Disability, Gender and Violence over the Life Course ― Global Perspectives and Human Rights Approaches

This is the first book to explore the interplay of disability, gender and violence over the life course from researcher, practitioner and survivor perspectives. It gives due weight to the accounts of disabled children and adults who have survived institutional or individual violence, evidencing barriers to recognition, disclosure and reporting.

Disability and violence cut across gender, race, age, and sexuality, as well as geographical, religious, socio-economic and cultural boundaries. They have a bi-directional causal relationship in that the onset of impairment can be caused by being exposed to violence, or violent actions by a perpetrator can be stimulated by a victim’s impairment. Historically private problems, hidden from public view, both disability and violence need to be public issues, warranting attention and intervention. The impact of both disability and violence on females is disproportionately high across the life-span.

Written by disabled and non-disabled women from countries including the UK, Australia, South Africa, Malaysia, Iceland and Belgium, the book addresses the dearth of voices and experiences of disabled women and girls in empirical research, policy and practice on issues of violence, victimisation, protection, support and prevention. Divided into three parts – Childhood, Adulthood and Older Life, this collection offers diverse perspectives on the intersectionality of disability, age, ethnicity, sexuality and violence that have hitherto been absent. Contributors offer new insights for different stakeholders to recognize the scars of disablist violence across the life course, avoid diagnostic overshadowing and support victim-surviviors to speak out and not be silenced. This book will be an invaluable resource for students and practitioners of multiple fields of practice and academic studies, including health and social care, nursing, social work, childhood studies, gender studies, disability studies, safeguarding and child protection, equality and human rights, sociology and criminology.

Sonali Shah is committed to research, scholarship and teaching that matters and makes a positive impact to the global challenges of equality, inclusion, health and social wellbeing of disabled people across intersectional identities and the life course. She graduated with a PhD in Occupational Psychology and Disability in 2002. Since then she has developed a series of innovative projects, supported by prestigious awards and university fellowships on disability issues, human rights and social change. Her work has always adopted interdisciplinary and creative methodological and dissemination approaches to ensure it engages with stakeholders outside as well as inside of the academy. She is author of 3 research monographs and 12 journal articles. Sonali has grown up as a British Indian disabled woman.

Caroline Bradbury-Jones is a registered nurse, midwife and health visitor. She holds a position as Reader in Nursing at the University of Birmingham, UK where she leads the Risk, Abuse and Violence Research Programme. Her research focuses primarily on violence against women and girls. Her funded research has included the study of access to maternity services for disabled women who have experienced intimate partner violence.