Acknowledgements endorsements Background methodology executive Summary 11 Recommendations 22 Article — general obligations 38

Domestic Violence Services

298. 
     Despite the high incidence of exploitation, violence and abuse experienced by women with disability, there is a lack of knowledge and expertise and a range of structural barriers within domestic violence, sexual assault and women’s crisis services that prevent appropriate measures and responses to support women with disability. Key barriers include:
     
     1. 
        lack of knowledge about the specific forms of exploitation, violence and abuse experienced by women with disability, and the inter-relationship between gender and disability and exploitation, violence and abuse;²⁷⁸
        
     2. 
        lack of connection and promotion of services to women with disability in the community or within disability service systems;
        
     3. 
        lack of physical access to service locations, including refuges and crisis housing, and a lack of accessible information about services for women with sensory and cognitive impairments;²⁷⁹
        
     4. 
        discriminatory service policies, procedures and practices that exclude women with disability, particularly women with psychosocial and cognitive impairments;
        
     5. 
        inflexible service policies for providing essential medical equipment that is modifiable or portable or to appropriately accommodate assistive animals;²⁸⁰ and
        
     6. 
        service staff are often inadequately trained to communicate with people with hearing, vision, speech and cognitive impairments and those with psychosocial disability.²⁸¹