This article contains references to violence against women, including violence experienced by women and girls with disability.
Sixty-five per cent of women and girls with disability have had at least one experience of violence, according to Australia's leading organisation for the prevention of violence against women and children.
Our Watch and Disabilities Victoria are calling for urgent action to end the "alarmingly high" rates of violence, as the groups launched a new evidence-based resource on Wednesday.
Called Changing the Landscape, it reveals that gender inequality and ableism contribute to these higher levels of violence experienced by women and girls with disability across all aspects of society - and that it is preventable, not inevitable.
'Harmful, not helpful'
Drisana Levitzke-Gray, an Our Watch Ambassador and activist, said women and girls with disability deserve to thrive, not just survive.
She said: "I am a strong, empowered fifth-generation deaf woman, but I have lost count of the number of times I have been excluded or told 'I can't do that', due to my gender and being deaf.
"Women and girls with disability deserve agency, to be respected, and have equal rights and opportunities. They also have the right to thrive, to aspire and achieve their ambitions in life, not just the bare minimum of surviving.
"Women with disabilities often face ableist attitudes that they are 'child-like', 'vulnerable', or need to be protected. While on the surface many people may think they are being kind, this is harmful, not helpful."
She added there was a need to change the "society and culture that allows audism, ableism and gender inequality to exist in the first place", adding: "Urgent action must take place at not only an individual level but also across all our systems and structures, including our schools, workplaces, governments and organisations."
The resource was compiled over two years and is informed by the experiences and perspectives of women with disability.
According to the resource, Australian women and girls with disability experience all forms of violence at higher rates than those women without disability.
Disability can also be caused by violence, report says
"This is not a problem just for the disability community, it is everyone's problem, and we all must be part of the solution: to end this pervasive and unacceptable abuse," Our Watch chief executive Patty Kinnersly said.
"Obviously, gender inequality is the key driver of violence against women but we know that for women with disabilities, or Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Women or LGBTIQ+ women then we have what we call the intersectional, or the intersecting forms of discrimination that amplify the violence. So, for women with disabilities who are also facing ableism, the rates of violence are much higher."
While women in general report higher rates of sexual violence and intimate partner violence than men, Australian data shows that women with disability are twice as likely to experience physical and sexual violence.
Evidence shows that rates of violence can be even higher for people with psychosocial disabilities, intellectual disabilities or complex communication needs, according to the resources.
"Women's disabilities can also often be caused by violence, as male intimate partner violence is a leading contributor to disability and illness," it says.
Rates of violence are likely to be higher for women and girls with disability who also experience other forms of oppression, such as race or sexuality.
Women with Disabilities Victoria's senior policy officer Jen Hargrave said ableism was "driving" violence against women to even higher rates.
She told SBS News: "The evidence is really clear that gender inequality, disrespect towards women across our whole society - attitudes, practices and norms that do not value women as equal - is what's underlying violence against women.
"But, we know that women and girls with disabilities are twice as likely to experience physical and sexual violence compared to women without disabilities.
"One of the things that makes it stand out, the violence we experience compared to the violence that other women and girls experience, is that we're in so many more environments: we're in special schools, mental health hospitals, group homes, we have disability support workers who may be violent in our homes or in services and other people who use those services can be violent to us."
The resource is designed to accompany which sets out a national approach to preventing violence against women and children.
If you or someone you know is impacted by family and domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit . In an emergency, call 000.
The Men’s Referral Service provides advice for men on domestic violence and can be contacted on 1300 766 491.
