He seemed so supportive. In reality Steve had been beating Lisa. And with every beating a small brain injury robbed Lisa of a part of herself until it was obvious she was a different person. Nearly 11 percent of American women have a disability severe enough to limit their work activities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet we know relatively little about this group of women, and even less about disabled women who are battered or sexually assaulted.
Data are few and definitions are difficult to translate into simple research categories.
DVTP and CWDN are working to increase awareness of violence against women as a personal and public health problem affecting everyone. They strive to change social attitudes and practices to enable women with disabilities to achieve equality, including access to appropriate primary care and routine assessment of domestic violence. The curriculum emphasizes that domestic violence affects the health status of all family members and is likely to involve women with disabilities of all kinds. It also stresses the importance of integrating domestic violence assessment into routine health care of women and advanced assessment in cases involving disabled women. For DVTP this collaboration affirms a vision of zero tolerance of violence against all women in all segments of our community.