les politiques générales ou les activités de développement. Or, les femmes handicapées sont plus susceptibles de subir des violences que les femmes non handicapées, et elles se heurtent à une variété de barrières qui les empêchent d’accéder aux services de prévention et de lutte contre la violence. Cet article décrit des initiatives soutenues par le programme W-DARE pour répondre à cette situation. Ces initiatives ont fait intervenir des organisations de personnes handicapées, des chercheurs locaux et des activistes du mouvement des femmes, ainsi que des officiels de plusieurs échelons du gouvernement. Leur objectif est de développer l’aptitude des décideurs nationaux, des membres du personnel des programmes et des prestataires de services locaux à répondre aux intérêts des femmes et des filles handicapées qui subissent des violences.

KEYWORDS:

• Disability
• violence
• women with disability
• inclusion
• accessibility
• Philippines

Notes on contributors

Cathy Vaughan is a Lecturer at Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Australia. Postal address: Melbourne School of Population and Health, The University of Melbourne, Level 3, 207 Bouverie Street, Victoria 3010, Australia. Email: [email protected]

Alexandra Devine is a Senior Project Officer at Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Australia.

Raquel Ignacio is a development researcher and practitioner working with the Social Development Research Center, De La Salle University, Philippines.

Wanet Lacsamana is a researcher at the Center for Women’s Studies Foundation, University of the Philippines.

Ma. Jesusa Marco is an Associate Professor at the Social Development Research Center, De La Salle University, Philippines.

Jerome Zayas is a development researcher and practitioner working with the Social Development Research Center, De La Salle University, Philippines.

Carolyn Sobritchea is a Professor at the Center for Women’s Studies Foundation, University of the Philippines.

Notes

1. Research undertaken in Australia has identified areas that should be considered in national practice guidelines as a ‘minimum standard’ for inclusive responses, e.g. the participation of women with disabilities in policy and programme design; workforce development to increase the disability awareness and skills of workers in the violence sector; and recognising disability itself as a risk factor for violence (Healey et al. 2013).

2. ‘deaf’ with a small ‘d’ refers to the audiological condition; ‘Deaf’ refers to members of the Deaf community, that is people whose social worlds are shaped by deafness and who communicate in sign language.

3. This aspect of our findings has been written up in an article specifically focusing on these issues (Lee et al. 2015).

4. It is envisaged that evaluation findings will be available in the second half of 2016. Please contact the corresponding author for further information.

5. These videos are available for fair use through the corresponding author.