Resources

Sexual Assault and Autistic Survivors

This webinar, featured Erica Blackwood of the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Olga Trujillo of Activating Change, who addressed the barriers autistic survivors face in seeking healing services …
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Sexual Assault and Autistic Survivors

This webinar, featured Erica Blackwood of the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Olga Trujillo of Activating Change, who addressed the barriers autistic survivors face in seeking healing services following sexual violence and the ways in which service providers can better meet their needs. This powerful webinar explored the lived experience of an autistic survivor and offered participants guidance on what accommodations are helpful as well as those things to consider for effective communication with autistic survivors.

Watch the webinar at your convenience.
Coalition Series Part 1: Learning from the Lived Experiences of Deaf People

The first webinar in this series featured a panel of Deaf leaders who shared their experiences growing up in a hearing world, navigating audism, and advocating for Deaf survivors. This …
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Coalition Series Part 1: Learning from the Lived Experiences of Deaf People

The first webinar in this series featured a panel of Deaf leaders who shared their experiences growing up in a hearing world, navigating audism, and advocating for Deaf survivors. This webinar provided an intimate portrait of the challenges facing Deaf people and laid the foundation for the rest of the series.

Upcoming Events

April 19, 2023 2-3:30pm ET “Connecting to the Broader Context”

May 2, 2023 3-4:30pm ET “Exploring Your Role: Learning from the Paths and Actions of Hearing Advocates”

May 11, 2023 1-2:30pm ET “The Unmet Needs of Deaf Survivors”

June 15, 2023 2-3:30pm ET “The Powerful Role Coalitions Can Play in Supporting Deaf Advocacy”
Supporting Black Deaf Survivors

Black deaf survivors of domestic and/or sexual violence often have to navigate a web of barriers to accessing healing services: programs designed to respond to domestic and sexual violence, for …
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Supporting Black Deaf Survivors

Black deaf survivors of domestic and/or sexual violence often have to navigate a web of barriers to accessing healing services: programs designed to respond to domestic and sexual violence, for instance, may not have the knowledge or resources to address the needs of Deaf survivors while Deaf programs may not have the knowledge or experience to address survivorship. However, the Deaf community has been working to address this gap in services by developing programs specifically at this intersection. This webinar featured one of those programs, DAWN, which was formed inn 1999 in the Washington metropolitan area and has been providing direct support services to women and their families in the Deaf community. Listen to a conversation between Roberta Eaton, DAWN’s Executive Director, and Raven Sutton, Senior Survivor Resource Specialist, as they discuss DAWN’s unique approach to meeting the needs of Black deaf survivors.
Sex Trafficking and Disability

People with disabilities are targeted at higher rates than their peers to exploitation and/or abuse, including sex trafficking. Sex traffickers deliberately target individuals they know they can isolate and control …
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Sex Trafficking and Disability

People with disabilities are targeted at higher rates than their peers to exploitation and/or abuse, including sex trafficking. Sex traffickers deliberately target individuals they know they can isolate and control and both individual and systemic conditions increase the risk for people with disabilities. Specifically, people with disabilities often live in relative isolation, may rely on assistance from others to get to work and to access basic services and may be denied information about trafficking. Compounding these individual risk factors are barriers within our systems to identifying and supporting survivors with disabilities. This includes barriers to reporting or seeking help, a lack of disability-centered victim responses, and a lack of economic resources due to the devaluation of people with disabilities and their labor. Many survivors of trafficking also acquire disabilities as a result of being trafficked, yet few service providers are prepared to provide services and supports to survivors who have this experience. In recognition of human trafficking awareness month, this webinar explored the unique risk factors of persons with disabilities, and what service providers and communities can do to take action at multiple levels.
Sexual Violence in the Lives of Indigenous People with Disabilities

Nearly 3 million people in the United States identify as “American Indian or Alaskan Native” (2010 U.S. Census). Due to systemic and historical oppression, individuals within these communities experience high …
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Sexual Violence in the Lives of Indigenous People with Disabilities

Nearly 3 million people in the United States identify as “American Indian or Alaskan Native” (2010 U.S. Census). Due to systemic and historical oppression, individuals within these communities experience high rates of sexual assault and have high rates of disability. This webinar looked at Indigenous survivors of sexual assault who also have a disability and the unique barriers they encounter in their healing journey.
Promising Practices for Serving Domestic Violence Survivors with Disabilities

This webinar featured a panel of experts who explored the unique barriers that people with disabilities have to navigate when seeking healing and the strategies that advocates employ to proactively …
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Promising Practices for Serving Domestic Violence Survivors with Disabilities

This webinar featured a panel of experts who explored the unique barriers that people with disabilities have to navigate when seeking healing and the strategies that advocates employ to proactively remove those barriers. Specifically, they explored the civil-legal needs of survivors with disabilities, the needs of survivors who acquire a disability through domestic violence, and the unique needs of Deaf survivors.
Ensuring an Accessible Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Domestic Violence Awareness Month was established in October of 1987. Since then, across the country, domestic violence advocates have organized awareness-raising events in support of domestic violence survivors, to highlight …
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Ensuring an Accessible Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Domestic Violence Awareness Month was established in October of 1987. Since then, across the country, domestic violence advocates have organized awareness-raising events in support of domestic violence survivors, to highlight the rates of domestic violence in their communities and to unite individuals and organizations working on these issues.

It is commonly reported that 25% of women in the general population experience domestic violence in their lifetime. Women with disabilities have a 40% greater chance of intimate partner violence than women without disabilities and in the Deaf community the rate is closer to 50%. With these increased rates the inclusion of people with disabilities in your domestic violence awareness month activities makes sense. Staff from Activating Change provided guidance on creating accessible social media, accessible websites, and accessible in-person events.
Centering Survivors with Disabilities in Your Organizational Policies

When survivors with disabilities and Deaf survivors engage with your victim service organization or disability program, they are necessarily engaging with the policies that guide the delivery of your services. …
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Centering Survivors with Disabilities in Your Organizational Policies

When survivors with disabilities and Deaf survivors engage with your victim service organization or disability program, they are necessarily engaging with the policies that guide the delivery of your services. Regardless of they type of organization, failure to account for the lived experiences of survivors with disabilities in your organizational polices results in delays in service provision, confusion among staff about what is allowed, safety concerns among survivors, the provision of inadequate or unsafe services, or the denial of services completely.

This two-part webinar series examined key policies that victim service and disability organizations should have in place to account for unique circumstances in the lives of survivors with disabilities, including personal care attendants, service animals and guardianship.
Training Slides “Service Animals, Assistance Animals, and Emotional Support Animals”

Bridging South Dakota Training to: Learn the about “service animals, assistance animals and emotional support animals.” Learn what questions we “can” and “cannot” ask. Learn how to prepare for the …
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Training Slides “Service Animals, Assistance Animals, and Emotional Support Animals”

Bridging South Dakota Training to:

Learn the about “service animals, assistance animals
and emotional support animals.”

Learn what questions we “can” and “cannot”
ask.

Learn how to prepare for the conversation.

Learn how to become comfortable with
the conversation.

Learn who you can contact for help.
Intersectionality, Disability and Victimization

This webinar provided an overview on supporting survivors with disabilities in an intersectional manner. We discussed recognizing the wide-spread nature of trauma and its effects, which can, in and of …
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Intersectionality, Disability and Victimization

This webinar provided an overview on supporting survivors with disabilities in an intersectional manner. We discussed recognizing the wide-spread nature of trauma and its effects, which can, in and of itself, cause disability, understanding the potential avenues for recovery and healing, which may or may not include a person’s support team, and being able to identify signs and symptoms of trauma in persons served, particularly those who do not and/or have limited ability to communicate verbally. We addressed a complete integration of trauma-related knowledge and information inclusive of disability into policies, settings, practices and procedures. Furthermore, the webinar discussed barriers implicit bias presents to service delivery in a trauma-informed manner, and exacerbation of harm, particularly when the person served is multiply-marginalized.