PUSH #3: How are women with disability disadvantaged in Victoria?
On all measures of social and economic participation, women with disabilities are disadvantage
- Nearly one in every five Victorian women has a disability.
- The numbers of women with disabilities are higher in culturally diverse communities, in rural and regional Victoria, and among Indigenous people.
- Women with disabilities are:
- more likely to be poor and unemployed
- less likely to get a good education and access to vocational training and employment programs
- less likely to receive appropriate health and health promotion services
- more likely to be homeless, live in insecure or unsafe housing, and pay most of our gross income on housing
- more likely to experience physical, psychological and sexual violence, in settings such as custodial, residential and health care
- perceived as more vulnerable and targeted for violence, and less likely to secure protection or see justice delivered
- exposed to practices which qualify as torture or inhuman or degrading treatment such as interventions to control fertility, forced medication, and chemical restraint.
Disability advocacy makes sure the stories of women with a disability are told.
On all measures of social and economic participation, women with disabilities are disadvantaged compared not only to people without disabilities but also to men with disabilities.
Download PUSH #3 (PDF)