International Day of Persons with Disabilities is commemorated annually on the 3rd December. This day is important as World Health Organisation estimates that over 1 billion people worldwide live with a disability.
What is a disability? According to the social model, disability is the interaction between individuals with a health condition (e.g. depression or down syndrome) and their environment (e.g. public transport or negative attitudes). It is the barriers imposed by society that lead to disablement and not the health condition itself.
This year, we spotlight a deeply concerning and often overlooked issue—violence against people with disabilities.
Across the globe, individuals with physical, intellectual, and psychosocial disabilities continue to face disproportionate levels of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. This harm can often go unnoticed or unreported, and access to justice is a great challenge.
➡️ Nicole Lee’s Story: Nicole survived a decade of abuse from her husband. She shares her story, including living with a psychosocial and physical disability. Nicole now uses her experience to advocate for the rights of others – especially those who may lack a voice. Read about Nicole’s story here and watch the video below to find out more.
➡️ Programme Spotlight: Cape Mental Health’s Sexual Abuse Victim Empowerment (SAVE) programme aims to ensure access to justice for persons with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities who have been sexually abused. SAVE provides psycho-legal assessments conducted by clinical psychologists and a comprehensive package of social work services – including counselling -to the complainant and the family, along with support before, during and after the court process. The social workers also liaise with the investigating officers, court staff and psychologists.
➡️ Did you know? A systematic review of violence against people with disabilities found that about a quarter of people (24.3%) with mental health conditions experienced some form of recent violence (such as physical violence from a non-partner, sexual violence from a non-partner, or violence from an intimate partner). For people with intellectual disabilities, the rate was 6.1%.
➡️ SAFMH Blog: In 2020, SAFMH conducted a brief information gathering exercise contacting different gender-based violence (GBV) shelters to enquire about their services for survivors diagnosed with a mental health condition. It highlighted an urgent need for more shelters to support women with mental health conditions who were seeking safety. If you need help with finding out more about such services, please contact our helpdesk at info@safmh.org
Help is available: If you have experienced violence and live with a disability please SMS help to 31531 for free. You can also call the national GBV hotline on 0800 150 150 or send a Please Call Me to *120*7867# (free) for counselling. See here for other services and support.
