NFP Funding Targets Violence Against Women with Disabilities
25 October 2011 at 12:22 pm
The Gillard Government has announced $400,000 in funding for two community organisations to support women with disabilities who are victims of domestic violence.
People with Disability, a peak organisation in NSW will receive $147,000 over three years to develop a domestic violence abuse and neglect training package focused on women with intellectual disability, staff and service providers.
Montagu Community Living will receive $250,000 to deliver its Find a Friend, Keep a Friend project to support women with disabilities in Hobart and Glenorchy.
Announcing the funding, Minister for the Status of Women, Kate Ellis said “shockingly, nearly one in three Australian women experience physical violence since the age of 15, and almost one in five women are victims of sexual violence.”
Ellis said, “Women with disabilities are often more vulnerable to this type of gendered violence”
People with Disability Executive Director, Michael Bleasdale said the grant will help the organisation carry out a training project that will provide “women with intellectual disability, and staff that support them, with the knowledge and skills necessary to identify what their rights are, what it looks like when these rights are being violated, and the complaints mechanisms they can access in order to achieve positive change.”
Minister for Social Inclusion and Member for Sydney Tanya Plibersek said “there is limited knowledge about how best to address and support women with intellectual disability who are affected by domestic violence”.
The funding is part of the Federal Government’s National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022. www.fahcsia.gov.au. www.fahcsia.gov.au
